As the final weeks before the Stars Over Veishea debut, “The Music Man,” are approaching, everyone involved is beginning to make the “final push.”

Director Marge Benett Folger has been in rehearsal every night working with performers to memorize lines, songs and dances; Erin Ball and the set design crew have the set design is underway and New York costume designer Jared Leese has been overseeing costume design.

“Right now, I’m working a proverbial shitload and have had almost everyone in for a fitting,” Leese said.

Leese arrived at Iowa State to help in the “Music Man” production “through a big series of events led by modern technology.”

Theater Director Gregg Henry had sent out an e-mail searching for a costume designer willing to work on the SOV production. One of Leese’s graduate school professors received Henry’s e-mail and called Leese.

Since then, Leese has been flying between Ames and New York trying to find appropriate costumes while a full-time shop manager and eight shop assistants work furiously over sewing machines.

But for Leese, the title of costume designer has several connotations, and he is careful when using it.

“Costume designer assumes I designed all of the costumes,” Leese said. “I develop a vision of what the show should look like and then go out and try to find some of it. Some of it exists already. We’d have to be completely on crack to make 120 costumes, especially men’s three-piece suits.

“Some costumes I have borrowed from connections in New York, some we rent and some we pull from the stock here,” he continued. “For the costumes we constructed, there is a definite design. What I do is over-see the complete costume production.”

Leese and the costume design staff have had to face several challenges over their last month of work.

One of the biggest challenges is the size of this year’s show, but that challenge they can overcome. Working with the show’s budget is less easy to solve.

“I don’t know how to say this without sounding completely rude,” Leese said. “But it’s different with a university production. It’s a challenge dealing with money available, the people available and time available.

“I’m not a freak about things but sometimes the details become difficult to work with,” he continued. “There’s a certain amount of finessing that needs to be glossed over, and you need to know when to let go. That’s what we’re learning this week. With 120 fittings, you have to understand that alterations come before you can add the buttons and painting.”

Leese has also had to over-look some stereotypes of costume design — for example, the belief that costume designers don’t work as hard as everyone else involved in the production.

“One of the biggest fallacies is that costumes invent themselves,” Leese said. “People believe we call up the ‘Magic Costume Faries’ and say give me the costumes for ‘Music Man.’ We could do that but it would be boring and crap and look like a $70 show.

“When people go to shows they usually say ‘look at the set’ or ‘look at the lighting.’ The costumes are usually the last things they notice,” he continued. “People don’t usually know how much time it takes to make simple alterations.”

Leese will be in Ames and have a chance to see the complete production of “The Music Man.”

Afterwards, Leese will go back to New York and begin other design projects.