Amazing Seamstress—Marianne Hughes
w w w . a rt s l i n k w v . o rg
summer 2010 Edition
The Francis Creative Arts Center is
home to an important cog in the arts
scene in the local area. It could be called
“ArtsLink‟s Attic” and it holds hundreds
of costumes and props used in local musical and drama productions.
Curator of the prized collection is
Marianne Hughes, who has created costumes for every Lincoln Theater musical
since 2001.
“The contents of the attic have also
been accumulated from many places -other local theater groups, many private
citizens,” Marianne explains. “In fact, a
larger percentage of the contents of the
attic have come from people and places
other than myself and the musicals.”
The multi-talented Hughes learned
her craft at a young age, being too small
to find clothes that fit her outside of the
children‟s departments. After making
her own clothes for a number of years,
she worked briefly for a costume company in the Pittsburgh area, where she
altered rental costumes and eventually
made a few items from scratch, including outfits for some of the puppets on
Mr. Roger‟s Neighborhood: Daniel S.
Tiger and Henrietta Pussycat. She and a
friend worked on weddings and cheer-
leak. A Bayer grant added garment bags and lots of hangers.
Memorable productions with
unique challenges followed.
“When I was asked to do the
costumes for „Chicago,‟ I was in
the midst of making my daughter‟s wedding dress and seven
bridesmaid dresses,” she recalls.
“That was a real challenge.”
Serendipity played a part in
outfitting the colorful cast of
“The King and I.” Several ArtsLink members were attending a
statewide meeting of arts organizations when they were approached by Felice Jorgenson,
manager of the Smoot Theater in
Parkersburg. She said she heard
that the Lincoln Theater was
planning a production of “The
King and I” and she wondered if
they would be interested the cosJoseph‟s amazing coat & our amazing seamstress tumes designed for the Smoot
leader/drill team uniforms.
production of the same play.
After she and her husband, Bill,
The Smoot costumes had been demoved to Wetzel County to raise their signed by David Sindeldecker of WVU,
children in the country, her skills were who had worked briefly for the New
called upon when her daughter, Clare, Martinsville Parks and Recreation Dedeveloped an interest in music and partment before moving on the WVU-P
dance. Marianne made costumes for campus, where he earned a well“The Fantasticks,” produced by Ann deserved reputation for his costume
Lapp Haught in 2001, followed by a work. The Smoot had no room to keep
major challenge the following year when the costumes and Jorgenson was willing
Clare starred in Elizabeth Francis‟ pro- to part with them for $500.
duction of “My Fair Lady.”
An ArtsLink minigrant secured the
“I made 50 dresses for that produc- costumes for the production and the retion,” she recalls.
sult was another memorable Elizabeth
The Hughes‟ country home didn‟t Francis production. In another fateful
have a basement, only a crawl space, and twist, the original star of the play, Gail
finding places to store the rapidly accu- Barone Haught, broke her hip and Clare
mulating collection of costumes was Hughes Cannizzaro, now a professional
daunting. In 2005, ArtsLink, the arts singer and dancer, stepped in to fill the
council of Wetzel and Tyler Counties, role of Anna.
came to the rescue. The Francis Center
Marianne doesn‟t spent all her time
contained a large, empty third floor attic sewing. At one point, she worked part
with a plywood floor and a couple of time as a court-reporter for judges in
fluorescent lights.
Wetzel and Tyler Counties, drawing on
“Joseph and the Amazing Techni- her training at a Pittsburgh business
color Dream Coat” featured a spectacu- school. She began her education as a
lar costume that made the production math major at Carnegie Mellon, but
especially memorable. Fortunately, opted for marriage to the man she had
Marianne now has a place to store the known since she was six years old. Colprized coat so that it could be used lege took second place to raising a famagain. With help from her husband and ily.
son, both electricians, she was able to
She also finds time to play the organ
add lighting to the space, hang rods and at Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church in
adapt storage areas. Ken Dunlap and Paden City. Oh, and by the way, she also
Hesh Caldwell helped by adding hang- makes toys for Thistledew Farms and
ing rods and making sure the roof didn‟t Mountain Craft Shop.
Amazing (continued)
“Sock monkeys and rabbits, cloth
checkerboards, upside-down dolls,” she
says. “And I make clothes for Limber
Jacks and Climbing Bears. Great fun!
And I spend a few days a week packing
up lots of Mountain Craft Shop toys and
shipping them all over the country. I
like to think I‟m making people happy.”
And if
that weren‟t enough,
Marianne finds time to take ballet lessons from Suzi Gunter at the Mid Ohio
Valley Ballet Company in Parkersburg.
