Leatherworking, Ara’Kus style
Leatherworking is not nearly as difficult as I assumed it would be. After becoming frustrated with the excessively priced leather items online, Randy recently decided to try assembling some of his own stage costume pieces. Within two days of getting the materials from Tandy Leather, he had gone from knowing absolutely nothing about the craft, to putting the finishing touches on a leather pauldron that looked to me as if it could have sold online for five times what he spent on materials.
Now, of course, we’re overwhelmed with the possibilities. I’ve already gone out and purchased the materials I’ll need to craft myself a leather tunic. It will certainly be more difficult and time consuming than Randy’s pauldron, but now that I understand the basics, I feel that it’s fully achievable. Considering I spent around $100 on materials (some of which are tools that can be reused for multiple projects) and the cheapest comparable leather armor I can find online runs $600+, I think I don’t have much to lose but my time.
If this turns out well, I may turn my attention to making some items for other people in the band or cast.
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And so it begins…
This will be the first entry in the Aeterno Elementum Production blog.
We’ve set a date for July 31st and made arrangements with the Everett Historic Theater. Everything is in motion now. Three months is not a long time to accomplish everything we need to prior to opening night. In fact, it’s a ridiculously short amount of time. Between our shoestring budget and the sheer scope of what we’re trying to do, it’s daunting. I have to admit, there are very few days when I don’t look at the project and wonder to myself, ‘What the hell are we doing here? Are we insane?’ Truth is, we probably are; but then, I think that’s a requirement for anyone who does anything in theater.
The first order of business is getting the people we need. We’ve had a really amazing group of 8 or 9 chorus members for the past several months. Ideally, before the show, we want to grow this to about 25. To this end, I’ve been contacting local chorus groups and telling them about our project. Last night I went out to talk to Everett Chorale. The Director, Lee Matthews was incredibly welcoming, and the reception among the 70 or so singers there was surprisingly good. I am consistently surprised by the demographics that are excited about what we’re doing. Now if only we could translate that interest into action. I figure I’ll keep corresponding with area choruses until we exceed our goal.
We’ve found a few incredible people already. We’re working with a costume designer named Linnaea Wilson, who is a student at UW. Despite her hectic schedule, she’s managed to put together some really impressive costume designs for the band members. Unfortunately she’ll be leaving for the summer, so we won’t be able to work with her on any other part of the project, but she’s certainly earned our admiration.