The cast of Candlelight Theatre will be on stage through Oct. 29. Photo by Tisa Della-Volpe
There are a lot of Cs in Timothy Cannon’s life.
C for his last name.
C for ChristianaCare, where he is an assistant nurse manager during the day.
C as in Candlelight Theatre, where he’s worked in his off time since 2004.
And C for costumes, because his largest theatrical role since 2004 has been designing costumes for Candlelight Theatre and others.
“It’s an outlet for self expression,” he said. “It’s a release of stress for me; it lets me get my creativity going.”
His day job is structured and rule-heavy.
“Costuming is another way for me to get my artistic fix,” he said. “It gives me a chance to just dream and then to take those dreams and make them a reality.”
His latest project is Candlelight’s current show, “Into the Woods.”
Costume designer Timothy Cannon envisioned the witch in Candlelight Theatre’s production of ‘Into the Woods’ as mirroring her decaying garden. Photo by Tisa Della-Volpe
“What really made me want to do this story was the witch’s outfit, because I thought, ‘Oh, that’s creative. And fun.'”
He’s been working with the theater since 2004, when he appeared in the ensemble of “Grease,” but in recent years focused almost entirely on costumes.
Timothy Cannon
He tries to keep the budgets small, under $1,000 and sometimes under $500.
Cannon accomplishes that by shopping in Candlelight’s costume collection to reuse, recycle and repurpose with style.
When the “Woods” witch first appears in the musical, she tells the baker and his wife that they must make amends for his father stealing vegetables from her magic garden.
“My idea was to make it look like she was transforming into the dying vegetation in her garden,” Cannon said.
He decided to start with leper costumes that he had used in a production of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” adding bits of material and vines to give her a ragged look.
“I just wanted to make her look like she just crawled out of her own garden,” Cannon said. “She was punished.”
But then he turned around and had a lot more fun and a much lighter touch on the costumes worn by Cinderella — who does meet and marry her Prince Charming to surprising results.
They offer a more traditional Broadway-style look.
Tori Healy, left, as the baker’s wife, admires the fancy footwear of Cinderella, played by Anne Bragg. Photo by Tisa Della-Volpe
For Cinderella, he spruced up a costume from a holiday “Christmas Carol” show.
For her sisters, he did a few alterations on ballet costumes donated to Candlelight by the Rock School for Dance in West Chester, Pennsylvania, for a production of “The Nutcracker.”
Path to Candlelight
Canon has been enthralled with theater since he was a child.
He was born in North Carolina and his father’s service as a Marine moved the family to California and Okinawa, Japan, before Cannon returned to attend Delaware State University.
His first time on stage came at the age of 6 in a California summer honors program when he was cast as Kurt Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music.”
Some of Cannon’s designs
DSU degrees
Betsy Price is a Wilmington freelance writer who has 40 years of experience, including 15 at The News Journal in Delaware.
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