by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt

Arena Stage, Washington, D.C. -  Winter 2010

Directed by Amanda Dehnert
Set Design by Eugene Lee
Costume Design by Jessica Ford
Lighting Design by Nancy Schertler
Sound Design by David Budries

All photos copyright Scott Suchman

El Gallo is wearing a magnetic “tear away” suit built by Steven Simon at Arena Stage. In one movement his shirt, tie, vest and trousers were removed to reveal an entirely different look underneath – the purple windowpane suit he wears for the rest of the play.


Lesson learned: Arena Stage is such a great place to work – we had Matt’s sweater vest knit specifically for this production – it’s not often you get the chance to have garments KNIT! The costume shop manager at Arena, Joe Salasovich and I were seduced by the vibrant colors of the bamboo yarn in the store….unfortunately after a few days of technical rehearsals, the sweater started to grow and shed monstrously! It had its own halo under the lights! So – bamboo yarn grows. Duly noted! The sweater didn’t last long enough to make it into performances, but it was there for photo call.











This was an interesting challenge – this costume needed to fit seamlessly/invisibly underneath the dress that Luisa wears throughout the rest of the play. Luisa “disappeared” during a magic sequence in the show, and was revealed seconds later in this “Magician’s Assistant” costume.

The cast:
Addi McDaniel, Sebastian LaCause, Timothy Ware, Michael Stone Forrest, Jerome Lucas Harmann, Lawrence O’Dwyer, Nate Dendy, Jesse Terrill