In front of the stage, audience members will be laughing and enjoying the show “Greater Tuna” for the next two weekends.
But behind the stage, it’s going to be a workout, especially for costume designer Catherine “Cat” Nease.
Like any other play, there will be plenty of costume changes during the show.
However, considering that “Greater Tuna” consists of only two cast members playing the roles of 20 different characters total, there’s a lot of running around backstage to get each person into the right outfits for the next scene.
“It can be arduous but it’s a constant, always look ahead,” Nease said. “If you know ahead of time of what you’re supposed to be doing, then you’re prepared by the time you get there. You move around a lot.”
“Greater Tuna” will be opening tonight at Permian Playhouse.
The show will start at 7 p.m. tonight, 7 p.m. Feb. 25, 2 p.m. Feb. 26, 7 p.m. March 3, 7 p.m. on March 4 and 2 p.m. on March 5.
The show is directed by Dominic Lopez.
Brandon Thomason and Mario Contreras are the two cast members who will be almost constantly changing into different costumes between scenes as they play the role of the many different characters.
“We have 20 characters so it’s a given that it’s 20 changes plus some characters come in and out so we’ll add those to it so we probably have a minimum of 30 costume changes throughout the show,” Nease said.
Nease is a native Odessan who graduated from Odessa High.
She’s been working with plays throughout the area for almost 20 years now.
This week was the start of dress rehearsals.
“For me, honestly, I came on board Monday so I’ve only been on board for a few days,” Nease said. “I had a nice crash course. We worked out some kinks and some theater magic to make things magic and now here we are. Rocking and rolling.”
She described the first day of dress rehearsals as being challenging but says with each passing day, things started flowing more smoothly.
“I think our first tech days was like most first days,” Nease said. “We’re all stressed out and trying to maneuver around each other and figure out a game plan. We’ve implemented everything at once. Sound, lights, the costumes. We’ve got a lot of stuff going on. After the first tech day, we all knew where we were and started coming together on the same page. On Tuesday, we were running like a sewing machine. There were a few hiccups here and there but we’re getting better. Then bam, Friday, we open.”
“Greater Tuna” is a play that takes place in the fictional town of Tuna-“The Third Smallest Town in Texas”.
The play is a day in the life of the small Texas town that starts off with the radio station coming on the air with two DJs and ends with them going off the air and in between, the audience gets a glimpse of the day in the life of this town and family.
Trying to keep track of each costume has required a lot of planning from Nease.
“We actually have the costumes in a generalized space,” Nease said. “Throw it on the floor, I’m already there with a next set. Or I’m standing there, draping the costumes over them to stick their heads through. It’s a process.”
During the show, Nease says she has a working order.
“It’s like I have this actor coming in changing into this character and this actor coming in changing into that character,” Nease said. “A couple of times I have both actors coming in at the same time so I have to follow my working order. I already know who’s becoming who and have those costume pieces and prop pieces ready for them so they can kick off and put on their next costume. We put them order as we go because we know which character is coming back on stage. I have a couple of mini cues to go turn on extra lights.”
Nease also does costume work for the Globe Theatre at Odessa College and was recently involved in the show “Dracula” last fall.
“From a creative standpoint, I loved being a part of that show,” Nease said. “I got to step out and extend my creativity on that. I had some creative license on that.”
She talked about some of the other shows at the Globe that she’s been a part of.
“We did “Romeo and Juliet in the 1950s” which was a fun show to do,” Nease said. “I was the puppet master for Little Shop of Horrors that we did at the Globe about eight years ago. I really enjoyed that too.”
Nease is also doing costume work on the show “Bright Star” which will take place in April at Ector Theatre.
“That’s a fun show,” Nease said. “It’s an endearing show. It’s a period show. We’re doing flashbacks and I have two time periods to play in. It’s fun. I think everyone’s going to look lovely.”
To purchase tickets for “Greater Tuna” or for more information about Basin Theatre Works, go to https://tinyurl.com/mr2bhv45.
