Kathleen Laundy Costume Designer

Cast LIst
Cinderella– Reanna Fornash
Baker’s Wife– Tori Christensen
Baker– Eddie Perez
The Witch – Lise Uhl
Little Red Riding Hood- Elaine Sury
Jack – Hayden Stevenson
Jack’s Mom – Kelly Comer
Narrator/Sleeping Beauty – Morgan Case
Rapunzel - Juliet Intergard
Cinderella’s Prince – Bobby McCarthy
Rapunzel’s Prince – Jackson Parker
Steward – Charlie Jay
Mysterious Man – Holden Rounds
Wolf – Charlie Jay
Granny/Cinderella’s Mother – Sami Ely
Cinderella’s Stepmother – Maree Yard
Florinda –Keke Chadwick
Lucinda – Meg Morrison
Cinderella’s Father – Chuckie Castello
Giant – Arlette Garza
Snow White – Madison Gray
Stage Manager – Hallie Stone
Baker’s Wife– Tori Christensen
Baker– Eddie Perez
The Witch – Lise Uhl
Little Red Riding Hood- Elaine Sury
Jack – Hayden Stevenson
Jack’s Mom – Kelly Comer
Narrator/Sleeping Beauty – Morgan Case
Rapunzel - Juliet Intergard
Cinderella’s Prince – Bobby McCarthy
Rapunzel’s Prince – Jackson Parker
Steward – Charlie Jay
Mysterious Man – Holden Rounds
Wolf – Charlie Jay
Granny/Cinderella’s Mother – Sami Ely
Cinderella’s Stepmother – Maree Yard
Florinda –Keke Chadwick
Lucinda – Meg Morrison
Cinderella’s Father – Chuckie Castello
Giant – Arlette Garza
Snow White – Madison Gray
Stage Manager – Hallie Stone
Research
Production Meetings
"Jan 3 W: faculty meeting; pulled women's costumes.
Jan 4 Th: 5 hour HIPS training
Jan 5 F: pulled women's costumes
Jan 6 Sat: went to the Waco Civic sale and bought a few pieces.
Jan 7 Sun: pulled more costumes 4-6
Jan 8 M: First day of school. pulled men's costumes 9:30-4
Jan 9 T: first production meeting 1-2:30; Presented all my research. Discussed options that we already have vs what we will have to build: Red's cloak, Jack, Cinderella's ball gown, the witch; Discussed Cindy's mother as being in green and brown like the tree. pulled more men's costumes 2:30-5.
Jan 10 W: evaluated Fairy Godmother costume from Cinderella for using for Cinderella's ball gown and it will fit! Discussed using the Witch costumes from Hansel and Gretel for the step sisters and they will work as they are the same size as the actresses, they are just the wrong colors. Currently they are orange and green and need to be mauve and pink. Joe and I decided to not use the blouses, and to take out the matching fake CF skirt panels and replace with pink and purple, nicer fabrics and build matching bodices with short puffy sleeves. Joe helped me seam rip the fake CF panels out of the skirts. 9:30-5
Jan 11 Th: I asked the actor playing Jack to bring me a pair of his shorts to take a pattern off of for his costume. He said he would bring a pair. no work done due to GSA meeting and taking Sylvan to doc.
Jan 12 F: searched through fabric storage to find fabrics that would work for the pink and mauve that the step sister are supposed to be wearing to the ball. I found some old velvet that will work. Had to order pink and purple dye. 1-6
Jan 15 M: MLK holiday plus freezing weather
Jan 16 T: built a shocking pink petticoat for Lucinda. Ordered two 4X blue shirts for Jack so I can Frankenstein them into one 6X shirt. ordered pink tulle for petticoat ruffles and fake nails for Witch. 11-5:30
Jan 17 W: Wolves production meeting with Cori; designed the team uniforms and collected measurements. Had to take Sarah to dentist, so had to leave early. Jack still hasn't brought me his shorts. 9:30-2.
Jan 18 Th: pulled things for Narrator.
Jan 19 F: Now I'm sick.
Jan 22 M: fittings on Charlie
Jan 23 T: fittings on Chuckie, Holden, Maree, Kelly. The two shirts for Jack came in, spent the afternoon Frankensteining them together.
Jan 24 W: fittings on Jay, Morgan, Reanna, and Bobby. patterned and cut Meg's top.
Jan 25 Th: fittings on Maddison, Meg and a refit on Kelly. Hayden has the flu and couldn't come in. Amazon shipment with dye and witch nails has been lost, had to reorder everything. Ordered 3 yds of grey fur for wolf and Red's cape.
