Members of the Metropolitan Kansas City Jane Austen Society of North America met for a lovely afternoon tea in celebration of Jane Austen’s 249th birthday. Our thanks go to Mary Jo Powell who arranged for our yearly gathering at the beautiful Kansas City Country club.
Mary Traylor treated members to a wonderful presentation about fabric and design in Jane Austen’s lifetime, using examples of costumes she has designed for Heart of America Shakespeare productions set in the regency period. Mary, a Resident Costume Designer is a Kansas City designer who has been creating costumes for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival for 28 years. Her designs for opera have appeared at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Washington National Opera, Michigan Opera, Calgary Opera, Minnesota Opera, and opera companies in Austin, Texas and Orlando, Florida. Locally she has created costumes for the University of Kansas opera, UMKC Conservatory Opera, New Theatre, Starlight Theater, Coterie Theatre, and Unicorn Theatre. Mary has a Masters in Art History from University of Kansas and Masters of Fine Arts in Costume Design and Technology from UMKC.
