Broadway<\/a> debut with the costumes for \u201cLiberation\u201d last fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Qween](\"https:\/\/wwd.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-wwd-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tQween Jean<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLexie Moreland\/WWD<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s been so many iterations that grew beyond our original ideas, that surpassed what our expectations were and that really culminated with the collaboration with our performers,\u201d Jean says. \u201cThis cast is undoubtedly the best performers I\u2019ve ever worked with in New York City and they all bring determination, vulnerability and such exquisite curiosity and unbound imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s a few days before the show\u2019s opening night, and Jean has just arrived at the studio from the Broadhurst Theatre after a few tweaks for understudies in the matinee. The night before, the team had added two new looks to the show, including a dramatic purple suit and feathered hat for Old Deuteronomy, played by Broadway legend Andr\u00e9 De Shields. The power of a reveal was crucial to many of the looks for the cats as they compete in ballroom, Jean says, and she did lots of research into the history of New York ballroom culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat for me was really diving deep into and understanding the fundamentals of New York City ballroom culture, where it emerged, the pain of Black and brown, queer and trans people not having space, not being respected in a lot of the other pageants and ballrooms in the late \u201950s and \u201960s, therefore forcing them to create their own,\u201d Jean says. \u201cAnd that being just as valid, just as important, as necessary, and as we now know, has become a global movement for solidarity, resilience, and individuality.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tQween Jean with sketches from \u2018Cats: The Jellicle Ball\u2019<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLexie Moreland\/WWD<\/p>\n
\n\tHer research also included lots of time logged at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the picture collection at the New York Public Library, as well as studying \u201cParis Is Burning\u201d and the work of Chantal Regnault, a photographer who worked closely documenting the ballroom culture of the 1980s and 1990s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cA lot of the details and richness of our creativity was truly honoring the myriad of balls and the categories that our ancestors created,\u201d Jean says. \u201cSo for me, it was just really to pay homage and to uplift every part of the beauty that has allowed us to exist today and to stand proudly knowing where we\u2019ve come from.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tJean calls the project \u201cthe most exciting thing I\u2019ve been able to contribute to,\u201d and highlights the tapestry outfit as a piece she\u2019s most proud of.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s a tapestry costume that is woven up of portraits of matriarchs, founding mothers, pioneers, diamond pioneers, living legends and icons in our community that have truly defined the elegance of the culture and the magnitude of ballroom, and that it has reached every corner of the world,\u201d Jean says. \u201cIt is something that we\u2019ve never been ashamed of, but now we can really truly stand in the light of the sun and be revered and respected for what we contribute. And to me, that\u2019s part of the revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tRobert \u201cSilk\u201d Mason as \u2018Magical Mister Mistoffelees\u2019 from CATS: The Jellicle Ball.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEvan Zimmerman\/ MurphyMade\/ Courtesy of CATS: The Jellicle Ball<\/p>\n
\n\tJean was born in Haiti and moved to Florida with her family as a child. Her grandmother made dresses and Jean grew up studying the way she sewed and created.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve always been attracted to clothes. Clothes have always been part of my experience,\u201d she says. \u201cI love clothes as much as I love my freedom. And baby, I love my freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe moved to New York to enroll at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, studying design for stage and film. In her interview process, she got to meet one of her mentors, Paul Tazewell, an experience that reaffirmed her belief in a higher power.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI said, \u2018OK, there\u2019s a God,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tXavier Reyes as \u2018Jennyanydots\u2019 and Dudney Joseph Jr as \u2018Munkustrap\u2019 from CATS: The Jellicle Ball.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEvan Zimmerman\/ MurphyMade\/ Courtesy of CATS: The Jellicle Ball<\/p>\n
\n\tHer involvement with \u201cCats\u201d began with a conversation with the directors, Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, and she immediately felt connected to the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI felt called to create one-of-a-kind, showstopping feline fashion that celebrates the legacy of New York, and that\u2019s what I tried to do,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tQween Jean<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLexie Moreland\/WWD<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tLeiomy as \u2018Macavity,\u2019 Kya Azeen as \u2018Etcetera,\u2019 and Dava Huesca as \u2018Rumpleteazer\u2019 from CATS: The Jellicle Ball.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMatthew Murphy\/ MurphyMade\/ Courtesy of CATS: The Jellicle Ball<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMy goal has been to allow every artist to shine, that their internal glow is the most beautiful…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[32145,146,79812,85,46,174208],"class_list":{"0":"post-377883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-broadway","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-eye-interview","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-wwd-weekend-arts-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}