Jan 26 F: alterations all day. D'Kaylon and Destiny and I did alterations from 9:30-6. Whew, that was a lot of sewing!
Jan 29 M: cut out the rest of Jack's lederhosen, ordered blue ribbon for trim and brown suspenders. Scheduled the community members for fittings. Did fittings on Elaine, Tori, and Keke.
Jan 30 T:cut out Steward vest, Tyson sewed it together.
Jan 31 W: Sarah got her wisdom teeth out so I didn't go to campus. Designed the wolf costume.
Feb 1 Th: cut out wolf doublet pieces, wolf cape for Red, and lining. Serged and stitched wolf cape and lining together. Did fittings on Eddie, Maree, Charlie, and Juliet.
Feb. 2 F: 9:30-6. Did fitting on Sami, did alterations on Steward vest, stitched wolf doublet, dyed step sister fabric.
Feb 3 Sat: 9:30-? went to Sally Askin's house to help Shara sort all her things before the estate sale.
Feb 4 Sun: unloaded all the things from Sally's, then sewed from 3:30-6. Put two rows of tulle ruffle on the fuchsia petticoat.
Feb 5 Mon: used the horrible wired mesh net that I bought to add a row of ruffles to the hoops for the step sisters. Finished Jack's lederhosen. 9:30-6.
Feb 6 Tues: got no sewing done, too busy with other stuff, like receipts and Laci's Winter Collection.
Feb 7 Wed: did Jack's fitting. Cut sleeve lining for the wolf. Cut extra panels for the CF of the witch cape. Had to remove all the trim down the CF first. 12:30-5
Feb 8 Thur: had class slip stitch the trim on the Witch's cape during class. Assembled the wolf upper and lower sleeves. Made shoulder wings out of cast off quilt remnants and net ruffles. Dyed the step sister outer skirt pink. 9:30-5
Feb 9 Fri: DK came in and added the rest of the hooks and eyes and snaps to Jack's lederhosen. I did the Witch, Wolf, and Milky White fittings. Put the inner sleeve into the outer sleeve and sewed in the shoulder wing and the net combo to make it puff out. Added the finished sleeves on the wolf doublet, glued felt into the witch mask, sewed elastic on it, cut a lining for her hood and stitched it into the velvet, added the trim onto the hood. 9-6
Sat 10: 7:30-10:30 finished the wolf doublet and collar.
Sun 11: 3:30-6: pleated up the pink step sister skirt and added the waistband.
Mon 12: 12:30-6 pleated up the purple step sister skirt and added the waistband. Cut and stitched the black net overlay on the Witch skirt on a separate waist band.
Tues 13: 9:30-5 had the class start sewing on all the closures to the skirt and pants. Cut and stitched the black net overlay on the Witch bodice. got the hood sewn on the witches cape, did another fitting on Jack's mum's bodice. finally got all the closures sewn onto Jack's lederhosen.
Wed. 14: 9:30-5 Worked on the Wolf costume all day. Stitched the boning into the collar, closed up the opening, hemmed the sleeves, added the tabs to the doublet. sewed boning into Cinderella's peasant bodice and the Witch's bodice to stabilize them. Reattached the new set of hooks and eye tape to Cinderella's bodice.
Thurs 15: 9:30-5; had the GSA meeting in the shop so I could keep sewing, plus it was 3rd Thursday anyway.
Fri 16: all alone plus fac council meeting plus PD day; sewed during fac council meeting
Sun 18: 4-6 put one set of sleeves together and got one sleeve added to Keke's blouse
Mon 19: 10-10:30 put the other set of sleeves together for the other step sister and added both to Meg's blouse. Pulled shoes for everyone, moved the costumes over. First dress.
Tues 20 9:30-9 class sewed on more hooks and eyes and snaps, while I made a new overskirt for the Wicked Step Mother. The one I had pulled was too red and so I used the R&G donated fabric that was more burgundy, to make a new one. I also, stitched in the panier lining into the paniers and fixed the wire that was coming out of them. I put a grow tuck in Little Red's petticoat and hemmed her skirt about 8" so that she looked younger. We also attached eyes on her skirt to match the hooks on her bodice so that when she raised her arms we wouldn't see her mic belt. I pulled a hat for Kaz to cover his orange/pink hair. I hemmed Keke's petticoat another 2" and Jack's lederhosen. Now we can see his knees. Cut off Baker pants into capris and hemmed. Got Baker's wife a pillow for her pregnancy pad. Made Cinderella a scarf for her hair. Second Dress
Wed 21 9:30-8 Got snap tape of the Witch fake dress/cape and cut a tab to hold it on her across her chest like an alb to take the weight off of her. Final Dress. We had an invited audience of the theatre and music appreciation classes as well as the local HS OAP students and teachers.
