The book Kulisy Teatru by Edward Hartwig has been on my bookshelf as long as I can remember. It's filled with arresting behind the scenes photos of Polish theatre in the 1960's. Unfortunately my Polish is no better than a 'Hello', 'I love you' or 'That was yummy', so I sadly cannot translate the pages of introduction published in 1969. There is very little biography of either this book or author in English online so I wanted to share some pictures that capture the heart beating ache that many have for the theatre that I too was caught by, and led into my love for costume design.

The scenic painters and set decorators create a world.

The forms of dancers while resting.

An amusing juxtaposition of ballerinas and a security guard both preparing for their work.

Two ladies, one in front and one behind. Both confident of their place.

Ahh, the magic of wardrobe.

Movie stars and cupids to grace the costume shop.

More scenics clowning around whilst a scenographer plays serious.

The magic of heavy eye make-up and a cigarette.

I really enjoy seeing what people wear and had the incredible experience to have Ek' Balam in Mexico as a stunning runway for tourists on tour.

I'm reminded of one holiday I took where I met up with a nice Torontonian couple about my age. The woman wondered why I would change my clothes so often and make such an effort as to her you took your worst clothes with you so you didn't care what happened to them.
I was a little astounded and told her that your vacation was one of the more photographed events in your life, so why wouldn't you want to look great?

Perhaps to conserve energy and make it greener, therefore hipper, the Genies and Geminis have banded together to create the first year of Canadian Screen Awards. Which for my buddies down south of the snow line means one event combo for both the Canadian version of the Emmy's and Oscars.

I want to congratulate all the shows nominated, especially the ones I was honoured to be involved in. I'm sure the costumes was integral to the casting nomination received by The Yard for instance.

Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Fiction Program or Series
The L.A. Complex 2- Taking the Day
Stephen Stanley and Gabriel Lamb.
I'm most proud of these guys as I was so awed by every set I walked into. So thorough, so saturated in the way it needed to be, and so darn fast the way they popped up and down. If the audience really knew how much of that show was set builds they'd be boggled. I certainly was.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
The L.A. Complex 2- Don't Say Goodbye
Andra Fuller was without question an amazing, intense powerhouse. He would blow us all away after every scene, the pain of Kladrick King always so passionate and yet controlled at the same time. An incredible feat of performance.

And a very handsome man to dress, thank you very much.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Guest Role in a Comedic Series
The Yard- The Economy
Keana Bastidas played Suzi, my favourite character in this show and even at the age of 12 full of professionalism. She got to play the bad ass, 'the muscle' of the crew who unfortunately was still dressed by her mom in kitty cat t-shirts and floral shorts.

Best Achievement in Casting
The Yard- The Economy
Jon Comerford, Lisa Parasyn
That is one challenging gig, finding all those natural acting 12 year olds. I give Jon and Lisa huge kudos for putting together a great cast. Hot, sweaty and sugar filled as they might be. This wonderful photo is of the cast in the season finale after they blow up the playground (dressed in their picture day outfits I'd like to add).

Best Original Program or Series produced for Digital Media- Fiction
Space Janitors  Geoff Lapaire & Davin Lengyel
Working with the terrific fellows who created Pure Pwnage was a great deal of fun being creative and quick in this low budget series we did during a very wintery winter. We finished Season 2 recently and I can't WAIT to post the photos of those new characters.

I also want to extend my joy for the other shows I was involved in other seasons. Todd and the Book of Pure Evil (I designed the pilot) What's Up Warthogs II  (I did season 1), both with Aircraft Pictures and My Babysitter is a Vampire (I did the second season) with Fresh TV.

Complete listings here http://www.academy.ca/awards/nominees.cfm

The Canadian Screen Awards recognize excellence in film, television and digital media productions. The ceremony will air on Sunday March 3, 2013, 8 pm on CBC.