Nola Yergen

From costumes to music to choreography, there’s something for everyone in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” which opens Friday night in Ethington Theatre. The dreamcoat is a production of the collaboration between the College of Arts and Media and College of Science, Engineering and Technology. “He’s got a personality, that coat,” costume designer Nola Yergen said with a grin. “It’s truly a one-of-a-kind work of art.” The performance also marks an important first for the University – fiberoptic cabling that enables an orchestra to perform the show’s music live from the GCU Recording Studio.

Ethington Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s “Henry V” features epic sword fighting, stunning costumes and a tale of a king’s growth as a person. The play, which opens tonight, also contains an important message that is just as relevant today as it was when the show was written in 1599. “I think what people can take away is some hope for what a leader of a country can be like,” director Michael Kary said. “A leader that’s inspiring, a leader that wrestles with ethical issues, and the one thing that stuck out to me in this production is how often he turns to God throughout for his decision-making and giving God glory for whatever victories he has.”

GCU’s effort to produce cloth face masks has been joined by College of Fine Arts and Production costume designer Nola Yergen, who has recruited several GCU Hotel employees to add pleating. It makes the coverings fit more like traditional hospital masks, but it’s important for an even bigger reason. “This is about teamwork,” Yergen said.

The Theatre Department earned 20 ariZoni Awards nominations for last year’s productions of “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “Ring Round the Moon,” and Christina McSheffrey was selected as one of three winners of the 2019 Zoni Scholarship. “I think it just speaks volumes about the education they’re receiving and how we try to work as much as possible to help them be ready to move on to either grad school or into entertainment as a profession,” said Claude Pensis, College of Fine Arts and Productions Dean and also an ariZoni Nominee. The award ceremony is scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday in Scottsdale.

Anyone who has seen an Ethington Theatre performance in the last 20 years has seen the artistry of Nola Yergen’s costumes, so it should come as no surprise that Yergen and her collaborator have been chosen as two of eight designers from the U.S. in the World of WearableArt international design competition. Yergen, Costume Designer and Assistant Professor in the College of Fine Arts and Production, certainly didn’t expect it, however. “It really was kind of a shock,” she said. Winners will be announced Sept. 27.

GCU Costume Designer and professor Nola Yergen just wanted to make a video about Renaissance dress to show to her students. But that idea turned into something more — a 9-minute documentary called “Dressing a Renaissance Queen,” which is an official selection in the Lady Filmmakers Festival, coming up Sept. 27-30 in Beverly Hills.

You’ll often find Grand Canyon University Costume Designer Nola Yergen and Assistant Costume Designer Sarah Levinson in their rabbit hole — GCU’s Costume Shop on the second floor of the Media Arts Complex. They’re gearing up to start work on “Ring Round the Moon,” the theater department’s first play for the 2018-19 academic year. But they also ventured to Costume-Con this summer, winning two Best in Show awards for their “Alice in Wonderland”-themed costumes and their catacomb saints entry.