The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page M03

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER www.philly.com M3 Sunday, July 30, 2006 At the reception before the Mann gala were (from left) Connie and Sam Katz, Bonnie and Peter McCausland, and Justin Klein. Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Opening Night You know it's going to be a good party when Madonna is involved. The opening-night festivities for the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival also served as an official after-party for Madge's "Confessions" tour. Get into the groove, indeed! Mann Center 30th Anniversary Gala The Mann Center for the Performing Arts celebrated its 30th anniversary, and its revamped digs, with a dinner before a gala concert starring Yo-Yo Ma. R.S.V.P Enjoying the Mann anniversary festivities: (from left) Dick and Lisa Carr, Tim and Jood Thompson, Jane and Glenn Gitomer, and Nancy Newman.

Festival scene, Solmssen Court, University of the Arts. JOHN COSTELLO Inquirer Staff Photographer lfl" To contact R.S.V.P. with information about your forthcoming social event, please call 215-854-2437 or e-mail image phillynews.com ED HILLE Inquirer Staff Photographer More guests at the Mann reception: (from left) Gail Hauptfuhrer, Emilio Gravagno, Carole Haas Gravagno and Julia Diaz. "Lassie" Advance Screening Every Lassie ever made features a collie descended from the original beloved canine, a dog named Pal. The latest Lassie, the ninth dog to appear on screen, visited the Bryn Mawr Film Institute before an advance showing of the new Lassie film, which is to open in theaters in early September.

PETER TOBIA Inquirer Staff Photographer Left, Brett Richards, 7, of Drexel Hill poses with Lassie so his grandfather can take a picture. Above, Juliet Goodfriend of Bryn Mawr Film Institute pets Lassie. Sketches of male and female costumes for the "Spanish Web" act in Cirque's "Quidam." is i' A- Costume continued from Ml CC.D S6 ttflSOililJ match the costumes, need a fresh coat every day. Every costume is sized according to precise measurements, so working with each performer, according to his or her preferences, the costume design team fine-tuned the details. In the places where the leather was too thick or slippery, they sandpapered it down.

Truchon, 33, says that most of Quidam's 250 costumes remain as they were originally conceived. "Dominique envisioned many of them as a reflection of types of personalities rather than individual characters. She also wanted to capture the feeling of urban life." This is particularly true in the second half, when subdued grays and blues predominate, representing buildings and sky and the aftermath of tragedy. For years, the character of Zoe, the child, was played by girls about 8 or 9 years old who wore overalls, Truchon said. More recently, young adolescents have been cast in the role, and to retain the girlish image, overalls were replaced with a short dress and a coat.

During the nine years Truchon has worked with Cirque, she has watched the delicate balancing act between the performers' comfort and the designer's vision evolve. "The artist has to feel beautiful in the costume," Truchon said. "We don't want them to be preoccupied by it. We're going to work with it until everyone is happy. Otherwise, we keep trying." Pestova says she appreciates the designers' new flexibility.

"They're listening to us." Some of the changes are personal, and subtle. After she returned from maternity leave, Pestova asked if the elastic waistband that keeps the costume from shifting could be made a little wider. Wish granted. Although the design is nearly perfect now, and the craftsmanship superb, none of these costumes can survive, fully intact, a complete five-week run. Each performer has two costumes, with replacements shipped in as needed.

And throughout the summer, Linden and her crew of several dozen will perform numerous minor surgeries. "There's a lot of wear and tear on a costume," she says. "By the end of three months, it's done." Souvenir seekers can spare them- leather to give the muscles room to flex and expand. "Dominique liked the look," says Natalia Pestova, a performer in the Spanish Web, or in Cirque's native language, Corde Lisse. "But with the part over the hands, it was difficult to grip the rope." Pestova, 31, has performed in Quidam for five of the last six years.

(She took a year off to have her second child.) Over that time, she says, she's found that Cirque's management has become increasingly responsive to the performers' needs. To fix the cuff problem, the sleeves were cut and a flourish was added near the shoulders. "But that got stuck between you and the rope," Pestova recalls. So the sleeves were removed entirely. The costumers also worked with the performers to find the correct thickness of leather, says Deborah Linden, head of wardrobe for Quidam.

Linden rifles through the huddled parade of costumes hanging backstage in the Cirque tent on Washington Avenue. The room is purring with oscillating fans and sewing machines. Ironing boards stand like strange four-legged pets with costumes and bottles of Gatorade piled on their backs. Linden pulls out a unitard, painted in streaks of sky blues and chalk whites. The leather, laced up along the shins, holds the shape of its former inhabitant, so the thing looks creepily corpselike on the hanger.

"We try to use thicker parts of leather in the back of the leg where they slide," she says, lifting up the calf where the rope has scratched off a long swipe of paint. Then she points to a small singed spot on the back of the knee. "When it's too thin, the friction burns through the material." But when there's too much material, says Pestova, the costume restricts movement. "Before, the leather was so thick, it was uncomfortable." "Two or three years ago, we worked on the act," says Sophie Truchon, assistant costume designer. "We studied possibilities and tested new changes." Nearly all the costumes are hand-dyed or painted, and between friction and daily washing, must be retouched frequently.

Shoes, hand-painted to TOM GRALISH Inquirer Staff Photographer Deborah Linden, head of wardrobe, at the sewing machine. A costume is used hard and often needs repair. "By the end of three months, it's done," she says. ence, or destroy them." And, oh: Cirque sells a lot of souvenir clothes but that bodysuit that makes the contortionist look naked? Not available. selves the Dumpster dive.

Even if U.S. Customs didn't require Cirque to account for every piece that comes over the border, the copyright on the design would make trashing them out of the question, Linden says. "Everything goes back to Montreal, where they either keep some for refer Contact staff writer Melissa Dribben at 215-854-2590 or mdribbenphillynews.com..