Sue Blane

Susan Margaret Blane, (born 23 April 1949) is an English costume designer. She is best known for her costume designs for both ''The Rocky Horror Show'' and ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''. With her designs for ''Rocky Horror'', Blane is credited for creating the look that became the template for punk rock fashion.

Life and career

Blane studied costume design at Wolverhampton College of Art and at the Central School of Art and Design in London, finishing in 1971.

Before ''The Rocky Horror Show'' in 1972, Blane had already met Tim Curry in 1971 at the Citizen's Theatre in Glasgow, where they were both involved in a production of Jean Genet's ''The Maids''. Blane also designed the costumes for other ''Rocky Horror'' productions, including the 1975 Broadway production and film, and created the costume designs for the sequel, ''Shock Treatment'' (1981).

Since ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' was released, fans have been recreating the designs as part of screenings audience participation. A common audience "callback" at ''Rocky Horror'' showings plays off the similarity of the name "Blane" to the word "blame." When a character in the film says someone – or something – is "to blame," audience members shout, "No, ''Sue's'' to Blane!" It is also common for audience members to shout out Blane's name during " Don't Dream It", making the character Frank N. Furter seem to say, "I wanted to be dressed ''by Sue Blane''" (instead of "dressed just the same," as written).

Blane also created the costume designs for Jonathan Miller's ''The Mikado'' for the English National Opera. Other opera credits include David McVicar's ''Carmen'' for Glyndebourne, Keith Warner's ''Lohengrin'' for the Bayreuth Festival, ''Lulu'' at the New National Theatre, Tokyo, Disney's ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (Berlin): ''The Love for Three Oranges'' (Opera North/ENO); ''The Three Musketeers'' (Young Vic); ''Capriccio'' (Staatsoper, Berlin); ''Guys and Dolls'' (RNT); ''Into the Woods'' (Old Vic / West End); ''Porgy and Bess'' (Glyndebourne) and ''La Fanciula del West'', with Plácido Domingo (La Scala, Milan).

Sue's many production design credits include ''The Relapse'', voted Best Design by What's On readers, (RNT), ''The Nutcracker'' and ''Alice in Wonderland'' for the English National Ballet; ''Midsummer Night's Dream'' (Royal Dramaten Theatre, Stockholm and RSC; ''Cabaret'' (Donmar Warehouse); ''Sylvia'' (Birmingham Royal Ballet); ''King John, The Learned Ladies'', and ''Antony and Cleopatra'' all for the Royal Shakespeare Company; ''Barber of Seville'' (Scottish Opera); ''The Duenna'' and ''Thieving Magpie'' (Opera North); ''Christmas Eve'' (ENO) and ''Lee Miller'' (Minerva Chichester). Her designs also feature in a new ballet for English National Ballet based on Oscar Wilde's novella of ''The Canterville Ghost'' conceived and choreographed by Will Tuckett.

Honours

She was nominated for a 1997 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for her design of English National Ballet's ''Alice in Wonderland'' and a BAFTA nomination for Peter Greenaway's ''The Draughtsman's Contract'' (1982). Her current designs can be seen in '' Dance of the Vampires'' in Vienna, directed by Roman Polanski.

Blane received an MBE (Members of the Order of the British Empire) in 2006.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blane, Sue
1949 births
Living people
British costume designers
Opera designers
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design
Royal Designers for Industry