Costume DIva?

(Renee Flemming in Armida)



I havent been writing much lately because Ive been so busy at work. Then I come home and I dont feel like I have anything interesting to share because Im just working all day everyday. But then I thought that maybe some of you might just be interested in what goes on in my not--to-typical job, after all this blog is called Costume Diva, and I dont really talk to much about working with costumes, do I?

So starting today Im going to start filling you guys in on some of what goes on behind the scenes as a Dresser here at the Metropolitan Opera.

So first of all being a Dresser is a lot like what it sounds like; I help the performers get dressed. My "call time" is always 30 minutes before the first performer in my assigned area gets called to stage. Usually that is 30 minutes before the show starts but sometimes I might not have someone on until second or even third act. My first task is always to make sure all costume pieces are there and prepped and ready to go.

Then I hang out until the person is ready to dress. If they wear a wig that usually goes on first by someone from the Wig department. Sometimes the costume is super easy and they dont really need my help and Im really just there in case something goes wrong. In a huge place like this where every department is Unionized, rules are really strict and even though a person may not really need a Dresser, there has to be one present as long a a performer is in costume, for liability reasons, etc.

Then a big part of my job is doing "Quick Changes" back stage. Sometimes they are crazy fast (17 seconds!) but most of the time there is just not enough time for the performer to go aaaalllll the way back to their dressing room, change, then come back. (This place is HUGE and dressing rooms span 3 floors.)These are my favorite to do because when standing in the wings you get to watch some of the performance. Crew members are discouraged from being in the wings unnecessarily because there is always so much going on and you dont want to be in any ones way. Even though this place is enormous, when youre backstage with sometimes over 100 people, and animals, and set pieces, it can get a bit cramped!

Aside from working on shows I also do a lot of "Day Work" which is when we come in and do laundry, repairs, break down shows that have closed, prep shows that are opening, and also rehearsals. But what I actually do varies quite a lot from day to day. This company is different from any other Ive worked at because they dont do one Opera for a consecutive number of days. For example if there are 15 performances of La Boheme, they do not happen back to back, rather they are spread out over weeks and sometimes months. So out of seven performances in a week, there are about 4 different Operas being performed.

Also, as an extra Dresser (not salary) you are hired to work specific Operas. So next week Im only assigned to Queen of Spades and Boris Gudunov so I only have three shows. Additionally you are assigned to a specific area for each Opera. I tend to work the department consisting of the Children, Ballet Women and Super Women. Other departments are the Solo Men or Solo Women, Chorus Men or Chorus Women and Super and Ballet Men. Make sense?

Anyways, I hope that served as a nice introduction to what Ive got going on these days! This week Im in for "Day Work" all week. Tomorrow and Friday we start dress- rehearsals for Queen of Spades, then I work Armida Saturday Matinee and Im subbing in on Iphigenie Saturday night!