It‟s where Clare got her start and of
course, Marianne made costumes for the
dancers.
“After spending a number of years as
„backstage mom‟ for the ballet company
and watching these young girls perform,
I needed to know what that felt like,”
she explains “So I started taking class
with the eight-year-old beginner ballerinas. Now those eight-year-olds are
about 13 and are becoming beautiful
ballerinas in their pointe shoes, while I
remain a little old lady still trying to get
the hang of the basics. But they keep me
feeling young” she laughs.
Marianne has many goals for her
costume attic project, including labeling
the costumes and cataloging them into a
computer program. ArtsLink occasionally receives requests for the loan of
costumes by other people planning productions.
“This is not a costume rental undertaking,” she stresses. “But part of the
purpose of storing them is so that they
can be used again. When we know the
people who need them, they are certainly welcome to use them and we request that a donation be made to
ArtsLink”.
“It‟s great when costumes can be
used again. Magnolia High School has
borrowed for some of their December
musicals. It‟s quite rewarding to see my
costumes on stage in somebody else‟s
production. And that‟s the purpose of
the Attic—to keep these things available
so that some other costumer doesn‟t
need to start from scratch. And when I
could search the attic and turn “My Fair
Lady” maid dresses into “The Sound of
Music” postulant dresses, that saves a
lot of sewing.”
ily, Shere Khan (the tiger) with his side
-kick Tabaqui (the jackal), Nag and
Nagaina (the cobras), Darzee (the bird),
Hathi (the master elephant), RikkiTikki-Tavi (the mongoose), Kaa (the
rock-python), Buck (a buck) and of
course the Monkey-People. All students, grades entering 1st grade through
12th grade, are encouraged to audition.
No advance preparation is necessary.
Assistant Directors will also be cast to
assist with the technical aspects of the
production.
The Missoula Children's Theatre
touring productions are complete with
costumes, scenery, props and makeup.
MCT Tour Actor/Directors will conduct rehearsals throughout the week
from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. each day.
The Missoula Children's Theatre residency in New Martinsville is sponsored
by ArtsLink with support from the
West Virginia Division of Culture and
History and the National Endowment
for the Arts, with approval from the
West Virginia Commission on the Arts.
MCT is supported in part by a grant
from the Montana Arts Council, an
agency of the Montana State Government. Local sponsors are Hughes ElecChildren in grades 1-12 are being intric and Hizer‟s Mini Storage. Addivited to join their favorite bunch of Jun- tional support for this ArtsLink activity
gle Book characters as they try to catch is provided by West Virginia Northern
a tiger by the tail when the Missoula
Community College, the New MartinsChildren's Theatre and up to 50 local
ville Parks and Recreation Department,
students present “The Jungle Book” an Chesapeake Energy, WETZ/WYMJ
original musical adaptation of Rudyard Radio, J. C. Mensore Distributor,
Kipling‟s classic.
Witschey‟s Supermarket, and Ohio ValAn audition will be held for the Mis- ley Online.
soula Children's Theatre (MCT) production of “The Jungle Book,” Monday,
June 14 at the Lincoln Theater in New
Martinsville from 10 a.m. - noon.
Those auditioning should arrive at 9:45
and plan to stay for the full two hours.
Some of the cast members will be asked
to stay for a rehearsal immediately following the audition.
In an effort to curtail the ever-rising
“The Jungle Book” will be pre- cost of printing and postage, ArtsLink
sented at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, will be notifying interested persons via
June 19 at the Lincoln Theater. Re- e-mail of the availability of our newsletserved seat tickets are $8 for adults and ter on our website, www.artslinkwv.org.
$5 for children under 12; General Ad- If you have not already received a test emission tickets are $6 for adults and $3 mail from the ArtsLink office, please
for children and are available at the send your e-mail address to
door.
[email protected]. Our newsletter
Among the roles to be cast are is currently mailed to over 400 adMowgli (the man-cub), his friends dresses and the postage and printing
Bagheera (the panther) and Akela (the costs have become significant. Your
leader of the pack), the entire wolf fam- cooperation is greatly appreciated!
Jungle Book
Auditions
Do we have
your e-mail
address?
Arts In
The Park
The New Martinsville Parks and Recreation Department, the Monroe Arts
Council and ArtsLink will present the annual Arts in the Park festival on Sunday,
July 4.
The festivities will begin at 1 p. m. and
continue until 5 p. m. at Bruce Park, State
Route 2, in New Martinsville. Arts and
crafts demonstrations and exhibits by artists and craftspeople from Wetzel and Tyler Counties in West Virginia and Monroe
County, Ohio, are planned. Many items
will be available for sale.