Thurs 22 9:30-11 made hair bows for the step sisters and glued the wolf claws back onto one glove. Hemmed Witch fake dress up another 3 inches. Opening night was the Gala.
Fri 23 4-6 fixed the rip in Holden's pants and Lise's cape.
Jan 4 Th: 5 hour HIPS training
Jan 5 F: pulled women's costumes
Jan 6 Sat: went to the Waco Civic sale and bought a few pieces.
Jan 7 Sun: pulled more costumes 4-6
Jan 8 M: First day of school. pulled men's costumes 9:30-4
Jan 9 T: first production meeting 1-2:30; Presented all my research. Discussed options that we already have vs what we will have to build: Red's cloak, Jack, Cinderella's ball gown, the witch; Discussed Cindy's mother as being in green and brown like the tree. pulled more men's costumes 2:30-5.
Jan 10 W: evaluated Fairy Godmother costume from Cinderella for using for Cinderella's ball gown and it will fit! Discussed using the Witch costumes from Hansel and Gretel for the step sisters and they will work as they are the same size as the actresses, they are just the wrong colors. Currently they are orange and green and need to be mauve and pink. Joe and I decided to not use the blouses, and to take out the matching fake CF skirt panels and replace with pink and purple, nicer fabrics and build matching bodices with short puffy sleeves. Joe helped me seam rip the fake CF panels out of the skirts. 9:30-5
Jan 11 Th: I asked the actor playing Jack to bring me a pair of his shorts to take a pattern off of for his costume. He said he would bring a pair. no work done due to GSA meeting and taking Sylvan to doc.
Jan 12 F: searched through fabric storage to find fabrics that would work for the pink and mauve that the step sister are supposed to be wearing to the ball. I found some old velvet that will work. Had to order pink and purple dye. 1-6
Jan 15 M: MLK holiday plus freezing weather
Jan 16 T: built a shocking pink petticoat for Lucinda. Ordered two 4X blue shirts for Jack so I can Frankenstein them into one 6X shirt. ordered pink tulle for petticoat ruffles and fake nails for Witch. 11-5:30
Jan 17 W: Wolves production meeting with Cori; designed the team uniforms and collected measurements. Had to take Sarah to dentist, so had to leave early. Jack still hasn't brought me his shorts. 9:30-2.
Jan 18 Th: pulled things for Narrator.
Jan 19 F: Now I'm sick.
Jan 22 M: fittings on Charlie
Jan 23 T: fittings on Chuckie, Holden, Maree, Kelly. The two shirts for Jack came in, spent the afternoon Frankensteining them together.
Jan 24 W: fittings on Jay, Morgan, Reanna, and Bobby. patterned and cut Meg's top.
Jan 25 Th: fittings on Maddison, Meg and a refit on Kelly. Hayden has the flu and couldn't come in. Amazon shipment with dye and witch nails has been lost, had to reorder everything. Ordered 3 yds of grey fur for wolf and Red's cape.
Jan 26 F: alterations all day. D'Kaylon and Destiny and I did alterations from 9:30-6. Whew, that was a lot of sewing!
Jan 29 M: cut out the rest of Jack's lederhosen, ordered blue ribbon for trim and brown suspenders. Scheduled the community members for fittings. Did fittings on Elaine, Tori, and Keke.
Jan 30 T:cut out Steward vest, Tyson sewed it together.
Jan 31 W: Sarah got her wisdom teeth out so I didn't go to campus. Designed the wolf costume.
Feb 1 Th: cut out wolf doublet pieces, wolf cape for Red, and lining. Serged and stitched wolf cape and lining together. Did fittings on Eddie, Maree, Charlie, and Juliet.
Feb. 2 F: 9:30-6. Did fitting on Sami, did alterations on Steward vest, stitched wolf doublet, dyed step sister fabric.
Feb 3 Sat: 9:30-? went to Sally Askin's house to help Shara sort all her things before the estate sale.
Feb 4 Sun: unloaded all the things from Sally's, then sewed from 3:30-6. Put two rows of tulle ruffle on the fuchsia petticoat.
Feb 5 Mon: used the horrible wired mesh net that I bought to add a row of ruffles to the hoops for the step sisters. Finished Jack's lederhosen. 9:30-6.
Feb 6 Tues: got no sewing done, too busy with other stuff, like receipts and Laci's Winter Collection.
