P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525
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P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525 |
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Barbara Sylvester - 34 Shows and Still Stitching By: Roy Riedy |
Barbara Sylvester's name appeared for the first time in the program for Marian Dunham's production of Meet Me In St. Louis in August, 1994, as one of the several seamstresses for the show. Since that first appearance, her name has been connected with 33 other shows at HLT. The second time her name appeared was the following August, again as a seamstress, for Marian Dunham's next musical Gigi.
In November, 1996, Barbara's name appeared with others under the title "Wardrobe" for Peter Pollard's presentation of Neil Simon's musical The Goodbye Girl and the next month she was listed in Mac Byron's "Extra" show Greater Tuna as the Costume Designer with Helen Curcio. In March she appeared in Frank Oberhausen's program for his revival of Fiddler on the Roof again as one of several seamstresses. In August she was recorded as a Wardrobe Assistant for Mac Byron and Marian Dunham's production of The Secret Garden.
In April, 1997, Frank Oberhausen brought the dressy La Cage aux folles to the Lakeside Playhouse and Barbara was one of the Costume Assistants for that challenging show. The last show of the Twenty-third season was Tammie Pollard's revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for which Barbara was part of the Costume Design team.
Barbara was involved in four shows the Twenty-fourth Season: Sue McCollum's Godspell in November, for which she was a Costume Assistant; Peter Pollard's My Favorite Year in January, for which she was part of the Wardrobe team; Frank Oberhausen's revival of Annie in April, again she was part of the Wardrobe team; and Beverly Brando Gillilan's June musical, Paint Your Wagon, the show that brought her and Helen Curcio a Zenon for Best Costume Design at the Awards Ceremony in October.
The Twenty-fifth Season provided three more shows for Barbara to work on: Melanie Boulay's Wizard of Oz in November as Wardrobe Mistress; Frank Oberhausen's reprise of The Sound of Music in April as a Wardrobe Assistant; and Beverly Brando Gillilan's revival of Arsenic and Old Lace in June as a Costume Assistant.
Three plays also awaited Barbara's attention in the Twenty-sixth Season: January brought Frank Oberhausen's revival of Annie Get Your Gun for which Barbara worked as a seamstress; April was the month of Sue McCollum's Bye Bye, Birdie, and Barbara was one of its Wardrobe Assistants, and in August Melanie Boulay directed a reprise of Oliver! for which Barbara was once again Wardrobe Assistant. At the Fifteenth Annual Zenon Awards, Barbara and the Wardrobe team for Bye Bye, Birdie were nominated for a Production/Technical Award for their outstanding work.
Barbara worked on all five main stage shows in the Twenty-seventh Season. She was part of the Soup/Salad/Dessert team during Jet Hansen's On Golden Pond; a Wardrobe Seamstress for Frank Oberhausen's reprise of his hugely successful The King and I; part of the Wardrobe Assistant team for Jim McCollum's musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; a member of the Soup/Salad/Dessert team again during Steve McDaniel's production of Moon Over Buffalo; and finally part of the Costume Design team for Tammie Pollard's musical West Side Story.
The Twenty-eighth Season proved to be another full season of work. Barbara was a Wardrobe Seamstress for Frank Oberhausen's reprise of Guys and Dolls; she worked with the Salad Bar team during Peter Pollard's Foxfire, Joe Willis' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Mike Logsdon's Move Over Mrs. Markham; and was one of the Wardrobe Assistants for Melanie Boulay's Peter Pan.
Most recently Mrs. Sylvester has worked on Frank Oberhausen's reprise of Man of LaMancha as its Wardrobe Manager, and Peter Pollard's revival of Steel Magnolias as a Wardrobe specialist. In March, 2003, she was a seamstress for the Kathy MacNeill and Frank Oberhausen reprise of the musical Brigadoon; and in June she assisted in the costume design of Allen Branch's whodunit, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Barbara sewed up the season by being a Wardrobe Assistant for Sue McCollum's revival of The Fantasticks, in August, 2003. In all, Barbara has contributed to 34 plays, 3 Zenon Ceremonies, and added a second Zenon to the one she won with Helen Curcio for Best Costume Design for Paint Your Wagon in 1998 when she received a Board Service Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Wardrobe" at the 18th Zenon Ceremonies in Ocober, 2003, still finding time to help out at the Salad Bar. She has been mentioned in 23 local news articles and 16 HLT Newsletters for a total of 75 Citations and shows no signs of slowing down her stitching. Thank you for your loyalty Barbara and leaving us in stitches - don't loose your thimble.
