Costumer's Guild president Igor Roussanoff with his costumes for "King Lear," starring Ralph Waite. Click photo for larger image.

It ended last weekend, the brief second exhibit of the Costumers Guild of Western Pa., but maybe if I record a few thoughts you'll be quicker to notice when their next exhibit appears -- suddenly, as they seem to do. You can't expect costumers to do much p.r. themselves, because they're constantly working. They play a big part in the theatrical growth spurt Pittsburgh is enjoying, but too often their contributions (I can be guilty of this, myself) are taken for granted.

The exhibit was at Sirani Gallery, 5875 Forbes in Squirrel Hill. I especially liked that the costumes were displayed along with set models and production photos, creating a sense of the collaborations theater requires. We rarely get to see photos of finished productions; what the PG publishes are usually publicity shots, taken before opening.

One such suite of costumes, set model, photos and, in this case, puppets, was for Playhouse Rep's "Riddly Walker" (Joan Markert costumes).

	Joan Markert beside her some of her costumes for PICT's "School for Scandal." Click photo for larger image.

Others were for the same company's "One Flea Spare" (Steffi Mayer set, Don DiFonso costumes) and "King Lear" (Anne Mundell, Igor Roussanoff). Particularly beautiful were Mundell's painterly design sketches for "King Lear" and the lovely production photos of Point Park's musical "King of Hearts" (Michael Essad, Don DiFonso).

Those are shows I had seen. But the exhibit also allowed me to sample some I had not, such as Point Park's "Philadelphia Story" (Michael Essad, Don DiFonso) and "The Importance of being Earnest" and "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern" at California University of Pa. (Roussanoff costumes).

	Tavia LaFollette's puppets for "Riddly Walker." Click photo for larger image.

A nice sidebar was small displays in several nearby shop windows along Forbes. Maxima had a number of Leah Klocko's designs for Comtra, especially for "Man of LaMancha" with the Rollys, father and son, and a spicy Nightingale of Samarkand costume from "Once Upon a Mattress." Stores with ballet costumes by Roussanoff were E. James, Contemporaery Concepts, Orr's (a bejeweled tutu) and Frameworks, a new shop just across from Sirani (another gorgeous tutu, blue and silvered).

Sirani's Barbara Kraus said there was considerable interest in the show, but I think such exhibits are a relatively new idea in Pittsburgh. They need -- and deserve -- more attention. I'll try to be quicker to alert the world.

	Steffi Mayer-Staley's set model for "Endgame" at Pitt's Charity Randall Theatre: the audience sat on bleachers (not shown) on the stage, looking out past the actors toward the empty theater.