Minnesota dad makes Broadway-worthy costumes for middle school plays

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (KMSP) - A Bloomington, Minnesota dad is putting his artistic talents to work for a middle school production of the Broadway sensation “Hairspray”.

For the last two years, Kevin Doheny has been the mastermind behind Oak Grove Middle School’s impressive theater costumes.

“They needed me,” he said about staying even after his daughter graduated. “Anyone who knows me, knows I do it for the kids.”

A social worker by day, for the last nine months he has spent his evenings and weekends crafting foam wigs using materials such as yoga mats and pool noodles.

"It's sort of my own personal therapy number one, and number two, it's a way to give back,” said Doheny who pays for all the materials out of pocket.

Last year, Doheny made elaborate masks for the Bloomington school’s production of “The Lion King”. Videos showing how he made the masks received hundreds of views on YouTube and resulted in several offers to buy the entire costume set. 

He first sold the set to a school in Canada, which then sold it to schools in New York and Virginia.

"The fact that they've been able to travel to so many schools already, we're just so thrilled about that, and frankly we're excited to see what happens to the Hairspray wigs as well,” said musical director Bryan Blessing.

Oak Grove Middle School’s production of Hairspray runs March 23-24 at 7 p.m. and March 25 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

To watch Doheny’s instructional video showing how he crafts the wigs, click here.