Costume designer Kevin Anderson headed to Texas Tech

[August 01, 2011]  The black crows' tail feathers hang high on the east wall, waiting for just the right shopper to come along. An elaborate dress created for a production of "Brigadoon" nestles between other detailed pieces set out on clothing racks. Customers paw through roll after roll of fabric, priced at $6 per bag.

After eight years at his Lincoln Costume Institute, Anderson is closing the costume shop that was housed in a former dry-cleaning establishment at 1028 Broadway.

His garage sale began Thursday and continued through Saturday.

The designer has accepted the position of costume shop manager at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. He begins work there Aug. 15 and is excited to have only one job, which includes benefits.

Anderson, along with his mother, Kathy Anderson, and his aunt, Barb Matheny, opened The Costume Institute right after he left graduate school.

"The three of us made this possible," he said. "Without them, I would have never made it."

Anderson also paid tribute to his friend and mentor, the late Dr. Martha Hargett.

"She supported me while she was alive and through her auction," he said. "Her legacy lived on through us. Her presence is felt here, through buttons and trim.

"When I see these costumes going out the door for almost nothing, I see the people who made them. They not only loved me, they loved the arts. We've done some incredible work."

The institute, he said, has shown the community that through volunteerism, incredible art can be produced.

"And it really does show the younger generation that there is a path in theater for you," he said. "This has been a volunteer-based organization since the beginning. We have been able to take budgets and spend the whole budget on materials, and through students and volunteers, put together a show worth three or four times the budget.

"We've been here eight years, and there have been many highlights."

When New Salem State Park did "Brigadoon," the designer and his staff spent eight weeks building the entire show. The pieces included 18 pairs of shoes and an elaborate Mary, Queen of Scots, gown.

Anderson said the institute has supported Lincoln College in about 10 shows, including dance productions and full stage shows. Working at LC as an adjunct professor, he taught both costuming and makeup. And he was involved in teaching the first group of students who earned four-year theater degrees from LC.

"It was nice to see the progression of student talent," he said.

Anderson's institute also did the "technically proficient" angel wings for the holiday spectacular at Lincoln Christian University.

"They have a 25-foot wingspan," he said, "and are made of 5,000 ostrich and duck feathers. They are still in use."

The group also worked on two off-Broadway shows in New York City.

"We built everything here," Anderson said, "and I went to New York for 10 days and did all of the costume fittings."Other special memories include producing costumes for a holiday spectacular in Bloomington and costuming mimes who traveled through Africa on behalf of their church.

When he started, Anderson built a costume for a 5-year-old who wanted to portray a tornado for Halloween.

"When it was down, it looked like a cornfield," the costumer said. "When he lifted it up over his head, it became a tornado ... a really nasty-looking tornado."

The institute has also dressed singers for madrigal feasts and made dance costumes for competitions.

"Because we were all-volunteer," Anderson said, "we had to be very selective of what we could afford emotionally and financially and physically.

"It was amazing training, learning to work with people who are not being paid. It's a different mindset. I really wouldn't have learned how to run a costume shop any other way.

"I'm leaving with a huge sense of appreciation for the community. I am so grateful that I was able to return to my hometown."

Anderson said it was his decision to come back to Lincoln after earning his degrees, but it was the community's decision to support him in his work.

The designer is taking some of his creations with him to his new job.

"I'm taking ‘Brigadoon' with me," he said. "It's a $15,000 show. It's a design concept I would like to revisit. I really could not leave it here."

He's also keeping all of the costumes from an off-Broadway children's show, "Flood," for which he owns the rights. This includes a three-person Chinese dragon, a giant mud ball and a goat.

"I have been surprised at things we are getting rid of that are going to people who really want them," he said. "Seeing it move on is fine with me.

"I will miss my family -- spending every day with them working on shows. They have afforded me an opportunity I would never have had (otherwise). We are friends. If we weren't, we couldn't have done it. I will miss looking up from the sewing machine and seeing Mother and Aunt Barb working away. I've learned an amazing amount."

Texas Tech has 150 students in its theater program. Anderson will oversee a staff of both graduates and undergraduates who will support 11 full theater productions a year.

"The campus has three different theaters," he said. "They have a really nice program. There are 15 faculty members, including me, and two staff members."

Anderson has been enamored with costume design since he signed on at Lincoln Community Theatre at the age of 12. After earning an associate degree from Lincoln College and a bachelor's degree at Southern Illinois University, he was awarded a master of fine arts degree from the University of Illinois.

"I went back to graduate school when I was 30," he said. "That was a big transition. I'm 40 now and this is another big transition -- with benefits."

[By NANCY SAUL]