Tara Maginnis
I am a costume and makeup designer and Professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, so, when I (along with the rest of the faculty, staff and students of the Theatre Department) offered to help with the production of Chronic Town, I thought I'd be mostly helping the costume and makeup designers with finding supplies in Fairbanks. I didn't really expect to be asked to audition for the tiny role of Jenny, an elderly drunk who is obsessed with a sandwich, and has difficulty remaining vertical. I expected even less to be cast, since I'm only 48 and I've also never drunk alcohol. However, apparently Tommy thought I tipped over with distinction at auditions (or he was desperate), so I got asked to do so again (and again, and again) on the icy parking lot outside the Boatel bar for a morning's filming. Despite the bruises on my backside, it was rather fun. I got folks to take pictures of me getting made up as an old lady by Jackie Zaizar and hanging at the Boatel with the cast and crew. You can see that here.
In my normal career I don't act, although I have performed in my own DVD series on Theatrical Makeup Design where I'm a "talking head" that applies makeup to myself as I lecture. You can watch a clip of this here or read more about this project.
I'm best known as the author of the Web's largest site on costume design, construction and history: The Costumer's Manifesto. I was amused and pleased to find that Chronic Town's Costume Designer, Wendy Willis was a fan of the site.
All the clothes I wore as Jenny are weird bits from my own winter wardrobe that Wendy expertly assembled into a bizarrely comic whole. We had a fun time when Wendy first arrived as I madly drove her around Fairbanks in my Auroramobile showing her the UAF costume storage, the fabric store, the costume rental store and Fred Meyer so she'd know what she could get in town if she needed anything.
Probably the most fun for me on this production was filming the "acid trip" scene, which was done in the Boatel Bar one night. The scene included many of the students and staff of Theatre UAF as extras. Amidst the normal bar patrons, I and my Costume Shop Manager Lorraine Pettit drunkenly danced while worshipping my sandwitch. I strongly suspect this will be cutting room floor material, but it was an insane delight to do this in the midst of a group of friends.
