Valerie L. Cavooris

I served as the Assistant to the Costume Designer under designer and Costume Shop Manager Janus Stefanowicz.  My role incluced research, garment / fabric selection, educating actors on the use of their costume pieces (especially Bat Boy's fangs and bat ears!)  I also helped Janus think of the character traits of the townspeople and the various costume pieces which would represent them.

The Parkers' costumes portray them as a nuclear family of the 1950's, with daughter Shelley initially having a rock-a-billy influence.  Their perfect appearances are intended to belie the reality of their situation.  The Parkers contrast with the townspeople, who appear as stereotypical "hillbillies."  the ensemble members each play multiple townspeople, in addition to portraying "themselves" as members of the chorus.  Their costumes consisted mainly of easily interchangeable  pieces to allow for quick changes between characters, often of different genders.  The costumes for the actors as Ensemble Members were all shades of black, white, and gray, and served as bases for the character pieces.  Eccentric pattern mixing was a major concept in the costumes for the ensemble.