‘Crowns’: Women with hattitude

When “Crowns” played Arena Stage last fall, some patrons came away swayed by the gospel music, while others were stirred by the cultural meanings haberdashery holds for many black churchwomen. Yet, the overwhelming response to the musical was, “I gotta get me a hat.”

The show, the biggest box office success in the history of the Kreeger Theatre, is a well-accessorized tribute to the “hat queens” of the South. These are the women who express the Bible verse “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head …” (1 Corinthians 11:5) with an astonishing array of “crowns,” the hats that adorn their heads every Sunday.

“Dressing the head is satisfying to the wearer, and it also makes a statement to the world,” says Mary Holmes, professor emerita of art at the University of California at Santa Cruz. “It makes people feel crowned — separated, elevated, and enlarged.”

Written and directed by Regina Taylor, “Crowns” is based on the 2000 book of the same name, a collection of black-and-white photos of black women and their church hats captured by Washington-based photographer Michael Cunningham. Miss Taylor also drew from the book’s oral histories about the church-hat tradition written by Craig Marberry.

The high-hatted musical drew more than 40,000 people during its original run in 2003, including more than 6,000 patrons new to Arena Stage. They came for the rollicking music and the merging of faith and fashion in the play’s female characters. Mostly, though, it was the hats that lingered in the mind — polka dot numbers with brims as stern as a ship’s prow, pillbox models that took you back to the days of Jackie and Jack, rococo creations with fox fur and bijoux befitting a rajah and feathery hats poised to take flight.

“We took a big group of both grown women and youth, and everyone could relate to the hats — someone in their family, a mother, grandmother or great-grandmother, who wouldn’t go to church without a hat,” says Jeanette Wolfe, of the National Council of Negro Women.

“I took 150 people from my church, and they absolutely loved it,” says Ann Saunders of Washington’s 19th Street Baptist Church. “Many of our parishioners are from the South, and they all had memories of relatives who were the ’hat queens’ of their small towns.”

Hat and costume designer Emilio Sosa designed from scratch 30 hats for the show, about five toppers per actress. Hundreds of prop hats were elegantly stacked on the set, seeming to stretch into heaven.

“I live and work in Harlem, and I am surrounded by four African American churches,” says Mr. Sosa. “Every Sunday, I sat on the stoop with a cup of coffee and a sketch pad and drew inspiration from the women — they wore these beautiful, elaborate hats that defined their personalities. Hats say more about you than any other accessory.”

Mr. Sosa hoped the run of “Crowns” would spur a mini-millinery revolution, and it seems as though he got his wish. Arena did its part to revive the fine art of hat-wearing, setting up a boutique in the Old Vat Room during the original run. Hat vendors will again be selling their wares during the revival, this time in the lobby of the Fichandler Theater.

Estella Wheeler, of Estella’s Fine Hats, was one of the vendors the first time around, and she’ll be returning for the summer run. “It was the wildest two weeks of my life,” says Miss Wheeler, 59, who confesses she never goes anywhere without a hat. For this interview, she’s sporting a shimmery silver straw number. “Before the show, women just looked, but after the show, it was a stampede.”

Miss Wheeler, who has been in the hat business for 30 years, many of them at her store on 2000 Rhode Island Ave., says she sold 150 hats in two weeks, and got orders for numerous others.

“I went home every night,” she recalls, “and said, ’Give me some ribbon, give me some thread. I gotta make new hats.’ One night I fell asleep at 4 a.m. over the glue gun.”

Growing up in South Carolina, Miss Wheeler had only two hats, one black and one white.

“I grew up Southern, black and poor, so all I could afford were two hats,” she relates. “My mother used to make bands to match my outfits, so it was like a new hat every Sunday.”

Now she has hundreds of hats, and also many pairs of gloves — in lace, cotton, velvet, and festooned with rhinestones. She considers herself a “hat queen,” but not a “hat diva.” For that status, your hat, gloves, shoes, pocketbook and accessories all have to match. Apprentice stages include the novice (“hat girl”) and intermediate (“hat princess”) categories.

Shortly after graduating from high school, Miss Wheeler came north to Washington, where there were more job opportunities.

“My dream since I was 12 was to own a hat store, and I am living that dream,” she says. “I love spending time with the women in my shop, finding the hat that is the right shape and size for their head and body. Because hats are all about adorning yourself for worship, and you want to look your best for the Lord.” Miss Wheeler is active in her church, Faith Temple No. 2, where every woman wears hats, even if she sings in the choir.

Another hat maker setting up shop at Arena this summer is Stephanie Marbury, 39, who has been crafting hats for 15 years. Her year-old business, the Prince George’s County-based Crowned Princess Hats, is partially funded by her brother, Stephon Marbury of the New York Knicks.

“It started out in my hometown of New York as a church project with the minister’s wife, Lula Mae Tucker,” she explains. “I started making hats as a hobby, but then a girlfriend of mine saw some of my hats and said, ’You can do this. Don’t be lazy.’”

Miss Marbury is wearing a soft black straw tall hat that she admits was once beige and brown. “It is amazing what you can do with a can of spray paint,” she says. Miss Marbury calls herself a “hat princess,” because she only owns 45 or 50 hats. “I hope to get to the ultimate — hat diva — which is when your hat turns heads every time.”

From making hats as fund-raisers for her church, Miss Marbury fell in love with the art of millinery. “It teaches you to appreciate people and their individual qualities, so you learn to appreciate life,” she says. “But most of the inspiration comes from my mother, who always said that you aren’t really dressed without a hat. My mother is really happy I am wearing hats now, but mind you, she didn’t offer up any of her own hats.”

WHAT: “Crowns,” written and directed by Regina Taylor

WHERE: Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theatre

WHEN: Call theater for performance times

TICKETS: $51 to $66

PHONE: 202/488-3300

Churchwomen’s hat lore

• The tradition of black churchwomen and their hats goes back to the African tradition of adorning the head because of the belief it was where the soul resided.

• One of the few places that slaves could express themselves without censure was in church services, where African traditions met Christianity. Because Christian tenets insisted that women cover their heads during worship, the practice took on a dual meaning.

• In the 19th and early 20th century, hats were worn by members of all social strata, including the lowest classes, who mostly wore soft hats or caps. During this time it was unacceptable to go into the street without a hat, and some sort of head covering was often worn indoors.

• The first hats were thought to be an animal skin pulled over the head as a protection against the elements.

• One of the first depictions of a hat was found in a tomb painting at Thebes and shows a man wearing a coolie-style straw hat.

• Women throughout the ages were always expected to have their heads covered by veils, kerchiefs, hoods, caps, and wimples. It was not until the late-16th century that women’s structured hats, based on those of male dandies, began to be seen.

Having ’hattitude’

Wearing a church hat is not as simple as plopping a baseball cap on your head. Hats are a sign of faith, of status. They show that a woman is “up on her feet,” making money and providing for herself. They involve considerations, decisions, and above all, rules.

Rules of the Hat-Queen:

• Don’t let people touch the hat.

• Don’t let people knock the hat.

• Don’t let people hug too close.

• Never lend anyone your hats.

Adapted from “Crowns” by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry, Doubleday, 2000.