Steam punk help!

I definitely wouldn't go too extreme with giant armor-type stuff or gigantic weapons. Rather than use huge, distracting costume pieces, it would probably be better just to stick to the basic elements. Pick shirts, skirts, pants, and such that are fairly simple, then add to the costumes with accessories like goggles, gloves, cool shoes, belts, bags, guns, jewelry, etc. (There are a bunch of great steampunk tutorials on CO+K.) Don't go overboard with too many accessories, though. Too many could be distracting from the show.
Now, on to sets. Obviously, huge electronics and machines are going to be difficult to move around the state. If you're going to do a backdrop, you could paint it a rich color and paint some gears and stuff on with gold or silver paint. (If you can give me a little bit more information on the play and what the sets are going to be comprised of, I could probably help a little bit more.)

The show is about a corrupt town that finds out a government official is coming to evaluate their town, so they start bribing the man they believe is the official. The characters are very eccentric and out there. We're using it for our one-act show, so it's been cut so there are 3 main locations: a run-down hotel, a study, and sitting room. The study and sitting room are in the Mayor's house, and he's quite rich so we want a big contrast to be shown. We have a set plan already, so it's more of the decorating(paint/wallpaper maybe?), colors, and props that I'm curious about.

Metallic spray paint will be really helpful for decorating props. In terms of colors, neutrals and metallics are pretty common, but there are almost never neon colors. Deep red and navy blue look like fairly common colors too. A lot of steampunk stuff is Victorian-based, so if you choose a wallpaper pick something in an appropriate color that has a Victorian look to it. That would give the mayor's house the rich look it needs. Make the furniture in his home fancy but still semi-old looking. If you need to jazz up any props or furniture, go to a hardware store and look for gears, screws, etc. that you could just add on to anything, or you could just dig through a junk drawer or toolbox and see what kind of stuff you have that might work. You won't want your sets to distract people from the actors, though, so be careful not to go overboard with anything. Hope I could help! If you have any questions, go on ahead and ask me.

Add cogs to everything and make it all look steam-powered.

Is it The Government Inspector? Sounds familiar!
Definitely add cogs, and then you can just add accessories - do you have access to a costume room from your school or local theatre or anything? If you go for Victorian-style outfits, you can very simply make them more steampunk just by adding great steampunk accessories.
Google for tutorials on how to make goggles and other steampunk pieces, and it'll be great!

If you have ever watched a western, you got the style. Steam punk is from the Industrial Revolution, so anything that looks about Mid 1800's would be great!!!! My Tea party dress and top hat.. if the hat is posted work perfect, I thought.

Yes, it's the Government Inspector We do have a costume room, but there isn't a whole lot that we have that's Victorian or super steam punk-y. But there's a shelf/rack that I haven't gotten to yet, so there might be something there.
Thanks for the help everyone, I appreciate it!

Cogs, goggles: http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/steampunk-goggles-7 , rusty keys, and: buy gold/brass spray paint (you should easily find it near Xmas supplies ), it's super cheap and effective!

I recommend if you have an A.C.Moore craft store near you, to go. They have a jewelry making isle with tons of neat ideas for making you own things. Try thrift stores for cheap nic-nacs and tear them apart (Especially clocks!). Invest in some hot glue and super glue, and maybe some metallic paint from walmart. Copper-looking and brass-looking cord can also be a good tool for additions, as well as old fabric, news paper and beleive it or not, mini light bulbs (or cheap crappy ornaments). Goodluck!

So I'm trying to make a few of the skirts, and I was wondering if you'd be able to recommend what types of fabric would work best. I'm using this(http://loli-tutorials.livejournal.com/11615.html?nojs=1) for the skirts, then making one bustle that I found on here (http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/burlesque_bustle_skirt). I think they both said taffeta but I've never used it before and I don't really want to use fabric that will rip easily(I don't want to do more mending than I'll have to!), plus I don't have a huge budget. Another thing I saw online said I should use upholstery fabric? I wasn't sure about that. In general, I'd like something that will be both durable and fluffy/airy if possible. I've already got petticoats and hoop skirts to plump out the skirts, too.