Adrienne in Staff Players dressing room

During her teen years, Adrienne attended a high school that enabled her to study art and applied arts. However, shortly after finishing high school, she fell in love, married, and became a mother. As a wife with three young children, she sewed clothes and household items for her family and friends. Eventually she opened a boutique that specialized in home decorating items. Shortly after arriving in the United States, she began working for a local interior designer. During the next ten years, she attended design school and received two interior design certificates. She became extremely diverse regarding draperies, upholstery, pillows, and other aspects of household decorating, but only recently added costume design to her repertoire.

THE TWELVE POUND LOOK
Staff Players Repertory Company

Adrienne says that her involvement with Peninsula theatres, as a costume designer, happened quite by accident. An acquaintance mentioned that Loel Shuler, Children's Experimental Theatre/Indoor Forest Theatre's "costuming queen" for over four decades, wanted to retire, but there was no one to replace her. Adrienne contacted Marcia Hovick and informed her that she was interested in becoming a costumer. Marcia and Loel welcomed and encouraged her interest. During the next few months Adrienne designed the costumes for THE DARK LADY OF THE SONNETS, THE TWELVE POUND LOOK, and THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT. In less than a year Adrienne was designing for two more theatre groups. This year, she added two more theatres to her clientele. At present she is preparing the costumes for the Forest Theater Guild's productions of A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (see photo on page 1 of this newsletter) and Conrad Selvig's next show, THE WAVERLY GALLERY. Both shows open at the end of May. After that, there's A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF for the Forest Theater Guild and FUDDY MEERS for Unicorn Theatre.

THE DARK LADY OF THE SONNETS
Staff Players Repertory Company

In addition to these summer shows, Adrienne is in the midst of planning and preparing for her daughter's wedding. She is NOT making the dresses, but will be preparing much of the food with the help of a friend. There will be 150 guests and, of course, the Mother of the Bride can't spend all of her time in an apron in the kitchen. Local actors who have attended one of Adrienne's cast parties are familiar with her culinary arts. They are often treated with several courses which include delightful seafood concoctions, gigantic stuffed shitake mushrooms, Hungarian specialties, vegetables in spicy sauces, and desserts to die for.

GENEVA - Unicorn Theatre

Although she was always able to cook satisfactory meals for her family, Adrienne acquired her flare for cuisine much in the same manner as becoming a costumer - by happenstance. When she and her family left Hungary, they spent two years in Vienna waiting for immigrant visas. In Vienna she began working for a restaurant. The owner-chef had to leave for three months, and Adrienne was instantly "promoted" to chief cook and bottle washer. She experimented, improvised, and, at times, agonized. Within a few months no one could guess that she was a novice to restaurant cooking. In fact, she was offered a job working at another restaurant, and for a while cooked at both. Adrienne says that she likes good food in general, but is partial to Hungarian dishes. Aside from being her native food, the dishes are usually spicy, and she loves spicy foods. Adrienne's kitchen has every cooking utensil imaginable, but is more reminiscent of a French country kitchen than the high-tech cooking station one might expect after tasting her meals. From the back porch one can enjoy a view of the Monterey shoreline and the scent of nearly 50 rose bushes. She refers to them as her "poor neglected things," but they appear to thrive despite her busy schedule.

Adrienne offers a few comments on costuming with which she is not sure that a person having a college degree would agree, but that work for her. She says, "To me it all comes down to color. The stage is like a canvas, sort of, and the colors have to work. I am not so concerned about having the ‘period’ correct in every detail as presenting a picture that gives the audience an over-all impression of what the play and actors are creating. All the hemlines, accessories, and details could be correct, but if the colors are off or not working together, the picture doesn't work and the scene doesn't play as it should." Whatever your theories on costumes may be, no doubt, if have seen or worn any of Adrienne's on-stage creations, you will agree that her theories work. Playing the role is your problem - acting well is up to you, but if Adrienne created your costume, you are guaranteed to look good. And if she caters the cast party, fine food is just one of the perks of the play.