#101
Posted: 6/18/13 at 12:37am
Well I like the Bagheera costume very much. I love his spots. Both costumes for Shere Kahn and this one are really interesting. You can see part of the set here. The stage floor is tiled in a beautiful green pattern.
You notice the floral print on the riser? Those flowers and vines are what makes up the jungle set except they are huge illustrations.
De Shields notes about costumes are similar to what I mentioned earlier;
"How will the animals be represented from a visual standpoint?
We’re not wearing masks. You’ll see the human in the animal, which is all part of the allegory because the way we teach is to use this idea of anthropomorphism, so that’s the trade that we’ve made in the animal kingdom in the jungle book, and Mary Zimmerman has heightened it even more by making the company totally multicultural. It’s totally ethnically diverse, so it’s very difficult to make any racial generalizations because you see someone from India playing in the show, you see someone from Pakistan, you see someone from Egypt; of course you see White Americans, you see Black Americans, you see children and other Asian ethnicities, so you have to stop for a moment and take this all in and attempt to understand what is the message of this gumbo of cultures and all of that diversity is reflected in the design of the show. The costumes are gorgeous and the set of course is lush and colorful, so it really serves to transport you to a place that hopefully you can let go of your predispositions, your biases, your prejudices and let this wash over you and come away with again—allegories always have morals—they’re tales of caution, and come away with what I’m now understanding one of the messages is evaluating yourself, not judging other people by what’s on the exterior because our real value is interior. So that’s one of the morals of The Jungle Book."
Really great interview with Andre De Shields here. He talks at length about the production.
You notice the floral print on the riser? Those flowers and vines are what makes up the jungle set except they are huge illustrations.
De Shields notes about costumes are similar to what I mentioned earlier;
"How will the animals be represented from a visual standpoint?
We’re not wearing masks. You’ll see the human in the animal, which is all part of the allegory because the way we teach is to use this idea of anthropomorphism, so that’s the trade that we’ve made in the animal kingdom in the jungle book, and Mary Zimmerman has heightened it even more by making the company totally multicultural. It’s totally ethnically diverse, so it’s very difficult to make any racial generalizations because you see someone from India playing in the show, you see someone from Pakistan, you see someone from Egypt; of course you see White Americans, you see Black Americans, you see children and other Asian ethnicities, so you have to stop for a moment and take this all in and attempt to understand what is the message of this gumbo of cultures and all of that diversity is reflected in the design of the show. The costumes are gorgeous and the set of course is lush and colorful, so it really serves to transport you to a place that hopefully you can let go of your predispositions, your biases, your prejudices and let this wash over you and come away with again—allegories always have morals—they’re tales of caution, and come away with what I’m now understanding one of the messages is evaluating yourself, not judging other people by what’s on the exterior because our real value is interior. So that’s one of the morals of The Jungle Book."
Really great interview with Andre De Shields here. He talks at length about the production.
Updated On: 6/18/13 at 12:37 AM
