Pat Kane, Kathy Booth, Carol Antos and Tracy Wall are the foursome who spin straw into gold for Concord Players productions.  Their work ethic and work product have raised them to iconic stature not only in Concord, but in the Eastern Massachusetts region of Community Theaters.  There are too many DASH awards among them to count, but that's never what they're thinking about when they're poring over catalogs of period clothing or bending over a sewing machine.   

What they're thinking about is how the costume has to help define the character; a fleur de lis pattern for Charles of France; buttons in the shape of clefs for Salieri; ridiculously over-sized accessories for wicked stepsisters whose out-sized personalities are written for comedic effect. 

Collectively and individually, these women have talent, skills and a knowledge base that if put on paper would require an entire section of any city library.  Good costuming requires more than knowing what a costume should look like.  Expertise in engineering, color theory, history, knowledge about social behaviors of varied periods and classes, and stage lighting are just a few of the elements that come into play when designing for a show.  The Divas have a full complement of these elements in their collective tool kit and they use them collaboratively to create works of art that move beautifully and functionally across the boards.

Pat Kane has been costuming for the Players since 1991.  Her work has represented a time span from 412 BC (Lysistrata) to the mod and colorful 1960's (Barefoot in the Park).  In between there were other shows like Cinderella where she miraculously turned flat pieces of foam into 3-dimensional horse heads.  When she worked with Kathy Booth (a good example of how the Divas collaborate) who designed for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, she conceived and created gargoyle costumes that looked so much like marble and stone they appeared to be set pieces rather than the living, moving creatures they were. For The Lion in Winter, she ingeniously incorporated scraps of upholstery fabric into Henry II's tunic for an authentic look. When Spamalot called for a cow to be thrown over a castle wall, Pat was undaunted. She set to collecting plastic packing material from everyone she knew, then used it to fill the life sized Guernsey cow she had created from scratch, giving it mass, not damaging weight.   The effect was perfect - and hilarious. She is an empress of engineering and resourcefulness.

If Pat is the Empress of Engineering, Kathy Booth is the Queen of Color.  With years of costuming for Fenn School on her resume, she started with the Concord Players dressing characters for Oklahoma! in 1998 with Gladys Forman.  Kathy can discern multiple hues of any shade and carry them in her head to the fabric shop.  She comes back every time with a perfect match.  She's also got a canny eye for how a pattern or a color will read from the stage.       

If Kathy says the pattern is too small to read, don't waste your time trying it out.  It's too small. For the Players production of HONK!, Kathy created irresistibly adorable ducklings with yellow rompers and orange rain boots.  Hens, mallards and all manner of avians were feathered and fitted, each had a unique accessory to amplify the character.  The Canada geese were so convincing we could have sworn they were speaking French.  Her Sharks and Jets for West Side Story were alternately threatening, colorful, sexy, glamorous or in the case of Maria, ethereal.  She is a master of organization. For Hunchback, Kathy choreographed several dozen costumes and changes backstage with a costume plot the size of Hadrian's Wall.  It wasn't necessary, though.  Backstage, Kathy knew who needed what and where to find it every time.

Carol Antos is a stickler for perfection and her costumes prove it.  Her recent work on Funny Girl required costumes that traveled from pre WWI to the late 1920's.  Every element of every period was impeccably correct beginning with young Fanny's bloomers to her lush fur coat at the close of the show. Carol oversees every stich, hem and collar of her designs.  For Sunday in the Park with George, she fabricated a dress for character Dot.  The dress was so beautiful that no one in the audience could have guessed that when Dot literally stepped out of it, it would stand there on its own.  And it did for every performance.  Similar attention to construction and design was the breakaway suit Carol created for Billie in Chicago, in what seemed like magic he went from fully clothed to his skivvies in the blink of an eye.  Three more costume changes in 45 seconds for that show are testament to her prowess both as a designer and as an engineer.

Tracy Wall brings insightful historical references to her costuming and to the group.  All costumers start with a silhouette, but Tracy has an eye that can discern a single mm off a shoulder and know that the period is wrong.  Her use of color and texture when dressing a show is akin to fine art.  Her first show with the Players was She Loves Me in 2005.  She blended her palette with the set in muted tones of green and gold, splashed with bright spots of coral or red on period coats, dresses, hats and gloves appropriate to mid-1930's Hungary.  When the Players staged The Scarlet Pimpernel, Tracy was there to create a breathtaking panorama of 18^th century aristocrats.  Her fops were adorned with all the feathers, buckles and bows appropriate to gentlemen of their standing.  Women and men sported colorful walking sticks, coordinated with their haute couture.  The poor and the ragged indeed appeared poor and ragged and even Madame Tussaud's apron was authentically sullied.

Clearly, the Divas are exceptional and their contributions to the Concord Players manifold.  But their creativity, sewing skills, historical knowledge or genius with color only define their craft. What truly makes them exceptional is their commitment to community and their enormous capacity for caring about everyone in the company.

They are modest of ego and generously share ideas and credit.  They will work together through the night if that's what's required.  And, if other crafters on a show need help, they are there to give it.  During the production of To Kill A Mockingbird, set dressers were flummoxed over how to create Spanish moss.  The Divas put their heads together and spent days soaking gauze in green dye to create the dramatic effect.  During the production of Cinderella, the pumpkin chariot was bereft of a canopy.  Again, the Divas came through with an ingenious fabric design. 

It's no wonder these women are beloved by their colleagues.  Their devotion to community, their purposeful work ethic, their generous hearts and their exemplary stagecraft elevate all of us lucky enough to work with them.