Humpday with Howard: Who Wore it Best?

As we prepare to open our first show of the season, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, tomorrow, I thought I'd do something a bit more fun and celebratory. At one point in the play, the characters go to a costume party. Masha, famous movie star that she is, insists they all go themed the way her personal assistant suggested, as characters from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The original version of the tale, written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in 1812, was a tad different than the Disney version with which Masha (and all of us) are familiar. In the Grimm version, the Evil Queen (Snow White's mother) asks the huntsmen to bring back the liver and lungs of her seven-year-old daughter so she may salt them and eat them; the dwarves are unnamed, bland, and personality-less; the queen tries to kill Snow White not once, but thrice (first she gives her bodice laces and ties them so tight that Snow White can't breathe, then she combs her hair with a poisoned comb, THEN she gives her the poisoned apple); the prince takes Snow White's crystal coffin from the reluctant dwarves and she revives, not because he kisses her, but because his servant tripped and jostled the body, causing the poisoned apple chunk to fall out of Snow White's mouth; finally, the queen is invited to the happy couple's wedding (they skipped the dating phase and went straight for matrimony), where they put fiery, iron slippers on her feet and make her dance until she dies. Pleasant, right?

Various NRT company members have had the pleasure of modeling different pieces of Masha's Snow White costume. Let's see who wore it best:

Me sporting muslin mock-ups of Snow White's iconic sleeves.

Company Manager Emma Gruhl models Snow White's headband.

Actress Kristie Berger in her character Masha's full costume.

Stitcher Rachel Owings models her creation of Snow White's cape.

So, who wore it best? Leave your comments below and be sure to see the finished costume in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike when it opens tomorrow!