The Art of the Quick Change

The Tony awards were held this week and and one of the performances included a medley of songs from The King and I that is currently being staged on broadway.
Kelli O’Hara who plays Anna in the show had to do a 47 second quick change during the performance. The video of it is below.
This brought back happy memories from last year when I performed the role of Carlotta in “Phantom of the Opera”. In Act One I actually did a quick change on stage!  Full costume change including a wig change in less than 30 seconds!  In the second Act I had a quick change from the Masquerade scene to the next office scene. I had just under 1 1/2 minutes to do a full costume change, similar to Kelli. I had to get out of a ball gown, change all jewellery which included removing a tiara and then putting on another hat, earings, then put on a gown and a huge red coat with a gorgeous fur collar (fake of course).  Being a vocalist can include so many challenges, like quick costume changes. You have to do all this at lightening speed and then continue on as if it were all a breeze.  It’s all a part of the fun of music theatre. Just love it!