Feb 7 Wed: did Jack's fitting. Cut sleeve lining for the wolf. Cut extra panels for the CF of the witch cape. Had to remove all the trim down the CF first. 12:30-5
Feb 8 Thur: had class slip stitch the trim on the Witch's cape during class. Assembled the wolf upper and lower sleeves. Made shoulder wings out of cast off quilt remnants and net ruffles. Dyed the step sister outer skirt pink. 9:30-5
Feb 9 Fri: DK came in and added the rest of the hooks and eyes and snaps to Jack's lederhosen. I did the Witch, Wolf, and Milky White fittings. Put the inner sleeve into the outer sleeve and sewed in the shoulder wing and the net combo to make it puff out. Added the finished sleeves on the wolf doublet, glued felt into the witch mask, sewed elastic on it, cut a lining for her hood and stitched it into the velvet, added the trim onto the hood. 9-6
Sat 10: 7:30-10:30 finished the wolf doublet and collar.
Sun 11: 3:30-6: pleated up the pink step sister skirt and added the waistband.
Mon 12: 12:30-6 pleated up the purple step sister skirt and added the waistband. Cut and stitched the black net overlay on the Witch skirt on a separate waist band.
Tues 13: 9:30-5 had the class start sewing on all the closures to the skirt and pants. Cut and stitched the black net overlay on the Witch bodice. got the hood sewn on the witches cape, did another fitting on Jack's mum's bodice. finally got all the closures sewn onto Jack's lederhosen.
Wed. 14: 9:30-5 Worked on the Wolf costume all day. Stitched the boning into the collar, closed up the opening, hemmed the sleeves, added the tabs to the doublet. sewed boning into Cinderella's peasant bodice and the Witch's bodice to stabilize them. Reattached the new set of hooks and eye tape to Cinderella's bodice.
Thurs 15: 9:30-5; had the GSA meeting in the shop so I could keep sewing, plus it was 3rd Thursday anyway.
Fri 16: all alone plus fac council meeting plus PD day; sewed during fac council meeting
Sun 18: 4-6 put one set of sleeves together and got one sleeve added to Keke's blouse
Mon 19: 10-10:30 put the other set of sleeves together for the other step sister and added both to Meg's blouse. Pulled shoes for everyone, moved the costumes over. First dress.
Tues 20 9:30-9 class sewed on more hooks and eyes and snaps, while I made a new overskirt for the Wicked Step Mother. The one I had pulled was too red and so I used the R&G donated fabric that was more burgundy, to make a new one. I also, stitched in the panier lining into the paniers and fixed the wire that was coming out of them. I put a grow tuck in Little Red's petticoat and hemmed her skirt about 8" so that she looked younger. We also attached eyes on her skirt to match the hooks on her bodice so that when she raised her arms we wouldn't see her mic belt. I pulled a hat for Kaz to cover his orange/pink hair. I hemmed Keke's petticoat another 2" and Jack's lederhosen. Now we can see his knees. Cut off Baker pants into capris and hemmed. Got Baker's wife a pillow for her pregnancy pad. Made Cinderella a scarf for her hair. Second Dress
Wed 21 9:30-8 Got snap tape of the Witch fake dress/cape and cut a tab to hold it on her across her chest like an alb to take the weight off of her. Final Dress. We had an invited audience of the theatre and music appreciation classes as well as the local HS OAP students and teachers.
Thurs 22 9:30-11 made hair bows for the step sisters and glued the wolf claws back onto one glove. Hemmed Witch fake dress up another 3 inches. Opening night was the Gala.
Fri 23 4-6 fixed the rip in Holden's pants and Lise's cape.
Purchases
The Build
Fittings
McLennan Theatre's ‘Into the Woods’ revisits Sondheim after long spell

Fairy tale characters the Steward (Charlie Jay, from left), the Witch (Lise Uhl), Little Red Riding Hood (Elaine Sury) and the Baker (Eduardo Perez) find themselves at an impasse in the McLennan Theatre production of “Into the Woods,” which runs Thursday through Saturday at McLennan Community College.
McLennan Theatre, provided
--Carl Hoover, Feb. 22, 2024
McLennan Theatre director Kelly Parker admits mounting a Stephen Sondheim musical always brings a challenge, but sometimes that’s a good thing. “It’s just like Shakespeare: You have to elevate your game to meet the material,” he said. So when the McLennan Community College theater faculty looked for a musical to succeed last year’s successful production of “The Addams Family,” the discussion gravitated to the length of time since McLennan Theatre had last done a musical by one of the iconic talents of American musical theater — and whether the student talent this year could handle it.
