Oberlin

Too Many Notes
Behind the scenes at Oberlin Opera Theater

Albert Herring, The Costume shop and backstage, with photos! (Written by Emily Peragine '14)
››› March 7, 2014 | Posted By Daniel McGrew

The show is a little under a week away, and amongst all the hustle and bustle, I feel that it is absolutely necessary to give our FABULOUS costume shop here at Oberlin a little lovin'!

Costume shops are one of my favorite places in a theater, and maybe I'm a little biased as a performer myself, but everything truly comes to fruition as a character when you reach the stage on the first dress rehearsal in full costume. Suddenly, you become the character that you have been rehearsing for weeks on end. This my friends, is magic. We opera singers get to have a lot of fun, and this includes playing "dress-up" for most of our adult lives. To be honest, I see no problem with this.

That being said...

An opera, let alone the costuming process for an opera is a very difficult thing to coordinate, and this is a massive understatement. If you want more details, please refer to my blog post from last fall on "tech" week.

Our costume shop, and the costume shop's fearless leader Chris Flaherty have been working for weeks on the beautiful costumes for Albert Herring. Not only must they physically craft the costumes, (measuring, cutting, sewing,) but they must also research the time period in which the shows take place according to the director, the lighting director, go to countless meeting on the set and concept of the show, purchase shoes, undergarments, gather accessories, arrange fittings, and second fittings. The list truly goes on and on...

Quite literally!

I took a visit to the shop in Hall auditorium this afternoon to snap some shots of backstage and hang out with Chris in his shop to give you all a little peek into his world of textiles, funny hats, and whimsy!