Costuming a musical can be a dream come true for a costume designer, and some of cinema’s most iconic duds come from big-screen musicals. A contemporary musical is different than, say, a Hello, Dolly! or a Dreamgirls, and Dicks: The Musical needs a distinct point of view. Costume designer Valerie Klarich gives this whacky film a distinct and pointed perspective, and she gives God garments worthy of being worshipped.
The overture and opening song (“I’ll Always Be On Top”) of Dicks eases us into the musical tone despite, you know, the prominence of schlong prowess in the lyrics. Even though Klarich isn’t a musical aficionado herself, she gives the costumes a colorful flair that we assume is synonymous with song-and-dance feature films. After Klarich read the script, she knew that she wanted to help the push the envelope in any way that she could.
“I read the script, and I called my agent said, ‘What is this…,” Klarich begins with a laugh. “He sent me a link to their UCB performance, so I could read it along to get an idea. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into until I met with Larry [Charles]. I threw some stuff on a board to concept what I thought it could be. Some of it was spot-on, and then some of it evolved as we went along. I’ve never been a big musicals fan myself, but I love pushing the envelope with everything. At SNL, we made fun of stuff that other people didn’t want to. That’s what attracted me as well as getting to work with Larry. [That] was a highlight for me.”
One of the best surprises is the big-screen debut of Megan Thee Stallion as Gloria, the boss of Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson’s Craig and Trevor. Klarich relished the collaboration with rapper, and she wanted to make her the biggest boss she possibly could be. In some shots during Gloria’s “Out Alpha the Alpha,” her taut, lime green top resembles a censor bar.
“Megan was phenomenal to work with, and she truly knows what she likes and what she doesn’t like,” she says. “Some actors let you do your thing and then later tell you they don’t like something. Megan was very collaborative throughout. I thought I would just be working with her stylist. Her rack had every color under the sun, and we fit her the morning of. We asked for her stylist to be there so she would feel more comfortable. We had a couple options for that scene like a red suit. We had one change for her that she didn’t perform in–the black Dolce & Gabbana piece with the blazer. Her second change was the big “Out Alpha the Alpha” number, and I didn’t know what the choreography was going to be. That was a prayer moment. There was an Alex Perry suit that had a lot of give and stretch that helps how she moves with all the squats and dips. The color was so vibrant on her skin, and she is such a truly easygoing, kind collaborator. We shot the movie in 20 days, but her schedule is always so packed. She was magic.”
There has been a lot of chatter about the fabulousness garments donned by Bowen Yang’s God. God isn’t on screen as much as the other characters, so Klarich made sure that His clothes were as eventful as the film is shocking. His final robe was such a statement piece that director Larry Charles added a shot specifically to highlight Klarich’s work. The costume designer took great time to decide which…ahem…position should be featured.
“The concept of that a-ha moment was one that evolved, and I wanted to do something that no one has ever seen before,” Klarish says. “I knew that I didn’t want white, and in an early draft of the script, the first scene of the movie opens with Bowen, as God, at a gay nightclub with men dancing all around him. That’s where the Gucci God look kind of came from. I wanted something different from his first look to his second look, and the stained glass came in. I knew that I wanted it to be really out there. It might offend some people, but it’s funny. My illustrator, Wilberth Gonzalez, concepted about 8 or 10 sex positions. He sent me these images, and some of them were way more offensive. We went with pictures of men embracing rather than engaging, and I took them to Larry. He is one of the most amazing directors that I have ever worked with, and he really embraced bringing every crazy possible idea. I don’t know if that will ever happen in my career. We came up with a comfortable combination between embracing and engaging, and we also wanted every color of person on there as best that we could with paint.
Bowen got dressed that day, and he got a standing ovation when he came on set. It happens with really intense scenes when actors can be very emotional, but never with costumes. Larry came up to me and told me that he was adding a shot of the costume. He pivoted the production design so it went better with Bowen’s robe. That was a pretty wild career high for me.”
God’s circuit boy, deconstructed disco ball catches every shimmer of light and reflects rainbow in an unexpected way. Klarich didn’t want to be obvious about God’s affinity for guys who like other guys.
“I didn’t want too be on the nose with it, but that fabric was so hard to work with,” she says. “It was like a vinyl, and there aren’t many vinyl suits out there for a reason. We came up with the idea of rather it be Gucci because of fashion but a G with a cross, but we couldn’t print on it. It would melt. I even found someone who could stamp it, but it didn’t feel right. We sent it to a girl in Texas who hand-stickered all 6 yards of fabric and sent it back to LA. It couldn’t button, but he didn’t have to do a lot in that look.”
When we meet Megan Mullally’s Evelyn, we are shocked by the state of her apartment, but, it’s even more impressive (and hilarious) how Klarich incorporated that into her costumes. In one scene, she wears a black and white ensemble that will make you think Moira Rose spent time at Grey Gardens. In another, she has a hilarious collection of necklaces that look like a festive fruit décolletage. I love that Evelyn isn’t afraid of color or patterns.
“There was one that was a very stiff chiffon from a Bloomingdale outlet.” Klarich says. “I love the polka dots. When I interviewed with Larry, he kept mentioning Miss Havisham, so I took that and ran with it. With her wig being up and grey, I knew we needed headpieces. Larry gave me inspiration from the Instagram called AdvancedStyle with all these women with insane style. Honestly, me and my assistant hunted and gathered for everything, but I thought the full skirt would be more in line with Larry’s vision of Evelyn. We didn’t want to do white, and musicals tend to have color. We shopped a lot of vintage from The RealReal. Some of her headpieces were made, because we couldn’t afford to buy these headpieces from these brilliant artists on Etsy. We went to Michael’s and spray painted some eggs gold and added some feathers. That’s what she wore when she went out to dinner. The butterfly headpiece at end was built by someone on the team.”
I want everything that Nathan Lane’s Harris wears. Klarich knew that she couldn’t pull garments for this character, especially because he would want to make a statement for his late-in-life coming out. You want ascots? Klarich’s got it. You want color? Done. We meet Harris in a fancy green color with a butterfly pattern, and Klarich solidifies herself as the premiere dandy designer.
“We got the fabric at Mood in New York,” she says. “Everything was built for him–he’s not an off-the-rack kind of guy. I was very nervous about working with Nathan, because he is very good friends with Anne Roth. When I first got on the phone with him, he wanted to connect me with her to help me understand what he likes. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen–that would’ve been a dream. I sent Nathan my boards with gentlemen in three piece suits. When Jason Sudeikis wore a teal velvet tuxedo jacket at the Emmys, I never forgot it. It’s gorgeous. For the wedding, we didn’t want to put him in black or white, so we found a color that was flattering on his skin. The other process was swatching and finding fabric. I wanted you to meet him in something like the jacket with the butterflies. We added a lapel and gave it a trim and then we went to Anto and brought that fabric.”
Since I admitted that I would crazy in Harris’ closet, selecting something for herself from set was an easy answer.
“I want Bowen’s cape,” Klarich says quickly. “I would win at Halloween.”
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