Wicked has returned to The Schuster Center for its third year, and Dr. Lynn Barnes of Troy will be making the quick trip to Dayton with her students to experience this year’s production.
Dr. Lynn Barnes is the owner of M. Lynn Barnes Studio located in downtown Troy. Her classes center around fashion construction and piano and vocal lessons. Barnes received her undergraduate degree in Family and Consumer Science and completed her Master’s degree in international Quality Evaluation Control. Barnes received her Ph.D. in Analysis of Textiles and Interiors. Barnes currently teaches introductory classes for basic apparel construction and design, but has a background filled with educational fashion experience.
“Throughout my thirty-year teaching career, I have taught fashion classes that encompass junior high to college level curricular,” Barnes said. “The fashion classes that I have taught include introductions to the fashion industry, basic construction, couture design, retail merchandising, window and visual display, fashion shows, fashion and the media, theater costume, historic fashion shows and historic dress.”
In addition to the fashion classes, Barnes plans to have seminars on specific construction in window displays, swim wear, and hats and bonnet construction. She also hopes that her design students will create a line of clothing for a fashion show she plans to coordinate down the line open to the Miami Valley area.
Wicked, a two-hour and 50-minute musical, tells the story of the infamous characters of Glinda and Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and their warped history before the twister landed Dorothy in Oz.
“Attending the theater is an interactive experience regardless of your personal background,” Barnes said. “There is an important interplay between the actors and the audience. One of the main objectives in seeing this show is for students to identify their current learning and skills as it relates to a professional presentation.”
Susan Hilferty designed all 200 costumes worn in the Broadway production. Her ideas for costuming came from the era in which Baum wrote the “Wizard of Oz” books. She dubbed her emerald designs ‘Twisted Edwardian.’
“I have an extensive background in theater costuming,” Barnes said. “There are many parallels between haute couture fashion and theater costuming, not the least is construction and design. I am hoping that my students will see the connection between what they are learning and achieving in my studio as it relates to a professional theatrical presentation.
Barnes said that the world of fashion and art intersect in theatre and that is what she hopes her students will experience.
“Fashion and theater costumes have the same genesis: they both require creativity and basic construction skills.
“The theater and the movies have historically been a source of entertainment and inspiration on several levels, fashion being just one,” Barnes said. “The costumes that audience members view have the assignment of portraying the character accurately, which is one of the attributes of fashion for everyone. Our clothing makes character statements about the wearer all the time.”
Wicked opened on June 10 in 2003 at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco. The cast included Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda and Idina Menzel as Elphaba. Since its opening, Wicked has won over 100 awards internationally, including a Grammy and three Tony Awards.
“Many theater and movie costume designers had their beginnings as couture designers,” Barnes said. “For instance, Adrian, began his fashion training in Paris and quickly became entranced with Hollywood in the 1920s. Many of his film designs were adapted for retail and merchandised in New York. He has a very close connection to Wicked because he designed the costumes for The Wizard of Oz.”
There are roughly 263 costumes created for each new production of Wicked based on 180 unique costume designs. These designs include over 7,000 fabrics specifically designed by Hilferty. She mixes different fabrics together to create new pieces.
In addition to the show’s outrageous wardrobe, Wicked also has 90 wigs, 70 of which are used during any given show. All of the wigs are made of human hair and are tailored specifically to each individual for the most authentic look.
Barnes’ fashion students aren’t the only ones she hopes will enjoy this wicked experience.
“My music students are currently learning, either on the piano or vocally, parts of the Wicked score. Since they have not seen a production of Wicked yet, they are still unaware of the storyline and the importance of the music,” Barnes said.
There are 22 musical numbers over the course of the two-act production that Barnes’ students will get to see firsthand at the Schuster Center on May 6.
To continue the excitement beyond the show the Victoria Theater Association will be serving drinks and providing conversation pieces after the show on Saturday, May 2 and 9 from 10:00p.m. to midnight. The event is open to all those who have a ticket from that night’s performance.
Barnes feels Wicked upholds its success for two reasons.
“First, it’s just a great show and the plot coupled with great music makes for a great production,” Barnes said. The second reason is that its storyline is grounded in an all-American favorite, The Wizard of Oz. Ever since Dorothy in her ruby slippers, the Scarecrow, the Lion and the Tin-man have serenaded us, we have all been entranced with the Land of Oz. After all, ‘there’s no place like home.’”
Wicked will be at the Schuster Center April 29–May 17, 2015.
For more information on Wicked and future Victoria Theatre productions visit
www.victoriatheatre.com.
For more about Dr. Lynn Barnes classes check out
ww.mlynnbarnesstudio.com/index.html
James Duty
Reporter