Sue Blane
- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sue Blane studied costume design at Wolverhampton College of Art and
Central School of Art and Design, finishing in 1971. She went to work
for the Glasgow Citizen's Theatre, where she designed the costumes for
Lindsay Kemp's production of The
Maids in 1971, starring Tim Curry as
Solange, wearing a black corset. She met director
Jim Sharman in London in 1973, when he was
looking for a costume designer for
Richard O'Brien's new,
low-budget musical The Rocky Horror Show at the Royal Court's Theatre
Upstairs. Won over by Sharman's desperation, and pleased to be working
with Tim Curry again, she borrowed Curry's corset from the Citizen's
Theatre, glued on sequins, and created Frank-n-Furter's look and those
of the other characters. Blane designed the Los Angeles (Roxy),
Australia and 1975 Broadway productions of the play, as well as
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
and its sequel
Shock Treatment (1981). Blane
became a respected London theatre costume designer, with occasional
forays into film and TV.