Entertainment will feature, among
others, the Meistersingers and Mike Parsons and Friend. Uncle Sam will serve as
master of ceremonies. Lots of games
will be offered for the kids. The Wayward Players will perform short plays.
Admission to the park and the festival is
free of charge.
Free soft drinks and popsicles will be
furnished by the New Martinsville Parks
and Recreation Department. The New
Martinsville Lions Club will be selling
hot dogs.
ArtsLink is committed to providing
universal accessibility wherever possible.
Persons with special needs may contact
Commission on the Arts and. West VirArtsLink at 304-455-2278 to request assis- ginia Northern Community College,
tance. This festival is supported in part by WETZ/WYMJ, and Ohio Valley Online.
the Ohio River Border Initiative, a joint
project of the Ohio Arts Council and the
West Virginia Commission on the Arts.
For further information, please contact
Barbara Vincent at 304-652-2939.
New Classes
Offered
Ever been abandoned in the jungle,
adopted by wolves, taught by a bear, befriended by a panther and chased by a tiger? That‟s what happens in the Missoula
Children‟s Theater‟s musical adaptation of
THE JUNGLE BOOK scheduled June 1419 in New Martinsville under the sponsorship of ArtsLink, the Wayward Players and
the New Martinsville Parks and Recreation
Department.
Mowgli, the man-cub, has all those adventures and more. Join him as he escapes
from the Monkey-People, outwits a tiger,
enlists the help of a rock-python, explores
what it means to be human and learns a
lesson from the brave mongoose RikkiTikki-Tavi. Original music and rollicking
humor give new life to this classic tale by
Rudyard Kipling.
Missoula Children‟s Theater residencies
have been favorites of children and parents
alike since ArtsLink began bringing the
troupe to the area. The troupe will arrive
on June 14 and hold auditions for children
grades 1 through 12. The performers chosen rehearse throughout the week and hold
two performances on the final day, June
19. ArtsLink‟s Bruce Ensinger will serve
as accompanist.
More information will be posted on
ArtsLink‟s website. ArtsLink events are
presented with financial assistance from
the West Virginia Division of Culture and
History, the Montana Arts Council, the
National Endowment for the Arts with
approval of the West Virginia
ArtsLink will be offering a variety of
classes for this summer and fall. For information and to sign up for classes
please call Donna Earley at 304-4552278. All classes will take place at the
Frances Creative Art Center. Barbara
Thomaselli, ArtsLink President, comments, “We‟re hoping to attract a large
number of students with our very diverse
class offerings.”
The season will start off on Saturday,
June 12 at 9am with a beginner‟s cake
decorating class offered by instructor Fran
Caldwell. The cost of the class is $15.
Quilter Bente Biddle will offer a purse
class in June at a cost of $20. Elementary
students from 1st -5th grade will be able to
make a mosaic stepping stone on
Wednesday and Thursday, June 23 and
24, from 10am to12 noon. The cost for
this class is $10. In July, learn how to
paint an enameled egg from instructor
Fran Caldwell. Get ready for cold weather
by making a felted hat Sept 23 from 59pm. The instructor is Barb Thomaselli
and the cost is $25. Betty Tustin will be
offering a bead weaving class in the fall.
Class members will learn to make a necklace on individual bead looms.
The Francis Creative Arts Center is
located at the corner of Maple Avenue
and Washington Street in New Martinsville. Financial assistance for ArtsLink
projects has been provided by West Virginia Northern Community College,
Chesapeake Energy, WETZ/WYMJ Radio, and Ohio Valley Online. ArtsLink‟s
Francis Creative Arts Center is universally accessible; persons with special
needs may contact us to request assistance. For further information, please
contact Donna Earley at the ArtsLink
office at 304-455-2278.
Bayer Corporation + Chamber of Commerce + Jarvis-Williams Funeral Home + NM Lions Club + NM Rotary Club +
Occasions + ThistleDew Farms/Mountain Craft + WesBanco + PPG Industries + Deborah Clark + Ms. Sheila
Aberegg + M/M Bill Abraham + Ms Charlotte Adams + M/M George Antonik + Ms. Barbara Baird + Ms Mary
Ann Baker + Ms. Alma Barnard + Dr./M Michael Barnes +Mr Glen Barnes + Ms Elizabeth Barone + Mr William Barth
+ Ms Hannah Benson + Ms Janet Berger + Ms. Faith Blake + M/M Ken Block + Ms Lucille Blum + M/M
Duane Bohrer + Mr Richard D Bonyak + Ms Mary F Boone + M/M Neal Boston + M/M Earl Bowser, Jr.+ Ms. Connie
Brady + Ms. Miriam Brake + Ms Ann Bridgeman + Ms Rose Bridgeman + M/M Jacob Bucy + Ms Elaine Burger + M/
M Art Burnside + M/M David Bush + Ms. Pamela Butcheck + M/M Harry Caldwell + Ms. Catherine Cavezza + Ms.
