Mel Benson, child of the 1980s and costumer of THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER!

Mel Benson, First Stage Children's Theater, holding a pair of rad acid-washed zipper-legged jeans, circa 1984. Photo by Mithra Ballesteros

Costumer Mel Benson remembers the eighties well. "I loved snap bracelets. My mom had to take my jelly shoes away from me because I wore them every single day." Now Mel is passing along her eighties expertise to the sixty-six young performers in THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER. Along with teaching the kids to scrunch their socks and roll their jeans to get them tight, Mel must convince these young people that it's okay to wear t-shirts tucked tightly into jeans that sit high on the waist. There are hair lessons too. Creating claw bangs and frizzy curls takes time, technique, and plenty of Aqua Net! "It's hard because these kids don't relate to my childhood," says Mel. "I have ordered more than a few of them to go home and listen to Run DMC. And He-Man. When will we get to see those reruns again?"

Aside from outfitting the cast in authentic eighties looks, the First Stage Costume Shop faces the matter of scheduling sixty-six young performers for fittings, and everyone is working evenings and weekends to get the job done. Mel reports that thanks to solid organization, the work continues to progress smoothly. Like, no duh. The costume shop can, like, tooh-tally do anything.