Interview: Behind the Magic with Meredith Scott of ALADDIN at Dallas Summer Musicals

By: Jun. 19, 2019
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Interview: Behind the Magic with Meredith Scott of ALADDIN at Dallas Summer Musicals

ALADDIN Wardrobe Supervisor, Meredith Scott, is no stranger to the tour life. From AN AMERICAN IN PARIS to ALADDIN we get a behind the scenes look at what it's like to tour with Disney's diamond in the rough.

How many touring productions have you worked on?

Meredith Scott: "This is my sixth tour. I've been on the road for about eight years but before that, I started at a regional theatre in North Carolina for a long time before I got on the road."

Is it true what they say that tour life is not for everyone?

"That is 100% true. It's tough. You make the sacrifice to live out of a suitcase for years on end and never really see your family, but you get to travel the world for free so there are payoffs."

Ok, I'm so curious to know! How many costumes are there in ALADDIN?

"There are 350 costume looks. Total pieces? Who knows. There are 291 custom hats in the show built by several different shops in the U.S. and Canada. All the shoes are custom. The women's shoes are made from LaDuca in Italy and the men's shoes are made in New York."

And how many rhinestones would you say are in this production?

"Millions! Millions and millions. We have an entire work box that we travel with that's nothing but beads and rhinestones and Swarovski's. We're always being handed handfuls of rhinestones that have fallen onstage because between choreography and anything heavily beaded there's always going to be a lot of casualties."

Interview: Behind the Magic with Meredith Scott of ALADDIN at Dallas Summer Musicals

While watching the show I could have sworn that a lot of the ensemble women were wearing their natural hair down, are there any wigs in this show?

"The wigs are very very natural. We have such a diverse cast and it's one of the things we're really really proud of and it's incredible how realistic our wigs look!"

This production seems to have a lot of detailed accessories, are they also custom made?

"The headpieces are made in New York. The gold fezzes are made in Canada. Most of our items are created in New York but some items get sent off to India for beading and various other places, but home base for most of our custom built pieces is New York."

What would you say is your favorite costume?

"My favorite costume is not one of the normal ones. I love the Prince Abdullah costume, he is one of Jasmine's suitors and he's coming to win her hand. You only see him twice in this costume but I love the color, the beads. I love how ridiculous the sleeves are. I love this costume! But people always love the blue Genie costume because it's so iconic. Jasmine's stuff is gorgeous. The wedding skirt alone ways twelve pounds with all the beading and layers. There's nothing ugly in this show!"

What's the most difficult aspect of touring with a production this large?

"In every city, we pick up 13 local people who have never done the show before so teaching the show can be very very difficult. We do 100 quick changes in under a minute for the top of act two, Prince Ali. There are 50 that happen under 30 seconds and the fastest quick change we have is 15 seconds and we've done it in 7!"


Now is the perfect opportunity to grab a magic carpet ride down to Music Hall at Fair Park and watch the magic unfold before your very eyes. ALADDIN at Dallas Summer Musicals continues through June 23. Tickets and more information can be found at www.dallassummermusicals.org.

 


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