"TAke YOur Cosplay to the Next LEvel with McLennan Theatre" GigantiCon, KILLEEN, 2022
A JEDI Action Plan for Supporting Theatre Students, TCCTA March 2022
Many of the initiatives that I talked about in my presentation can be found on the Professional Development page.
| tccta_presentation.docx |
Where's My Supersuit? Part 2: SUPERVILLAINS
For Geekfest, 2018
I'm continuing my exploration into the world of supersuits by examining Batman's Rogues' Gallery. Everybody had a lot of fun and I did eventually figure out to turn out the lights so they could see better.
How To cosplay for Geekfest, 2018
wHERE'S MY sUPERSUIT? fOR usitt-sw, 2018
I was asked back in December if I would do the same Supersuit presentation I had done at Geekfest for USITT-SW conference in January. Of course I said yes. I changed the structure slightly to bring the focus more on the costume design aspect, rather than the comic book aspect. I also included a much more exhaustive and rigorous bibliography that I didn't bother with at Geekfest.
Where's My Supersuit? For Geekfest, 2017
This year I decided to change things up a bit and instead of talking about armor, like I've done for the last three years, I'm talking about supersuits. This is just basically everything from my four part blog this summer condensed down into a tiny fraction of what it was. For the whole enchilada, head on over to my blog.
Lorena Post-Secondary Showcase, 2017
I was invited to come to Lorena High School's College Day so I made this recruiting slide show.
Costume Design for Rapoport Academy, 2016
Tracey Villanueva, the theatre teacher at Rapoport Academy, invited me to her classroom this morning to give her students a lecture on costume design. They are beginning to work on their costumes for their play, Flowers for Algernon, and she wanted the students to have a better understanding of how to design costumes for a play. Here's the slideshow I made for them.
Geekfest 2016: DIY Armour and Costume Accessories
Here are the slides from last night's DIY Armour presentation. Thanks to everyone who came!
Yule Ball at Geekfest 2016
CTC Geekfest is recruiting Harry Potter cosplayers for their Yule Ball on August 14th. McLennan Theatre will be representing with a few actors. If you'd like to be in on the fun, contact Maureen "Professor McGonagall" Huston at [email protected]. The idea is to liven up the dance by doing some enviRONmental theatre.
Gallery 2016
We finally got to attend the Yule Ball this year. I still haven't been able to get any students to help out with this project. But my kids loved going to it.
My CarEER as a Costume Designer, 2015
I am often asked to come to a school's Career Day and talk to students about what it's like to be a costume designer; most often at Rapoport Academy in Waco where I have been coming to their Career Day every year since 2005. Other schools I have been to include Midway High School, Midway Middle School, Aquilla High School, Valley Mills High School, Waco High School, and Live Oak Classical. I would love to come to your school and talk to your students about a career in costume design.
Future Costume Designers: Rapoport Academy 5th graders, 2015
Theatrical Makeup for Midway Middle, 2015
I was recently asked by teacher and MCC alum, Katelyn Smith, to do a presentation on Costume and Makeup for Midway Middle on April 6th. Having already done a presentation for 6th graders I know I need to make this one even shorter. I still ended up talking too much and not having enough time at the end for questions. I had a lot of fun, and I think the kids learned a lot. Hopefully, they'll ask me back next year.
How Plays Get Done for Rapoport Academy, 2014
Quinn Middle School
I was recently asked by my son's 6th grade Reading teacher to come in and do a presentation on theatre. They are starting a unit on drama this week and for their final project, the students will dramatize a scene from Number the Stars. They've just finished a unit on the Holocaust which ended with watching The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I have to admit it was more difficult to create a short presentation for 6th graders on a general topic than a long one for college students on a specific topic. I'm guessing that most of these kiddos have never even seen a play, much less done one. I kept it to five slides of information and another 25 of photos of productions. I'm going to bring a basket of props, armour, and costumes accessories for them to pass around and play with. I meet with his last period class on Friday and will meet the others next Thursday once I'm done with turning in my grades. It should be fun.
Armour: a DIY Practical Guide for Geekfest, 2014
I first gave this workshop at TETA in 2008 and then I was asked to do it again in 2009. Originally it was one medium length slide show incorporating both armour and armour accessories. This is me at TETA in 2009 in a conference room with no projector and only a tiny little lap top screen on which to show the powerpoint. It's a good thing I brought a wide variety of examples as well as handouts because the room was SRO.
