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L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
14
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February 8 - March 13, 2016
should fit. It also allows the designer to get to know all the
people in our small department, so it becomes a nice, warm,
teamwork environment.” The fitting/alterations tag-team
format also provides a learning environment for younger
wardrobe staff, who are often paired with more experienced
colleagues to learn the intricacies of this demanding trade.
Fittings begin just a day or two after the artists begin
rehearsals. Principals who often have multiple costume
changes in a show generally attend two or three fittings.
The wardrobe staff is given their measurements in advance
to make sure the basic fit is accurate. Fittings typically last
about an hour, but may go longer if numerous costumes are
required by a particular role. Reilly says, “It’s actually harder
than you might think to stand in a fitting for more than an
hour, so we usually try to break it up.”
It’s during fittings that the wardrobe department often
faces its greatest challenge. “Clothing is a very personal thing,”
explains Reilly. “You’re portraying someone else, so it’s not
necessarily supposed to be something you would wear. But
for our principal artists, who might be standing in front of
3,000 people for large chunks of time, they can’t feel ugly or
awkward or ill-fitted. So we have to make sure they love their
costumes, and you can always tell when they do.” Luckily, this
has also become one of the most rewarding aspects of Reilly’s
job – “When their face lights up once you put them in their
costume, that’s a great feeling.” Scott Marr, Lyric's production
design director, agrees that one of the most important goals
for the designer and the wardrobe team is ensuring that the
performers feel comfortable in their costumes. “A costume is
one of the most personal parts of a performer,” he says, “other
than their voice. Costume designers want the performer to feel
confident and help him or her with the portrayal of character.”
A secondary challenge lies in the sheer numbers of
cast members the wardrobe department dresses. Lyric casts
can include principal artists, 48 chorus members, actors,
supernumeraries, and dancers. That means there are at least
60 costumes in each show, but normally many more because
most productions require more than one costume change.
Reilly says, “In this year’s
Merry Widow
some chorus members
had two or three outfits each. But with a show like
Wozzeck
,
they only had one, so it really varies.” The largest number of
costumes Lyric’s wardrobe department has undertaken for
one show has been its production of
Aida
, which includes
more than 200.
With that many pieces, it’s no wonder Lyric’s wardrobe
staff have their fair share of memorable costuming moments.
Reilly recalls a 1993-94 rental of
Don Quichotte
for which
“the notes said to lengthen everything, and the person read
the notes wrong and thought it said to
shorten
everything. So
Jean-Philippe Lafont [who portrayed Sancho] looked like the
Incredible Hulk! But he was really nice about it and we got it
In Act One of last season’s
Porgy and Bess
, the chorus went from their
everyday clothes in the opening scene (with Jermaine Smith as Sporting Life)
to the funeral scene and then the picnic scene.
ALL PHOTOS THIS PAGE BY TODD ROSENBERG