Stitching stories and creating costumes the 'Weller' way for Leon's summer musical

Molly Weller’s fashionable makeover of River City, Iowa, splashes the stage with vibrant colors in Leon High School’s summer spectacular, "The Music Man." The Leon High School Choral Department is presenting the show June 27-30 and July 4-7.

Self-taught, self-made

As an actor in the theater, one of the best things you can do is become great friends with the costume designer. Your character can go from a naked stage hack to a well-fitted starlet in the swoop of a stitch.

The costume designer is part of the team of theater technicians who, under the leadership of the show director, create a vivid onstage world designed to highlight the characters and propel their story forward.

Molly Weller heads the team of seamstresses at Leon High School’s choral and thespian program. Together, they have dressed these worlds, which have ranged from 17 Oompa Loompa costumes for the stage musical "Willy Wonka" to styling period wigs for this year’s "The Music Man."

Although Weller began her theater career on stage at a young age in the role of little orphan Annie in the hit musical "Annie," it was not until her daughter began performing in musicals around Tallahassee that Weller found her true calling as a costume designer.

With her grandmother’s childhood sewing sessions in her heart and guided by her steady hand, Weller taught herself to sew. She began with table runners for her wedding and evolved into costume pieces for school shows.

“I literally started out as a mom who wanted to find a way to be helpful,” says Weller. “My daughter joined a local youth theatre, and I began helping on their ‘Sewing Saturdays.’” Weller found enjoyment in creating original pieces with her hands. Her work has evolved from basic sewing to designing clothes from scratch while remaining true to the core desire: creating something for the kids to feel good in.

Costuming toward character

As a full-time state employee focusing on improving workforce training and employability skills by day and a costumer working hard to sew something special for the students by night, Weller is a hero to children’s theatre in Tallahassee. For Weller, fashion is art. There are no rules to follow, and the creative possibilities are infinite.

The goal of a costume is to accent a character and assist an actor in more convincingly playing a character. Weller gives the example of the actor playing Mayor Shinn and his wife in "The Music Man." The characters are uptight and well-to-do members of the town. Weller’s choice of color and texture for these costumes reflect those traits.

In the case of the mayor’s wife, it causes the actress to stand up straight and bob their head, which, as Weller says, “only adds to the character’s outrageous personality we want the audience to feel when they see her.” Color also plays a massive role in the costume vision for the show.

This can be seen in the progression of the lead character, Harold Hill’s, color palette from muted to adopting more and more color as his character evolves.

Guided by the vision from the director, Robert A. Stuart, Weller delighted in creating a River City, Iowa, circa 1912 through meticulous mapping and patient planning. To prepare, she began reading the script, laying out each character's actions by scene, and cataloging how many costumes were needed for each character.

Weller understands that theatre is a collaborative sport, so she consulted the choreographer to understand how the characters needed to move on stage. As the show was cast, measurements were taken so that costumes could be pulled to size from Leon High’s well-cultivated costume collection. Still, costumes must be constructed from scratch.

“In this show, we have about 34 handmade dresses,” says Weller. “Not to mention all the beautiful hats to go with them.” Luckily for Weller, her amazing team of volunteers sews around the clock to bring this production to life.

Once tech week begins, final tweaks are made, and opening night raises the curtain to reveal the final costumes in all their glory.

Summer spectacular at Leon High

No longer solely hemming choral dresses and suits for shows, Weller is now Vice President of the Leon Friends of Music booster organization. She focuses on volunteer recruitment and organizing events such as the Performing Arts Winter Showcase and the summer musical.

Weller acknowledges that costuming a show like "The Music Man" takes a village and is grateful for the tremendous work of volunteer sewists like Emily Geyer, Sydney Hockett, Linda Maxwell, Anna Norris, Laurinda Norris, Lisa Peacock, Lea Reeves, Sharon Spratt, Wanda Tillman, and Niki Welge.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Leon High School’s original production of "The Music Man." The show has a real sense of community for Tallahassee, and since it was set around July 4th, 1912, it carries a sense of American nostalgia.

“There can be so much negativity on the news and this show just makes you feel good. It’s something the entire community can see and rally around,” says Weller. “A bonus is that you will leave the theater singing the tunes for days!”

So stretch out those vocal cords before you attend Leon High’s production of "The Music Man," then spend your days singing its memorable tunes.

If you go

What: "The Music Man," presented by The Leon High School Choral Department

When: June 27-30 & July 4-7; Thursday at 1 pm; Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.

Where: Leon High School | 550 E Tennessee St.

Cost: $15 - $40 per ticket; visit teachtix.com/leonhs/the-music-man

Contact: Box Office | peckt2@leonschools.net

Dr. Christy Rodriguez de Conte is the feature writer for the Council on Culture & Arts (COCA). COCA is the capital area’s umbrella agency for arts and culture (www.tallahasseearts.org).

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Costume designer has Leon's 'The Music Man' all sewn up