Elizabeth Chandler + M/M Gary Cochran + Ms. Jessie Coleman + Ms Marilyn A Collett + Mr. Cody Corliss + Dr
Terry Craig + Mr Charles Crawford + Ms. Heather Cullymore + Ms. Janice Curtis + M/M Warren Dean + Mr
Robert DeFrancis + Ms. Mary Ann Devine + M/M John Dyer II + Mr Wells Eakin + Ms Donna Earley + M/M
Larry Edgell + Mr. Bruce Ensinger + Ms Quillian Eubanks Brogan + M/M Mark Fawcett
+ M/M
Paul Feldmeier+ Bob & Margaret Feldmeier + Ms Rebecca Ferrebee + M/
M
Brent
Ferrell
+
M/M
Charles Fiest + M/M Henry Finck + Dr/M Bruce W Forbes + Ms
Karen
Foster
+
Ms
Elizabeth
?
list mas Gilligan + M/M Forrest Glover
Francis + Ms Mary Jo Gaiser + Ms Joyce Gerber + Dr/M Thos
i
th
+ M/M Edward Glover + M/M Fred Goddard + M/M
Mark Goldstein + M/M Warren Grace +
n
o
M/M Tom Gray + M/Rev Joseph Griffith + M/M Sidney Grisell + M/M Nelson Hachem + M/M
u
yo Robert Haught + Ms Floy Hawkins + M/M James
Carman Harman + M/M David Harman + M/M
e
r
Henthorn + Ms Lily Hill + M/M Cecil Hindman + M/M Bill Hughes + M/M Steve Hunt + Ms
-A
s
r
Elizabeth Hurley + Fr Walter Jagela
+
M/M
Joanou + M/M Joseph Jones + Ms Janet Jones
e
b Richard KlugFrank
m
+ Ms Sandra Keeton + M/M
+
M/M
John Knoop + M/M Philip Konopacky + M/M
Me Bryan Lemasters + Mr Buddy Light Jr. + Ms Mary Loehr + M/M DonAlan Krueger + M/M
d
ai Mahurin + Ms Jean Marshall + M/M Don Mason + M/M David McCartney + M/
ald Macnaughtan + Ms Mary P
M Harold McClain + Ms Janet
McGill + Ms Elise McIntire + M/M John J Mensore + Mr Ed Milam + Ms Patty Miller
+ M/M Robert Mitchell + Ms Cindy Moore + Ms Barbara M Morris + Ms Pat Morrow + Ms June Mullett + M/M Tom
Myslinsky + Ms Pat Ordile + Ms Lorraine Owens + M/M Anthony Parks + M/M Erwain Peck + Ms. Kathy Phillips +
M/M Richard Poling + Mr Joel A Potts III + M/M Joseph Powell + M/M Jim Price + Ms Marilyn Puttenvink + Ms
Mona Pyles + Ms. Eleanor Ratcliffe + M/M Raymond Renaud + M/M Greg Richmond + M/M Scott Richter + Mr
Mark Riter + Ms Norma Ritz + M/M Dean Rohrig + Ms Bethany Rohrig + Mr. Herbert Rothlisberger + M/M Horst Siffrin + M/M Larry Sine + Ms. Tresa Slawinski + Ms Carol Smith + M/M Chris D Smith + Mary T Smith + M/M
Roger Smith + Ms Patricia Spangler + M/M Sam Stewart + M/M George A Stickler + M/M Ralph Strippel + M/M William Stuart + M/M Larry Tackett + M/M Bill Talkington + M/M Robert Thomas + M/M Richard Thomaselli + M/M
Alvy Tustin + M/M Don Tuttle + M/M Phil Tuttle + M/M Frank Van Schaik + Ms Barbara Vincent + Mr Eric Vincent +
M/M Charles Virden + Ms. Joberta White + M/M Fred Wilcox + Ms. Judi Williams + M/M Bill Witschey + Mr. John C.
Wright + M/M Roger Wyke + Mr A Kent Yeater + Christine Yost + Tina Neil & Terry Zuber.
Membership Application
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Shining A Little
Brighter
The Lincoln Theater is shining a
little brighter, thanks to a minigrant from
ArtsLink, the arts council of Wetzel and
Tyler Counties.
