Marcy Szymanski

My full thesis project centers on the elevation of costume design for non-profit theatre, since the majority of Americans who experience live theatre do so at the local level in community and regional productions. It is possible to have thoughtful, beautiful, functional costumes in lower budget houses with creative and innovative design and constriuction solutions, like the re-engineering of existing garments, and I've demonstrated that with a selection of costumes for the Queen jukebox musical We Will Rock You. This show was chosen because jukebox musicals in general are popular shows in the world of non profit theatre, and the creative potential with this one in particular was interesting to me. This character, Killer Queen, is the central villain of the story and rules over a future society obsessed with a synthetic way of life. Her look was inspired by famous queens from history, including Elizabeth I, Russian nobility, 80's power dressing, and drag.