Costumes for "Making God Laugh"

This is part two of the conversation I had with Sharon Sobel about designing the costumes for Mrs. Mannerly and Making God Laugh.  Whereas Mrs. Mannerly and Emma are both shows that take place in just one clothing era, Making God Laugh is spread over four decades.   The family gets together on Thanksgiving in the 1980's, Christmas in the 1990's, New Year's Eve at 1999 (or Y2K), and Easter in 2010.  
To shows such a range of time periods, Sharon had to design each character's costumes to reflect the change in time periods.  Thomas, one of the sons, is priest for the first couple of get-togethers, so he doesn't quite have the same costume arc.  Then, with the father, Bill, and the mother, Ruthie, Sharon felt like their clothes wouldn't be that drastically different because they are older and more set in a type of clothing styles.  Instead, she changed their costumes to reflect the change in holidays.  Ruthie gets different aprons for each of the holidays, and Bill has a series of sweaters in which the colors reflect the holiday.

Maddie, the daughter, and Richard, the eldest son, get to have costumes that cover the full range of style changes.  For Maddie, Sharon got inspiration from the clothes of Pat Benatar.  Although the text mentions Madonna, she ends up being more late 80's, and Sharon wanted to stick with the style of the early 80's, which has a lot in common with late 1970's style.  Then, for the 90's, Sharon used one of her own sweaters.
For Richard, he is meant to be a character highly influenced by all of the latest fads and trends.  When he shows up to the house on New Year's Eve 1999, he comes in military gear because he is so paranoid about Y2K.     For the 80's and 90's, she used Tom Selleck, Herb from WXRP, Travolta for hair styles, Duran Duran, Fame, and Flock of Seagulls.  

So, that is the rundown on the costumes, but it doesn't take the place of coming to see them on stage! So, you better follow the tabs above to "Buy a Ticket" to see Making God Laugh.