Jubilee... Jubilee... JUBILEEEEE!!

It finally happened!!

I felt like Indiana Jones entering the room that held the Jeweled Bob Mackie Holy Grail.  I made my way through the main entrance of Bally's Casino with my support team, Ryan and Kathleen.  Kathleen is the history expert which comes in handy when hieroglyphics need deciphering.  Ryan is known simply as "The Face".  His beauty and charisma comes in handy when dealing with the locals.  The dust cleared and the Jubilee Theater came into focus in the distance.

 Me rocking my Rat Pack inspired copper lamé tuxedo jacket.

I made it specifically for the event.  

(Photo courtesy of Ryan)

The show was simply astounding!  There are really no other words to describe it.  The three of us had a table in the second row.  We were pretty "baller" that night.  The curtain went up and we will never be the same again.  The pounds of feathers, rhinestones and sequins were sparkling as if freshly shined.  The girls in their 35 pound headdresses and jeweled bikinis whizzed around the stage in a dizzying fashion. 

There were points of the show that Kathleen identified as "Sensory Overload".  She informed me that this was the ancient phenomenon when a costume designer, choreographer, lighting designer, and dancer aligned perfectly.  At that precise moment it triggers your brain to release mass quantities of serotonin causing a dreamy euphoric state.  (I may have made this up, but it sounds pretty good, right?)

 Jubilee! is an amazing show.  This type of over-the-top showgirl revue doesn't exist anymore even in Las Vegas!  I felt like we walked through a time portal back to the heyday of Sin City.  It would not have surprised me if Dean Martin was sitting at the next table sipping a Martini.  He may not have been there in body, but I have a feeling he was there in spirit. 

  In the opening number the girls were raised from below the stage.  

The mirror showed us them from above first and was particularly thrilling!

The high kicks were given in liberal doses and much appreciated!

All the topless dancers were assigned individualized headgear.

 Show photos from the Las Vegas Sun

EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE THIS SHOW!  It will change your life!

Kathleen and I posing in front of the theater after the show.

(Photo from Ryan) 

In summation the show was AMAZING!  Mr. Mackie is a genius and has inspired me EVEN more.  All the designs I have stewing in my brain just got "Jubilee-ified" as I call it.  I wanted to take home all the headdresses and backpacks to watch Friday night TV in.  I've been having fantasies of setting my apartment on fire and starting a new life in Vegas.  I could work for Jubilee's costume shop my new name would be Steven St. Stephan from Back Swamp North Carolina.  Alas the reality is I can't do that.

I took the back stage tour the day before and OH the stories I have from that.  I will leave that for another day.

- Philip Estrada

Mackie Runs This Town Like Bugsy Siegal

My birthday is TODAY!!!  The Boyfriend and I are going on a Vegas getaway with a few friends.  Priority #1 while we visit the city of sin is JUBILEE!  This show has been a main stay on the Vegas strip since 1981, the very same year I sprung to life!  That's right... I'll be turning 30 in LAS VEGAS!!  We have it all planned out.  We'll be at the Saturday show, dead center, at one of those swanky tables they reserve for their "baller" customers.

Bally's Casino, that hosts the show, also has a backstage tour 3 times weekly where you can see the inner workings of this Las Vegas icon.  This tour has been my dream since the moment I heard it existed!!  I want to see the rhinestones, sequins and feathers up close.  Why would anyone want to see those costumes you ask? 

Four Words: COSTUME - DESIGNER - BOB - MACKIE 

Now pick yourself up off the floor and I can continue!  This show is a throw back to the old shows of Paris and Broadway with the Folies Bergere and the spectacles produced by Ziegfeld.  I have a feeling the grandeur of this show is going to bring me to tears!  This show proves Bob Mackie is a genius.  It's insane to think that the costume designs are going to be 30 years old and the ideas look as fresh as the day they were sketched.  It would seem Mackie's designs were intended for another time. This gives the costumes their dreamy vintage feeling.

 

I was born in the wrong decade.  If only I could have been there to help Bob Mackie with these costumes!  Click the pictures... They get much bigger and there is nothing wrong with THAT!
-Philip Estrada

Simply Red

This illustration was submitted for a concept and presentation class project back in college.  The class was basically a sculpture class to help one think "outside of the box".  The assignment was to "illustrate a book."  How we chose to do that and which book was entirely up to us.  I was already accepted into the Fashion Design Department at that time so I submitted high fashion paper dolls as my "sculpture". 

The book I illustrated was the play 'Titus Andronicus' by William Shakespeare.  Honestly I was obsessed with Julie Taymore's movie "Titus" so I redesigned costumes for all the characters.  This is Tamora: Queen of the Goths.  How epic would this look on stage? 

This costume would be for the scene in which she delivers an astounding soliloquy where she swears her revenge on Titus and his family during the celebration of her marriage to the new emperor.  The powerful and bold red color would match the tone of the speech.  The bold jewelry, hair style and tribal tattooing makes reference to her old life as queen of a "barbaric" people.

When Mr. Mackie takes on another costume design job I would love to be right there beside him along the way.  I could research costume history, swatch fabrics, scan sketches into photoshop for digital corrections, go on coffee runs; my uses are endless!

I look forward to getting started!

-Philip Estrada

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROL!

Happy Birthday to Miss Carol Burnett!

Costume sketch for the "Carol Burnett Show"

A gown designed by Bob Mackie for "The Carol Burnett Show"

- Philip Estrada