From fabric to fantasy fashion: The making of the Percy Jackson musical costumes

In a small trailer classroom behind the H.P. Davidson Music Center (BLDG 45), the sounds of laughter and sewing machines whirring filled the air. 

“How many ice cream cones do you think would fit in the pockets of this bag?” costume shop manager Laina Babb asked. 

The conclusion was four ice cream cones without the ice cream. 

While they’re having fun asking silly questions like that, Babb and her team of students are hard at work making the costumes for the Percy Jackson musical put on by the Cal Poly theatre and dance department.

Adapted from the New York Times bestseller “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan, the rock musical follows Percy Jackson, the half-blood son of the Greek god Poseidon, as he navigates adolescence, new powers and the world of Greek mythology, according to the theatre department’s website. 

Due to the nature of the show, the costuming varies greatly between characters, according to Babb.

“We’re doing some of these pretty outlandish pieces and then other people are in T-shirts and jeans,” Babb said. 

Some of these more “outlandish” pieces include a full-sized centaur, a pair of goat legs and a three-headed dog, Babb said. 

Design

Costume designer and professor Thomas Bernard said he began working on the designs for these costumes in the end of fall 2023. 

According to Bernard, the design process starts by reading the script. Bernard read the script for the musical four or five times before he started sketching out his ideas. 

When designing the costumes, Bernard said he likes to include small details that give the audience hints about the characters. 

“I want to give the audience something so they can try to figure it out themselves,” Bernard said. 

Bernard said he uses a combination of paper and digital art to create his designs. 

“I’d sort of see art as whatever you need to make it happen at the moment,” he said.

He sketches all of his designs out on paper first then puts them into a computer program to add titles and character names to the page before printing it out. He then colors the designs by hand with markers or colored pencils. 

Once he finishes rendering his designs, Bernard said the next step is to get the designs approved by the director, Ramón Esquivel. 

Bringing the designs to life

When the designs are approved, the designs could be brought to life by Babb and the 12 students of the costume construction classes.

“It’s always interesting to watch the students who come in sometimes with absolutely no experience whatsoever, and by the end, they’re working on the pieces and they’re really excited,” Babb said. 

Art and design sophomore Abigail Gan is one of the costume shop student assistants working on the costumes for the show, and she said she loves it. 

“So far it’s just a hobby because I don’t really know what I want to do, but if this could be my job, that would be amazing,” she said. 

Gan is working on the costume for the character Charon, who helps ferry the main characters into the Underworld. 

The costume, which is a ruffled jacket made of layers of a sheer blue-red pleated material, was inspired by some of Diana Ross’s outfits, according to Bernard.

Most of the costume budget, which was $4,000 dollars for this show, went to more complicated costumes, according to Bernard. 

“I think I’ve spent 90 percent of this budget already. So I mean, it’s pretty good overall I think, but it can be tight sometimes when you’re trying to solve three-headed dog problems,” Bernard said.

Along with the elaborate costumes, shadow work will be used to bring some of the characters to life, according to Bernard. 

For one scene when Grover is telling the story of Thalia and the Minotaur, liberal arts and engineering studies students used motion capture technology to create videos and shadows to bring the characters to the stage in different ways, Bernard said.

This technique aligns with Bernard’s vision, which he said was to “tell this story in an honest way, but leave gaps for young minds to sort of fill in.”

The team has been working on these costumes all quarter, and for Gan the best part is still to come. 

“I think my favorite thing is being able to see how fabric turns into costumes. I think it’s really fun to see it on stage and the actors moving around with it,” Gan said. 

The costumes can be seen on stage in the Alex and Faye Spanos Theater (BLDG 44) Feb. 29 – Mar. 3 and Mar. 7 – 9. Tickets are $15 for students or $25 for general admission. 
More information about the show can be found on the theatre department’s website.