Since its inception, ArtsLink has
been offering mini-grant opportunities to
local artists to expand opportunities for
artistic training and development and to
contribute to the overall improvement of
the cultural climate of the two-county
area. To that end, ArtsLink awarded a
mini-grant to the Lincoln Theater Restoration Council to help fund upgrades to
the lighting system. The lighting instruments were very old and inefficient. A
total of ten new lighting units were purchased and will be used to replace the
front-of-house lights. The new lights
were installed in time for the recent production of “The Sound of Music”. According to Bart Cannizzaro, technical
advisor for the Lincoln Theater, “The
new lights use less energy and put out a
brighter light. We‟ll be able to do a
much better job of lighting the stage.”
The historic Lincoln Theater in
downtown New Martinsville is owned
by the City of New Martinsville and
administered by the Parks and Recreation Department. The Lincoln Theater
Restoration Council was formed in 1988,
consisting of seven volunteers and the
head of the Parks and Recreation Department. In the past 14 years, a new roof
was put on, the wall fabric replaced, the
electrical wiring upgraded, new carpeting installed, and the building was air
conditioned. In January 2000, all of the
seats on the main level of the theater
were replaced and in 2009, the dimming
system and control of the stage lighting
was upgraded (with help of an ArtsLink
mini-grant). Applications for ArtsLink
mini-grants are available for artists and
artistic projects in the Wetzel-Tyler
county area. For an application or further
information, please call Donna Earley at
304-455-2278 or e-mail [email protected].
ArtsLink is committed to providing
universal accessibility wherever possible.
Persons with special needs may contact
ArtsLink to request assistance. Additional information concerning ArtsLink
activities and events is available at [email protected]. Support for ArtsLink‟s minigrant program comes from
the West Virginia Division of Culture
and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from
the West Virginia Commission on the
Arts.
Betty Tustin was presented the WV State Society DAR Award for Historical Preservation.
Diane Johnson, WV State Historian NSDAR
commented: " Betty Tustin devotes much time
to demonstrating the heritage arts of spinning
and weaving. Young people know only that
clothes come from Wal-Mart. They have no
understanding of the process of making the
cloth. Betty keeps this old tradition alive in
our state. She is very deserving of this award."
The Films of Preston
DeFrancis (to date)
An area filmmaker who has found
success in Los Angeles will bring his
early works to New Martinsville for a one
-night showing June 11. “The Films of
Preston DeFrancis (to date)” will be presented at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Theater
under the sponsorship of ArtsLink, the
arts council of Wetzel and Tyler Counties. Tickets at the door will be $5.00.
Preston DeFrancis, son of Robert and
Pat DeFrancis of Wheeling, will bring
three short films that will chart his development as a filmmaker, culminating in his
award-winning thesis film, “The Big Production.”
DeFrancis once believed that a career
in the film and television industry was out
of reach. Raised in Wheeling, West Virginia, he left home to study Electrical
Engineering at Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland, Ohio. There he
connected with a small but active filmmaking community and was encouraged
to pursue graduate work in film.
He moved to Los Angeles to attend
the MFA Film Directing program at the
University of Southern California School
Of Cinematic Arts. His award-winning
short film “The Big Production” has
screened at film festivals around the
globe and has been honored by the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences, the
Caucus Foundation for Television Directors, and USC‟s First Look Film Festival.
Since graduating from USC, Preston
has been working at HBO and contributed
to such programs as “John Adams,” “Into
the Storm,” and the fourth-coming series
“Games of Thrones.” He also teaches a
course in cinematic sound at USC, previously taught by one of Preston‟s mentors,
THX creator Tomlinson Holman. Preston
is developing multiple feature film
screenplays, and his romantic comedy
“The Do-Over” is currently seeking talent
attachments.
Bart Cannizzaro will serve as projectionist and West Virginia Northern Community College will provide refreshments. This event is sponsored by HBO.
Support for this ArtsLink activity and
others is provided by West Virginia
Northern Community College, the New
Martinsville Parks and Recreation Department, Chesapeake Energy, WETZ/
WYMJ Radio, and Ohio Valley Online.
Online.
June 11 at 7pm
The Films of Preston DeFrancis (to date).
June 14 at 9:45am
The Jungle Book auditions
June 19 at 3 and 7pm
The Jungle Book performances
All at the Lincoln Theater
in New Martinsville.
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Wheeling WV
26003
PERMIT NO. 647
ArtsLink, Inc.
c/o WVNCC
141 Main Street
New Martinsville WV 26155