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Costumes Complete 'The Christmas Carol' Experience

DENVER (CBS4) - The musical "A Christmas Carol" is a tradition for the Denver Center Theatre Company. The company has produced the play 22 times over the years, and every time it's a little bit different.

One place you might notice the changes is in the costumes. There are about 112 costumes in the play, and while they can't change them all out every year they do add and replace some of them each year.

This year the costume department is adding a couple of new party gowns and a couple of children's nightgowns, as well as altering and restoring all the other outfits for the play. Kevin Copenhaver is the costume designer for "A Christmas Carol".

"Ultimately, I'd like to be an artist," Copenhaver told CBS4.

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(Credit: CBS)

His art is designing, sketching, and overseeing each creation. He captures the spirit of the scenes in fabric.

"That search of finding the right fabric to do the new outfit in is so much fun," he said.

"A Christmas Carol" is a period piece set in 1840. That means the costumes involve lots of layers and elaborate dresses, making it fun for Copenhaver.

"To sort of step out of the everyday world in which we live in and go somewhere else," he said.

The key to these costumes is they have to be both historically accurate and functional for the stage.

"The wear and tear on the clothes is intense," Copenhaver said.

Actors in "A Christmas Carol" will tell you that it's the costumes that really put the polish on their performances.

"Costumes dictate everything from movement, to the color, to how we feel; so it's a huge part of our character," said David Tomzcak, an actor who will be playing the Taylor, a phantom, a caroller, and a guest at the Fezziwig party.

It's the attention to detail at the costume shop that translates into a rich a vibrant feel on the stage.

"A Christmas Carol" runs through December 28 in the Stage Theatre at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. To get tickets, log on to denvercenter.org.

--Written for CBSDenver.com by Special Projects Producer Libby Smith

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