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L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
22
|
February 22 - March 19, 2016
One show I always like
working on
The Magic Flute
.
In the production we first
did in 1986-87, there was
the glockenspiel, the flaming
torch, a lot of other different
props and tricks. I worked
closely with Tim Nolen, that
production’s first Papageno.
He needed a birdcage on his
back and he didn’t like the
one we initially gave him.
It was important to us to
give him one that would be
comfortable for him in the
performances.
Wardrobe
MAUREEN REILLY,
Costume Director
After alterations, any costume goes through the sewing
room. Then our wardrobe team steams and presses it, checks
labels, and makes sure proper undergarments are in place. That’s
when our wardrobe supervisor, Lucy Lindquist, does a final check
– only then is it ready to be worn onstage.
For performances we set up quick-change racks and determine
where the changes will take place. Our Abigaille, Tatiana Serjan,
who had a red dress with evening wrap for Act Two, came
offstage after Act One, met her dresser and wig/makeup person
in the stage right elevator, and was ready to go back onstage in
two-and-a-half minutes!
Sometimes a change needs to take place onstage. In
La
fanciulla del West
, a dresser had to be inside the cabin at the
start of Act Two and stay there to help with Minnie’s costume
changes. The dresser couldn’t leave, since there was no way to get
offstage. So there was the audience, watching the opera with no
idea that there was actually a dresser sitting in the dark in a little
hole in the stage.
Our maximum number of dressers this season has been 20,
for
The Merry Widow
and
Der Rosenkavalier
. When we did our
first
Porgy and Bess
and later
Show Boat
, the director of those
productions, Francesca Zambello, said, “I’ve never seen anything
run so smoothly.” We credit our dressers, who have to learn a
show on the fly. They’re also able to read each performer when
they meet them, and really take care of them.
LUCY LINDQUIST,
Wardrobe Supervisor
When I go through a costume before it goes to the dressing
room, I have to check every single piece that the performer is
wearing. The costume then becomes the responsibility of the
dresser. We have a very smart group or dressers who need only
one hour to learn the show – they’re very professional and they
do a fantastic job. A good dresser is someone who can control
himself or herself, so they can help everyone under pressure and
deal with every issue. You have to be polite, very strong mentally,
and very well organized.
That becomes very important in an opera like
Aida
, where
the quick changes include the chorus men going into breastplates,
helmets, special shoes, and then, of course, going from soldiers to
Ethiopians. But when it comes to quick changes, not even
Aida
is
more complicated than
Show Boat.
The dressers had to make sure
of every little detail. They weren’t just changing a singer’s dress;
they were changing her shoes, stockings, jewelry – everything the
look required.
In the running of a show at Lyric, everyone is very dedicated.
We’re passionate about it, and I don’t know if that happens in
other places. We give more than we risk – we give our hearts.
Wig, makeup, and costumes await the
arrival of Megan Marino (Annina)
for a
Rosenkavalier
performance.
A Dresser’s Tales
Told by JOHN SALYERS,
chief dresser
In performances we call the first floor “The Intensive Care
Unit.” You’re not just dealing with costumes – you’re dealing with
personalities! Are they feeling sick? Do they need tea? Sometimes
they’re leaving for the airport after the performance and need their
luggage taken someplace, so it’ll be ready for them later. Dressers
give performers whatever they need to be ready to do the show.
Sometimes you’re a coach, at other times a confessor!
It’s great to work with someone like Nathan Gunn, who
is always calm and collected. When he’s got a quick change,
he knows exactly what he’s doing. And Ferruccio Furlanetto is
wonderful, too, someone who never complains about anything.
When he sang Boris, he wore a costume weighing at least 80
pounds. He couldn’t sit down because the costume had a lot of
jewels in it. He’d never want a chair – he’d just stand backstage
for an hour. An extremely kind, patient, and overall great guy.
I was the dresser for one of our leading men when, before
the opera’s last scene, he was supposed to do a small quick
change, like adding a coat. When he came offstage, he was
angry at something that had just happened onstage. He turned
around to show me that there was a hole in his pants. Because
he was angry at that moment, he pulled the seam apart and the
pants split. I ran to his dressing room, grabbed his other pair of
pants, ran back through backstage, got to him, pulled the pants
off, put the other pants on, and he went onstage as if nothing
had happened
.