By Mark A. Diaz
The San Luis Obispo Little Theatre offered fashion historian, Susan Stein, the leading role in its next fundraiser. The philanthropic production entitled “Costume and Fashion Through the Ages – An Evening with Susan Stein” will take place Sunday, June 4 at 5:30.
The event sponsored by local philanthropists Libbie Agran and Gandy Fitzwater will commence with hors d’oeuvres and wine in the lobby, patrons are invited to bring their own wine if they so desire. There will be a Q and A session after the 50-minute presentation. Kevin Harris, managing artistic director, explained that the idea originated with Agren. “She was familiar with Susan’s work and brought us this opportunity 7 or 8 months ago,” said Harris.
Stein is the fashion editor and scene editor for the magazine Palms Springs Life and also is the curator of the Fashion Week El Paseo, which recently enjoyed its twelfth year. Stein estimated that 14,000 people attended the event.
Attendees of the theatre’s fundraiser will be guided down memory lane as Stein explains the history and relevance of fashion and how they are represented in costume pieces modeled by Little Theatre actors. “Theatre is probably the best way of making a statement through fashion,” said Stein.
Stein had plenty of costumes to choose from the theater’s extensive collection. “We were lucky enough to purchase the entire inventory of Costume Capers,” said Harris, “which was a costume shop that was around here for the last almost 30 years.”
Stein will discuss pieces that range over decades. When asked, Stein said that she does not have a favorite time period. “I love the reason for all of the eras…,” said Stein, “fashion is a reflection of what is going on in the world.”
Her lecture will delve into how fashion evolved from necessity to expression.
“I am going into the reasons why people actually wear clothes and how they represent, which I think,” Stein said, “is how they represent people on stage.” Through her fashionable knowledge, patrons can learn why police wear blue, if a color can make you hungry, and what the color of a person’s tie can say about their ideologies.
For those in the known, the latest fashion trend is patches and emblems. “We’re all now a little politically verbal, if that is the right word,” said Stein, “and we all have things to say, so you’re going to see messages coming back in fashion.”
The SLO Little Theatre is also about to go through major changes, one being its name. Becoming the San Luis Obispo Repertory Theatre (SLO Rep), the stage will move to join the ranks of the art and history buildings along Monterey Street in downtown SLO. Harris said that theater has grown too big for its current location. “We’re doing everything that we could in this space.” said Harris, “We’re just literally out of time on the calendar, so this is something that we really need to make happen.”
The upgrade will double the audience capacity to 200 and triple the amount of space reserved for classrooms and rehearsals.
“This is a natural step for us as an organization to really take our place as what will be the only non-profit professional theatre in San Luis Obispo County,” said Harris, “and should really establish ourselves as the premier and official theatre of San Luis Obispo and to be a part of the national theatre conversation.”
Harris said that the non-profit has operated as a community theater for 70 years, but the last half decade has brought significant overall budget increases. It has been operating at a semi-professional level for the last 4 years, meaning it has been able to pay actors small percentages of the precedes derived from productions.
“Nothing changes the energy of a town more than having a nationally recognized regional theater in its downtown core,” said Harris, “so we’re excited to make that happen.” Having a professional theater in town also means that fans of the stage do not have to travel to Santa Maria or even Santa Barbara to get their fill of a professional performance, and in turn, keeping those local dollars local.
