Designer to the stars

• Costumes

beth rickers/daily globe Judie Johnson stands next to two of her costume creations — the Wardrobe and Cogsworth — for “Beauty and the Beast.”

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WORTHINGTON — The version of “Beauty and the Beast” with which most people are familiar is the animated Disney movie. Bringing those colorful images to life on the stage posed a unique challenge for the crew of the musical currently being staged at Worthington’s Memorial Auditorium Performing Arts Center.

But Judie Wendt Johnson was up for the task.

Johnson, a longtime member of the Friends of the Auditorium advisory group and self-proclaimed theater junkie, took on the job of conceptualizing and fabricating the costumes for the play’s major characters — 48 out of 106 costumes needed for the lavish production — as well as overseeing the rest of the costuming and the set design.

“They had originally planned to rent the costumes, but they were either all rented out or closed for the summer,” Johnson explained. “It was my bright idea to make them and then be able to rent them out ourselves and make money for the Friends of the Auditorium.”

“I had seen a production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in Sioux Falls, and they had rented the costumes from Chanhassen (Chanhassen Dinner Theatres), but they weren’t renting them out during the summer,” further explained director Jason Olson. “I’m biased, obviously, but I think Judie created something that exceeded what they have.

“What I tried to get across to Judie in the beginning is that it’s a cartoon, and I wanted extremely bright colors, those cartoon colors,” Olson continued. “But in the castle, I wanted it to still be formal-looking, a classic look, not an ugly brightness. Judie got a hold of what I wanted and ran with it.”

In order to design costumes that would translate from the movie onto the stage and be of rentable quality, Johnson began by researching the various characters and the costuming possibilities on the Internet. She printed out pictures of costumes that she liked and combined elements to come up with her own interpretation.

As soon as the roles were cast in early June, Johnson measured all the players from top to bottom and began to fabricate the play’s fanciful wardrobe.

She started with Lumiére — the Beast’s maître d’, who through enchantment has taken the form of a candelabra — fashioning his form from papier mâché.

“Everybody laughed at me, because with every costume I was working on, I’d say, ‘I just love this one,’ then it would be the next one, ‘This is going to be so good!’” Johnson related. “My favorite was always the one I was working on at the time.”

Some of the most challenging costumes included Cogsworth, who takes the form of a clock; Mrs. Potts, a teapot; and The Wardrobe. For the humanized teapot, Johnson found an online photograph of a framework that used hula hoops, but she substituted swimming pool “noodles,” the linear floating devices, and covered them with a couple layers of fabric.

“I can make something out of nothing,” Johnson said. “I’ve always done that. … I’ve sewed since I was in the fourth grade. I’ve always had a crafty nature where I can see things, put them together to make it happen.”

By hand, Johnson carved the Beast’s horns out of cement board and put two wigs together to form his mane. She used another construction material — basement insulation foam — to provide support in the hats she created for various characters. Upholstering the Wardrobe, which was built with drawers and doors that open, took Johnson on a sentimental journey.

“My grandfather was an upholsterer, and he showed me how to upholster things,” she said. “So I thought about that the whole time I was doing it. I felt like he was standing behind me the whole time, giving me advice from above.”

While she focused her own efforts on the most elaborate costumes, Judie guided a team of helpers through alterations on the other articles of clothing and also did a lot of the set construction and oversaw its painting. Although there were some failed early attempts, she devised one of the play’s most significant props — a rose that drops its petals on cue. She used holographic wrapping paper to create the effect of stained glass windows in the castle and put together a variety of odd items for Maurice’s invention, which has moving parts.

“As the opening day got closer, I put the pedal down and was working on it 12 hours a day, seven days a week,” Johnson shared. “I’d go to bed with dread, wondering how it was all going to get done. But then things started falling into place. A lot of times, if I’d have trouble figuring out how to do something, I’d sleep on it, and in the morning an idea would be right there waiting and I’d start on it.”

Johnson’s efforts were rewarded the first night she saw all the costumes, sets and props on stage for the first time.

“A costume isn’t a costume until you get the lights on it,” she said. “The first night I got to see everything under the lights, it was so emotional, I just cried. You can never underestimate what lights can do to a costume, as well as the people who are in them. It’s so much fun to watch people get into them and bring them to life.”

During the dress rehearsals, Olson saw his vision come to life on the stage, and he gives Johnson full credit for making the lavish production a reality.

“I don’t think any of us realized how huge it was going to become,” he said. “This production is so beautiful, and it would not have been possible without Judie. … It did exceed my expectations.”

Three performances of “Beauty and the Beast” remain at Memorial Auditorium Performing Arts Center: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. For resrved ticket information, phone 376-9101, or stop by the auditorium box office, 714 13th St., between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

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