Cinderella Quick Change

[WicaS]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 8:45am

Hi guys! I've been wondering if anyone knows how does Cinderella's costume changes work. I have been especially amazed by the one at the Tony awards. If anyone has any insider info... :) Thnx.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 9:32am

There's a reason William Ivey Long keeps winning Tonys ....... it's a bit like a magic trick - do you REALLY want to know how it's done?

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 9:58am

Laura Osnes has said in interviews that she has to take a pin out of her costume but doesn't go into much detail.

[Tag]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 9:59am

Interesting to note that Laura makes a second change into a different fuller ball gown after she exits the stage (after the onstage change).

[Showface]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 10:21am

Looking at the video, the costume looks reversible, like the FaIry Godmother's.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 10:32am

If you're looking at the video from the Tonys, the Cinderella quick change is different than it is in the show.

[Showface]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 10:40am

Oh....then nevermind.....

[candydog2]

Posted: 7/6/14 at 12:17pm

As far as I can see, they're pretty straightforward, but very cleverly done. The Tony awards costume is not used in the actual show, but it's sort of reversible. The white ballgown skirt is essentially folded up into the green parts hanging over the top of the brown "rags" skirt, when released, these fall out over the brown skirt. The top half of the costume is released to reveal the top of the ballgown underneath it, I believe the top rag costume gets pulled under the white skirt.

The cleverest part of this costume however is the hair change. The head scarf Cinderella wears has fake hair attached, and her real hair is tied up with a crown underneath the scarf. I think that when the costume changes, the scarf and wig get pulled off and disappear under the skirt along with the top part of the rags dress. The crown is then on a spring and pops up when released.

I don't know for sure, but that's most likely.

The transformation into the gold dress is equally as clever in the show. I believe that pretty much the whole gold dress is folded up into what's left of the original dress around her chest and shoulders after it has been torn by the stepmother. When she spins, she releases the dress and it folds out to form the gold dress.

[IndyTheatreGeek]

Posted: 7/7/14 at 12:16am

Thai's pretty much a good description that candydog2 has posted. I remember having a discussion about this with one of the customer relations folks at TDF early in the run. He had figured out two of the changes but not the third. I watched closely and thought I had it sussed. Then early in Carly Rae's run I saw it again and it was easier to tell as she wasn't as used to doing it seamlessly.

When she changes back to rags after the ball, the skirt of the white dress is much less full than it had been at the ball allowing the rags dress to release and cover it under the white cape she now is also wearing. Not magic but sufficiently close to wow most patrons. It's moments like that which allow us to suspend disbelief and be caught up in the world on stage. Every show needs at least one "Oh, Wow" moment.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/7/14 at 1:26am

Close descriptions in certain ways for the gold gown, but the description of the first change, hair especially, is quite far off. And the description of the change back into rags after the first ball doesn't read as accurate whatsoever.

As previously noted, the transformation on the Tonys is 95% different than you see in the show... And I hold fast to my belief that Cinderella should not have won the Tony for costumes.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/7/14 at 10:11am

^What would you have chosen as best costumes that season?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/7/14 at 1:05pm

Of the nominees, I thought the Kinky Boots costumes were spot on.
In. Conderella, I feel as though "ballgowns", "transformations" and Long's name took the award, but I didn't find the costumes to be at all special and the transformations, in addition to each being fundamentally the same", lacked build. I thought they hit the impressive one first, then made a mistake by making them incrasingly more simple, and I the laziness bothered me.. The "transformation" gown for the first ball did not match the gown she wore when she arrived at the ball... Basic color and silhouette, yes, but the bodice, detail work and sleeves were totally different. That is sloppy and lazy.

[candydog2]

Posted: 7/7/14 at 7:17pm

My first description was of the Tony awards costume change. I'm aware that it's different in the show where the rags change into the bodice and underskirt of the dress and the full skirt is attached when she leans against the tree. I think that she loses the wig when leaning against the tree as well.

The transformation back to rags after the ball looks pretty simple: She's wearing the rags costume with the white cape and a looser, simpler, tearaway version of the ballgown over it. When she crouches down by the wall at the end of the pursuit to hide from the prince, she attaches the cape/gown to a mechanism in the wall and unfastens it. When she stands back up the mechanism pulls the cape/gown off her and into the wall, revealing the rags costume.

[MadAboutTheBoy]

Posted: 7/7/14 at 8:17pm

"My first description was of the Tony awards costume change. I'm aware that it's different in the show where the rags change into the bodice and underskirt of the dress and the full skirt is attached when she leans against the tree. I think that she loses the wig when leaning against the tree as well.

The transformation back to rags after the ball looks pretty simple: She's wearing the rags costume with the white cape and a looser, simpler, tearaway version of the ballgown over it. When she crouches down by the wall at the end of the pursuit to hide from the prince, she attaches the cape/gown to a mechanism in the wall and unfastens it. When she stands back up the mechanism pulls the cape/gown off her and into the wall, revealing the rags costume."

Are there any videos online of these transformations from the show?

[candydog2]

Posted: 7/7/14 at 8:45pm

No, the only clips are of the Tony awards and the Thanksgiving day parade where they used the stunt costume which is not actually used in the show.

Although if you want to see more of the same kind of illusions, there are performers and magicians known as "quickchange artists", who specialise in rapid, eye-blink costume changes as a sort of stage illusion. Some are quite amazing to watch.

[Hex3]

Posted: 7/8/14 at 1:03am

I am obsessed with quick change outfits. I just love that sort of SURPRISE effect they have. There are the simple ones used in shows like The Producers (That Face) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Like Zis Like Zat) that, during the dance break, turn a short dress into a long flowy dress. Then you have the more complicated ones that were used in Spamalot to turn the Lady of the Lake's blue gown into her wedding dress and the one from the 2005 revival of La Cage which turned Albin's black dressing gown to a silver bejeweled showstopper during A Little More Mascara. Then there are, of course, the ones used in Cinderella.

A clothing designer named Hussein Chalayan is known for using quick change tricks in his fashion designs. I don't know how to post images. If someone could clue me in, I can post some of his work.

Updated On: 7/8/14 at 01:03 AM