Date of Graduation

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MFA

College

College of Creative Arts

Department

Design Studies

Committee Chair

Mary McClung

Committee Member

James D. Held

Committee Member

Robert Klingelhoefer

Committee Member

Lee Blair

Abstract

In Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor, the audience is transported to the year 1934 and is given a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes antics that the employees of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company experience while preparing for a momentous performance of Otello with the famous Italian Tenor ‘Il Stupendo’, Tito Merelli. The study of this play’s historical context helped serve as the springboard for an original costume design to support the spirit of a farcical production at West Virginia University’s School of Theatre & Dance. Through an analysis of the social context, styles, and fashions of the time period and their impact on the characters of the play, a design concept came to fruition. Finally, an analysis of the facts and clues the playwright gives us regarding character helped to shape choices regarding the overall aesthetic of the costume design. The culmination of this study resulted in a fully realized production of the play that West Virginia University presented at the Metropolitan Theatre and the elaborate costume design became a reality. In conclusion, a combination of historical facts, historical fashions, and a complex character analysis served as the synthesis for an original costume design for Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor.

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