Dressing Up For The Opera

Arts & Culture

Pictured: Leeann Sandel-Pantaleo as Amneris. Photos by Rod Milling.

Throughout the decades-long procession of performances in the Sarasota Opera’s Verdi Cycle, audiences have given standing ovations for hundreds of performers, but some of the heroes behind this milestone accomplishment remain relatively unsung. Now in his 19th season with the company, resident costume designer Howard Tsvi Kaplan has helped lend grandeur and drama to more than 20 operas that played upon that stage, including the currently running production of Verdi’s Aida.

Much of the costuming comes on loan from a company in Baltimore, said Kaplan, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of work to be done getting the performance stage-ready. “You take the raw material and make it into what works for your company,” said Kaplan. Armor was rebuilt, headdresses modified and whole dresses made from scratch. “We made it our own,” said Kaplan.

More than 200 outfits are required for the production, Kaplan estimated, and while not every one needed to be modified in a design sense, everyone needed to be fitted. Around three months out, Kaplan and other crew began wrangling performers for fitting sessions and then got to hemming and tucking. And seeing as Sarasota Opera is a repertory opera house, Aida isn’t alone onstage. “We’re fitting costumes for three other operas at the same time,” Kaplan said.

For Aida, costuming involves both large-scale and small-scale design. In a sense, Kaplan works on a macro level with groups of performers, such as the townfolk, presenting them as a clear faction. “So you need blocks of color,” said Kaplan. “They work as a unit.” But then he turns his eye to individual pieces, such as Radames’ armor. As captain of the guard, Kaplan wanted to give the costume a little more “leading man” quality, and so rebuilt it out of leather, giving the whole piece more weight and presence.

Perhaps the greatest challenge in costuming Aida came when it was discovered that one of the pivotal dresses for the character of Amneris simply wasn’t included in the Baltimore package and had to be made anew. The shop enjoyed the challenge, said Kaplan, as the dress had to be made to blend in. “You can’t make it look like she went out and bought her own dresses. It had to look like the hand of the rest of the show.”

With three performances left, there’s still a chance to see Kaplan’s work in action but time is running out. Remaining performances of Aida include a matinee on Mar. 13 and then regularly scheduled performances on Mar. 15 and 19. The Battle of Legnano, the other remaining Verdi opera in the Verdi cycle, also closes after three more performances, on Mar. 12, 16 and 18.

Pictured: Leeann Sandel-Pantaleo as Amneris. Photos by Rod Milling.

Read more about the Verdi cycle in this month's issue of SRQ.

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