I have since given it a major overhaul (I've learned a lot in the last 5 years) and will be doing it again at Geekfest, 2014 on Saturday Aug. 16 from 2-4 in Room 118.
This time I've broken it into two presentations, one on armour, and the other on armour accessories: helmets, boots, crowns, masks, headdresses, and weapons. What is posted below is the updated version of my powerpoint presentations. I won't be killing trees with handouts this time, since my audience can always refer back to my website after they get home.
Update: The presentations at Geekfest went well. The room was SRO for the armour presentation. At the beginning I told everyone that my slideshows were on my website and gave away half my box of business cards, so that they wouldn't feel nervous about missing or forgetting anything. At the end of my armour presentation about 1/3 of the room left to go see other panels (or perhaps enter the prejudging for the adult costume contest) but the rest of them stayed for the Accessories panel. I had to make a quick trip to the bathroom in between sessions, so by the time I got back the room had filled up again. I think to make next year better, I won't schedule them back to back. I ran out of breath and got overheated by the middle of the second one. Also, it was confusing to me talking about the same materials and techniques and not knowing if I'd already talked about something enough because most of the people there had been there from the beginning of the Armour one, but I didn't want to leave the newcomers confused. Then I realized that I'd left out the recipe slide for French Enamel Varnish from the Accessories slide show. Rob took some photos of me lecturing and the audience seemed to get a lot out of it. There was one dad who brought his special needs son with him, a very cute tiny boy in a wheelchair. He was clearly very excited to be there and kept vocalizing loudly. I used my loudest teacher voice hoping that I could be heard and understood over the boy's outbursts and my deaf in his left ear, drummer in a punk band, husband told me that he could hear me just fine, so I felt much better. I'm really grateful to Jason Sanchez and the rest of the Geekfest organizers for giving me this opportunity. I'm especially grateful to the two computer techs who helped me make my dinosaur of a laptop hook in to the school's projector so everyone could actually see my slideshows. Without them, the whole thing would have been a disaster. I had a great time and I can't wait to do it all again next year.
This time I've broken it into two presentations, one on armour, and the other on armour accessories: helmets, boots, crowns, masks, headdresses, and weapons. What is posted below is the updated version of my powerpoint presentations. I won't be killing trees with handouts this time, since my audience can always refer back to my website after they get home.
Update: The presentations at Geekfest went well. The room was SRO for the armour presentation. At the beginning I told everyone that my slideshows were on my website and gave away half my box of business cards, so that they wouldn't feel nervous about missing or forgetting anything. At the end of my armour presentation about 1/3 of the room left to go see other panels (or perhaps enter the prejudging for the adult costume contest) but the rest of them stayed for the Accessories panel. I had to make a quick trip to the bathroom in between sessions, so by the time I got back the room had filled up again. I think to make next year better, I won't schedule them back to back. I ran out of breath and got overheated by the middle of the second one. Also, it was confusing to me talking about the same materials and techniques and not knowing if I'd already talked about something enough because most of the people there had been there from the beginning of the Armour one, but I didn't want to leave the newcomers confused. Then I realized that I'd left out the recipe slide for French Enamel Varnish from the Accessories slide show. Rob took some photos of me lecturing and the audience seemed to get a lot out of it. There was one dad who brought his special needs son with him, a very cute tiny boy in a wheelchair. He was clearly very excited to be there and kept vocalizing loudly. I used my loudest teacher voice hoping that I could be heard and understood over the boy's outbursts and my deaf in his left ear, drummer in a punk band, husband told me that he could hear me just fine, so I felt much better. I'm really grateful to Jason Sanchez and the rest of the Geekfest organizers for giving me this opportunity. I'm especially grateful to the two computer techs who helped me make my dinosaur of a laptop hook in to the school's projector so everyone could actually see my slideshows. Without them, the whole thing would have been a disaster. I had a great time and I can't wait to do it all again next year.
Prosthetic Makeup and Working with Foam Latex
I gave this workshop at the Summer Symposium for High School Theatre Teachers in Waco, 2010.
Teaching Costume Design and Portfolio Development
I gave this workshop at the Summer Symposium for High School Theatre Teachers in Waco, 2010.
Designing for Dance
I presented this workshop at TETA in 2008.
TETA Designfest
I have participated in TETA's Designfest for many years starting in 1998.