It had been about 30 years, in fact, dating back to the 1990s when McLennan Theatre had staged “West Side Story,” then “Sweeney Todd” shortly thereafter. Theater leadership determined the talent was there. So, then, which Sondheim to break the spell? They opted for “Into the Woods,” Sondheim’s 1987 musical that reworked well-known fairy tale characters into a new, somewhat darker story. Not only had it become a standard for many community, college and high school theater programs for its audience accessibility, but it had the advantage of a 2014 major Hollywood film adaptation to refresh its recognition by potential audiences.
That title recognition may have paid off: The Thursday night gala performance for Hearts in the Arts, which raises funds to support MCC’s fine arts program, set records in ticket sales and the amount raised. The McLennan Theatre production brings the theater department back to its pre-pandemic scale for musicals, with a cast of 20 actors, plus full costuming, sets, choreography and a 15-player orchestra in the pit. It also provided an opportunity for MCC fine arts department chair Lise Uhl, possessor of a formidable soprano, to perform onstage in her last semester before retiring, starring as the Witch.
The musical’s story, written by longtime Sondheim collaborator James Lapine, places fairy tale and folk tale characters Jack, of beanstalk fame (Hayden Stevenson), and his mother (Kelly Comer), Cinderella (Reanna Fornash), the Baker and his wife (Eduardo Perez and Tori Christensen), Little Red Riding Hood (Elaine Sury), Rapunzel (Juliet Intergard), the Witch (Uhl), Red Riding Hood’s wolf (Charlie Jay), Cinderella’s prince (Bobby McCarthy) and more all wandering the same forest in pursuit of their different wishes.
They get their wishes, sort of, and then the second act arrives in which they discover life is messy and doesn’t always end happily ever after. Note to parents of young children: There’s some death and menace involved and also a running time approaching three hours.
Parker is co-directing the production with McLennan Theatre choreographer Joseph Taylor and Daniel Farris as musical director, Kathleen Laundy as costume designer and Benjamin Mason as set designer. “Sondheim is a brilliant composer and it’s a brilliant score ... The play is so well-crafted, we just do the play,” Parker said.
McLennan Theatre director Kelly Parker admits mounting a Stephen Sondheim musical always brings a challenge, but sometimes that’s a good thing. “It’s just like Shakespeare: You have to elevate your game to meet the material,” he said. So when the McLennan Community College theater faculty looked for a musical to succeed last year’s successful production of “The Addams Family,” the discussion gravitated to the length of time since McLennan Theatre had last done a musical by one of the iconic talents of American musical theater — and whether the student talent this year could handle it.
It had been about 30 years, in fact, dating back to the 1990s when McLennan Theatre had staged “West Side Story,” then “Sweeney Todd” shortly thereafter. Theater leadership determined the talent was there. So, then, which Sondheim to break the spell? They opted for “Into the Woods,” Sondheim’s 1987 musical that reworked well-known fairy tale characters into a new, somewhat darker story. Not only had it become a standard for many community, college and high school theater programs for its audience accessibility, but it had the advantage of a 2014 major Hollywood film adaptation to refresh its recognition by potential audiences.
That title recognition may have paid off: The Thursday night gala performance for Hearts in the Arts, which raises funds to support MCC’s fine arts program, set records in ticket sales and the amount raised. The McLennan Theatre production brings the theater department back to its pre-pandemic scale for musicals, with a cast of 20 actors, plus full costuming, sets, choreography and a 15-player orchestra in the pit. It also provided an opportunity for MCC fine arts department chair Lise Uhl, possessor of a formidable soprano, to perform onstage in her last semester before retiring, starring as the Witch.
The musical’s story, written by longtime Sondheim collaborator James Lapine, places fairy tale and folk tale characters Jack, of beanstalk fame (Hayden Stevenson), and his mother (Kelly Comer), Cinderella (Reanna Fornash), the Baker and his wife (Eduardo Perez and Tori Christensen), Little Red Riding Hood (Elaine Sury), Rapunzel (Juliet Intergard), the Witch (Uhl), Red Riding Hood’s wolf (Charlie Jay), Cinderella’s prince (Bobby McCarthy) and more all wandering the same forest in pursuit of their different wishes.
They get their wishes, sort of, and then the second act arrives in which they discover life is messy and doesn’t always end happily ever after. Note to parents of young children: There’s some death and menace involved and also a running time approaching three hours.
Parker is co-directing the production with McLennan Theatre choreographer Joseph Taylor and Daniel Farris as musical director, Kathleen Laundy as costume designer and Benjamin Mason as set designer. “Sondheim is a brilliant composer and it’s a brilliant score ... The play is so well-crafted, we just do the play,” Parker said.
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