April Moore Designs
The Importance of Being Earnest
by Oscar Wilde
Shorter University, September 2022
The Importance of Being Earnest is my favorite show and it is set in my absolute favorite period of fashion. The late Victorian era, 1980s.
I wanted to take full advantage of the bustle silhouette of the 1890s and give Gwendolyn the most fashionable styles of the era. I contrasted Gwendolyn with Cecily in color and in the stark difference in the fashions and in the silhouettes.
Lady Bracknell was a great challenge to figure out how to create a masculine/feminine balance and to still keep it in the realm of the period piece.
Rodgers' and Hammerstein's Cinderella (2013)
by Rodgers and Hammerstein
RCA for Shorter University, April 2022
When going into the design of Cinderella, I wanted to take aspects of some of the most iconic Cinderella moments in history. I took a lot of inspiration from the Arthur Rackham drawings and decided on setting the world in a more fantastical version of the world Ever After presented, as even though this is a theatrical production, I wanted some grounding in historical reality.
Because of the Italian/French Rennaissance setting, I was able to play with silks, satins, brocades, and velvets to create this sumptuous world of the palace and contrast is greatly with the village and Cinderella's pauper outfit being made of all cottons.
Color was another fun element to play around with and to create different palettes for each character and setting. I kept the tones or the village light but leaning more into neutrals and the palace was full of all the colors and textures, allowing for even more of a contrast between the two worlds without the clashing with each other visually.
The Taste of Sunrise
by Susan Zeder
Tiscornia Theater at SU October 2021
The Taste of Sunrise is a bilingual memory play told in English and ASL.
It tells the story of a young boy named Tuc and his struggles growing up deaf in a world where seemingly no on understands him. We see him grow into himself and learn his own language and way to communicate with others.
I wanted the design of this show to be very grounded and flow with the dreamy feel and movement of the play. It is set in the turn of the century in 1917 which afforded a beautiful opportunity for costumes to ground the show in a bit of reality in such a fluid and constantly changing timeline.
Godspell
by John-Michael Tebelak & Stephen Schwartz
Tiscornia Theater at SU October 2021
Godspell is such a special show and resonates with so many different people that I wanted the design to be contemporary and for the audience to be able to see themselves in the different characters.
Twelfth Night
by William Shakespeare
Porter Sunken Garden at SU April 2021
In order for the show to resonate with a modern audience and to fit with the design of being outside in a garden, the costumes were modernized in the present times.
Since the show takes place on the island of Ilyria, the costumes draw from the preppy summer style and resort wear of rich college kids and the staff at their country clubs.
"Team" colors come into play with the two houses of Orsino and Olivia, blue for the former and red for the latter. The use of these two colors helped the audience to keep track of where each character belonged as the show went on.
Polka Dots: The Cool Kid's Musical
By Melvin Tunstall, Greg Borowsky, and Douglas Lyons
Tiscornia Theater at SU February 2021
I am so excited to have been able to be one of the first to design this kid's musical in an academic theatre setting. This is my first kid's show and I wanted to lean into the whimsical and fantastical nature of the show.
The use of geometric shapes in the text of this show allowed me to really play with creating a very unique look for the characters in this world.
I was able to be challenged by having to make college kids look like children using only adult clothes and the addition of the wigs and extensive face paint and make-up was something I had never tried before. I feel I was able to grow as an artist and a designer through this show and I will always have fond memories of this time.
Heathers: The Musical
by Laurence O'Keefe
The Market Theater July 2019
When I started my design for Heathers; The Musical I looked for inspiration from both the 80s movie and the previous Broadway production. The style of the show, in particular the three Heathers, JD, and Veronica, is so iconic that I wanted to give audiences the iconic looks of those characters while still giving my own spin on them and staying within my limited budget. I was able to be very creative and use my DIY skills for this show in order to accomplish the desired look under budget. I loved working on this musical and it was such a fun and rewarding experience adapting this iconic show and movie into my own original design.
Julius Caesar
by William Shakespeare
SCSA (AU Rep Theatre) June 2019
When the director told me that his concept was Lord of the Flies for this production with prep school kids whose plane crashed on a deserted island and we follow their story two years after the event. I was so excited to work with such a unique concept and I went to work on creating the uniform colors and look. I thrifted all of this show other than the collared shirts, the skirts for the girls, and the ties. I chose navy as the base color because blacks are much harder to match than navy and I personally think it looks better onstage especially with the lights chosen. I mixed the navy with a cranberry red and chose to put the kids in light blue shirts in order to make them not wash out under the lights as pure white tends to do. This entire show was distressed and I made sure to distress the clothes in a natural way while still keeping with the director's vision of the clothes being ripped to shreds.
Around the World in 80 Days by Mark Brown
SCSA (AU Rep Theatre) June 2019
Around the World in 80 Days is a colorful, laugh out loud adventure. I wanted the costumes to reflect the fun and colorful nature of the script so I chose to balance the brighter colors of vests, pants, skirts, and capes with some darker and more serious colors to anchor the whimsy and make it more realistic. One of the changes made in this show was Aouda was changed from an Indian princess to a young Victorian Englishwoman who got seperated from her expedition and wound up in trouble. This change allowed me to play with an expediton costume for her character and once the director told me she wanted Aouda to look like Jane from Tarzan I immediately knew what I was putting her in and it is my favorite costume of the show.
Great Expectations
by Nick Ormerod & Declan Donnellan
SCSA April 2019
Great Expectations is a coming of age story of acceptance and learning to become your true self. I chose a very specific color palette for this show because it is such a dramatic and heavy show it would have looked out of place if I put everyone in light and bright colors. I chose to stay in darker neutrals and jewel tones to complement the script, set, and to play better in the dim lighting used for the production. Construction was a big part of this production, we constructed two capes, a wedding dress, and two dresses for both Estellas. I loved really being able to dig into the design of this show by doing extensive research, figuring out a timeline for the script, and being able to draw something and have it made into reality before my eyes. I am so thankful to have been able to design such a wonderful show for my senior project at my undergrad.
Translations by Brian Friel
SCSA November 2017 - Nominated for KCACTF Design Award
Translations is a rich story filled with longing, breaking tradition, loss, and fighting for what you know is right. In my design I wanted to show the culture of 1840s Ireland while still keeping the Regency style. I put a lot of thought into what each character would be wearing and how the wear on each of their clothes would be different due to their positions in society and what their daily life looked like. A lot of research went into this show as I wanted to make sure I was portraying this beautiful time period as accurately as I could. Especially when it came to the military uniforms which were a lucky find from Etsy, they are actual UK vintage military coats. Intentional distressing of clothes was something I put a lot of thought into during the process. I did not want any piece of clothing to look like it hadn't been worn down or muddied naturally. I focused on the places where clothing would naturally wear out or catch the dirt, I even made sure the shoes were distressed in a natural way using actual mud.