From Stage to Screen

Just in time for Mother’s Day comes a performing-arts twist on product placement. The television and Internet retailer QVC partnered with the Broadway musical “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” this spring to provide all the jewelry used in the show (costume, of course).The pieces from the show make up the new QVC “Scoundrel Collection,” which is now available to non-Broadway stars as well.Of the approximately 100 pieces of jewelry worn in the musical, eight were created specifically for the show by QVC designers Kenneth Jay Lane, Joan Rivers, and Nolan Miller. The remaining pieces were selected by the show’s costume designer, Gregg Barnes, from QVC’s various jewelry lines.The partnership came about when the show’s marketers were looking for a corporate sponsor with a connection to the jewelry industry. When the call came in to QVC, the company was enthused. “We leapt at the opportunity. We were thrilled to be a part of Broadway,” said QVC’s manager of event marketing, Denise Wine.The process of selecting all the necklaces, earrings, pins, and bracelets for the stage was in the hands of Mr. Barnes, who had already researched and sketched out the style for the show before QVC was involved. “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” – based on the 1988 film – is set on the French Riviera, in a town where wildly wealthy women are swindled out of millions by two con men (John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz). In Mr. Barnes’s vision, the characters needed jewelry that would look like “classic Cartier” heirloom pieces that might have been passed down through generations.“One of the inspirations for the clothes was ‘To Catch a Thief.’ In that film, they wear all these classic diamond pieces,” said Mr.Barnes, who wanted only clear, diamond-like stones for the splashy opening scene in which the well-heeled women drape themselves over the leading scoundrel.With that in mind, Mr. Barnes traveled to QVC’s Pennsylvania headquarters to do some selecting. “I went to their warehouse. It was incredible,” Mr. Barnes said. “They had everything laid out on a table. We looked at sketches. There was a lot of back and forth.”And the QVC staff had a ball as Mr. Barnes took it all in. “He was like a kid in a candy store. He thought he would get 30 pieces of jewelry. When he arrived here, we had hundreds of pieces for him,” said Ms. Wine.The jewelry had to be matched to the specific necklines of the costumes. A soft peach dress with a dipped neckline was paired with a necklace by Nolan Miller that features a well-placed jewel at the center (Couture Canary Pendant $69.75). “It nestles right in the cleavage,” Mr. Barnes said.In another case, one actress’s long, shapely neck determined the jewelry chosen for her. Amy Heggins, clad in a yellow dress with a hood-like scarf, performs in the KJL Leading Lady Necklace ($313.50), which was created for the show. “We thought about not disrupting the neck. But we used this incredible chunky choker by Kenneth Jay Lane because her neck was so long and thin,” Mr. Barnes said.All of the women in the musical’s opening scene wear Nolan Miller’s stretch bracelet of clear stones ($194.75), which gives the scene added sparkle. In the show’s closing scene, a group of tourists arrive wearing Kenneth Jay Lane’s Siberian Tiger bangle bracelet ($64.75) and the Joan Rivers St. Tropez stretch bracelets ($41.25 for a set of three).How are the pieces holding up backstage? “They gave us three of everything,” said Mr. Barnes. “The jewelry is beautifully made, so there wasn’t an issue of it breaking.”But with nightly wear, sometimes the pieces need extra cleaning. “When you wear it over to make-up, you get a spritz of hair spray on it,” said Mr. Barnes.While “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” benefited by having the fancy baubles at the ready, QVC is happy to have a connection to the Great White Way in exchange. Members of the cast were invited onto the QVC broadcast to talk about the jewelry – and perform a number from the show. As Ms. Wine put it, “We look for opportunities to create good television.”The Scoundrel Collection is available at www.qvc.com. Select items are available at the concession stand in the lobby of the Imperial Theater (249 W. 45th St.), where “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” is playing.

From Stage to Screen

From Stage to Screen

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