So must the resurrected mummy. And the giant ladybug. And that blood-splattered gown.
These items, along with classic doublets, frocks and imaginary creatures, were among about 4,000 costumes the Dutch National Opera put up for sale to the public on Saturday.
Why? Storage is stuffed.
5 comments:
I wish I could have gone to this sale of the Dutch National Opera’s 4,000 costumes. I was working in the costume shop recently and I learned that the plastic bags that they use to store costumes are called “body bags,” which I find ironic. I also think that the problem of storage is a HUGE thing within the theatre industry. Look at Broadway theatre’s, there is zero space in the wings (thanks Kevin). I think this is actually really smart. As much as keeping costumes as preserving them is important, sometimes there just isn’t enough room for it all. In addition, it’s a great way to get money and that’s not even the main purpose that the Opera house does this sale. Also the images of these costumes within this article are incredible. The Dutch National Opera keeps the costumes that are important or have relation to people of importance or premiere’s, however I highly doubt that they will be using a frog costume again and if so it might be much more difficult to modify the one they already have to fit the aesthetic they are trying to appease. Overall, this is really cool.
This is an ingenious idea. Theatre companies do this in New York City with the great Broadway flea market but I think other companies and summer stock could profit greatly from sales like this. I feel like furniture pieces and props could also be added to this sale if marketed as scenic furniture. This would make sales for companies barely meeting ends. These costumes also are incredible. Even if they just were used as decoration they are well worth the under three hundred dollar cost. In an industry that produces a lot of waste from production, having these giant sales is a great way to recycle what would have been wasted. Another way for costume shops to reduce waste is to donate costumes. I’m sure there are tons of dresses and nice outfits that sit in stock never to be used again. These could be donated or given to the goodwill. This reuses the costumes and also does good things for charity. This article made me wonder what happens to all the costumes on Broadway and film sets? Do actors get to keep them or are they too worn out or they saved by the designer?
What a cool way for the opera to generate more revenue and to clean out their stock. The costumes that they picked for this article were fun and interesting to read about. I wish they had made a book with the costumes, what show they were in, and an small antidote. Hearing the stories, such as the boy in the frog costume who was almost too excited, gives a different perspective into the opera company. It makes the costumes come alive and adds a human touch. I think that a book that was formatted similarly to this article would do well and encourage people to look more carefully at the gorgeous costumes. It's amazing that so many people wanted to be apart of the auction and selling a book showing the different pieces would include more people. Overall, this sounds like an amazing event and I hope it encourages more people to be engaged with the opera.
This article highlights one of the problems we run into at the school of drama all the time, which is where the hell do we put all this stuff we make. All the scenery we build is designed and broken up to be "easier" to store, and yet we still barely have enough space to fit everything, and often resort to keeping built scenery in the warehouse. As the scale and scope of main stage shows at this school continues to grow, there are no convenient solutions that come to mind. I honestly think the only real solution is for the school of drama to expand into the Warner parking lot and maybe even further, but we all know that's never going to happen. To be fair, the problem of long-term storage, or keeping "stock" has never really been a problem for us, as we tend to haunt throw everything away at the end of a show. Sure we have some stock platforms here and there, but nothing can match the volume and density of props storage or costumes storage.
I absolutely love how each of these pieces carries such a small, but unique piece of a production. The care and detail that went into each of these costumes is incredible. I am impressed by the fact that each piece holds up quality, despite the fact that it might only be worn for one entrance. Without reading the description, I wouldn’t even know that they were background pieces. Each has such a unique texture and shape. Robby Duiveman sums up one of the most interesting aspects of theater design, “It might not be possible to see that detail from the audience, but we would miss it.” Even though, I am fairly unfamiliar with opera, it seems as though opera has more theateratical freedom because of the uniqueness of the format. I see this article as a unique window into the world of dutch opera. I am particularly intrigued because often as Americans we don’t usually get to see or pay attention to theater from other countries.
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