"I wanted to bring modern and retro together. The cut of the costumes recalls the vaudeville era, while the fabrics and materials are contempoary. What makes the costumes original is the juxtaposition of the two." - Dominique Lemieux

Director David Shiner loves exploring the extremes of the world of the clown, and the costumes reflect the alternating Machiavellian and angelic facets of the comic characters. Dominique Lemieux has tapped into the world of the Marx Brothers and vaudeville to create the costumes. Historical allusions can be found throughout. The geometrical shape motifs used in several costumes evoke the Art Deco years of the 1920s and Cubist painting, with a nod to the industrial era. The pink, blue and green of certain costumes recall the retouching of period photographs, for example.

The costumes gradually pass from monochrome to colors that use vibrant shimmering and changing materials to evoke the flamboyance of the world of vaudeville. Iridescent ribbed fabrics, holographic effects, marabous and sequins, quick costume changes, phosphorescent fabrics, oversized jewelry: everything is designed to accentuate the artificial and the eccentric. As an example: The designs on the pants and jackets worn by some of the dancers were inspired by distorted patterns of windows. The enormous light box that forms the backdrop of the stage shines a diffuse light that creates optical illusions on the costumes: colors appear and disappear as if by magic, depending on the background. The egocentric, megalomaniac producer Schmelky’s costume is made of a moiré lamé (a base of satin laminate);silver turns to green under the light!

Marty Schmelky A brash, ambitious producer who is trying to put together a spectacular variety show. He's a megalomaniacal showman as if he were Danny DeVito doing Jackie Gleason. (Jerry Kernion in Chicago, Danny Rutigliano in New York and Toronto) Margaret Schmelky's assistant, who is often under rule by her boss' loud yells. Margaret is droll and wears a wig constructed out of thirteen pencils. The Sidekicks Danny and Wayne, a couple of Schmelky's mischievous sidekicks. (Wayne Wilson and Daniel Passer) Clowns A trio of badly-behaved clowns who crash the auditions, spreading chaos in all directions. There's Patrick de Valette, who looks like the long-haired Lone Gunman from The X-Files (he might just be the strangest human you've ever seen; he's a a diminutive guy with big black spectacles and long stringy hair, who runs around doing modern dance movements in his orange underwear like a crazed gecko); Claudio Carneiro, who looks like Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords (he impersonates people with knee injuries by saying "ow" with each step. He has two numbers: a short, deaf-puppet routine and a mimed dinner date with an audience member); and Gordon White, who looks like Christopher Lloyd (he portrays the world's oldest mime, with a walker... and gas).

{Schmelky} {Margaret} {Sidekicks} {The Clowns} {The Clowns}