Phantom Tollbooth

My next big costuming project for Thin Ice Theater is The Phantom Tollbooth.

We're producing the play by Susan Nanus, based on the book written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer.  The book was published in 1961.  When I was in fourth grade, and the book and I were still both pretty new, my teacher read it to us, chapter by chapter.  It's been one of my top favorite books ever since, and both my kids are big friends of all the characters, just as I am.  I can't recommend it highly enough, so I am delighted to be part of this production.

So far, a general game plan has been created - most of the actors will be wearing black base clothes, and costume changes will be done by changing overclothes and accessories.  Next, I studied our inventory list, actors were measured, and an afternoon was spent pulling costume pieces out of storage boxes and closets.  A couple of days ago we had the huge costume try-on and fitting day.  Seven costumers tried 47 costumes of varying complexity on 26 young actors in 2 1/2 hours.  Whew!  It was kind of crazy and kind of miraculous.

The book just celebrated it's 50th anniversary.  Here's a fun interview with the author and illustrator telling about the birth of the book.