- Learn more about the Theatre Bay Area Awards
- Get your tickets to Three Little Birds, now playing in San Francisco!
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Three Little Birds is a Theatre Bay Area Awards Recommended Production!
Congrats to the entire cast, crew and creative team on this great honor!
Monday, February 2, 2015
Genevieve Blogs: Ron S. McCan, Costume Designer for Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds
Bay Area Children’s Theatre’s (BACT) has just started showing an amazing production called Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. It is colorful, filled with expression, and very true to Jamaican culture and music. When I looked around at the rest of the audience, everybody looked so engaged, sitting at the edge of their seats, thinking, “What’s going to happen next?” The show was a perfect mixture of exciting, silly, and even just a little bit scary. One thing that really struck me was the amazing, detailed costumes that were designed by Ron S. McCan.
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Ron S. McCan |
When he was a kid, Mr. McCan didn’t think that he would be a costume designer. He thought that he would be an actor. However, his mom was a costume designer, so that’s how he got interested. Now, he designs costumes and acts (and he likes both of them equally because you have to be creative for both of them). The most recent play that he acted in was called Jesus Christ Superstar. He also teaches high school. Mr. McCan is a Bob Marley fan. His favorite song by Marley is “Is This Love”, which is actually a song used in Three Little Birds.
Ziggy and Nansi are the main characters. They are average, eleven-year-old kids. Because Mr. McCan is a high school teacher, he found his inspiration for these kids by looking at how his freshman students dress. He also based their costumes off nephews and nieces. He wanted them to look cool and colorful, but like normal kids. Mr. McCan knew that in Jamaica it is very hot. Other than that, people in Jamaica just dress like how we dress in America. So Mr. McCan dressed them the way we dress here, but in clothes that will keep them cool. Mr. McCan buys some parts of costumes and makes some of the costumes.
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Anthony Rollins-Mullens as Duppy |
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The cast of Three Little Birds |
If Mr. McCan could design costumes for any production, it would be You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. It’s about kids, and it’s very cartoony, which means he could use colorful costumes. The most challenging play that he ever designed costumes for was The Mad Woman of Challiot. The reason it was so hard was because it took place in Paris in 1915, when there was a very specific style. Men had tuxedos and woman had to wear lots of wigs.
Thanks for being such a fun person to interview, Mr. McCan! You love to imagine and create amazing things. I think he was the perfect costume designer for this particular production. Also, thanks to Min Kahng for organizing this interview. And, of course, thanks to the whole crew at BACT for putting on the amazing, creative, colorful production…Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds! I can’t wait for the next play!!!
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