This opera had a balanced amount of builds and alterations. Our team was in charge of the principle Susanne Burgess, as Norina, and two chorus members: Kimberly Stanish and Cole Bellamy. The most notable project I aided in was Norina's pink dress. The primary focus of my group was to prepare all of the ordered garments ahead of time as the measurements of the garments were a bit small for the singers. Norina's pink dress had to be built twice due to the original lace not being quite the color the designer sought. It was an enjoyable experience to work through an entire principle's looks, especially with Norina having five total looks. There were a lot of garments for my team in this opera, but maintaining good communication and flow as a team, made the process much smoother than it looked on paper.

Points in which I was challenged:

• Working with my draper to problem solve expanding non-build garments for a singer.

  • There were a lot of panels and inserts to ensure that on Norina's first fitting, the singer could fit into all the garments expected for them. Not sure if it was a compliment when the designer said that based on how the fitting went, there was no reason to be concerned about the garments not fitting.

• Figuring out how to keep a strapless dress from slipping on a male-presenting body

  • My draper and I had a couple ideas, which the best strapless alternative was to use an elastic rubber, similar to that found on wrestling gear, around the upper body opening to maintain the stretch of the fabric but also stay on the singer; ultimately we opted to use invisible straps as they were not visible on stage, because the sweat of the singer would still cause the dress to slip down. (The designer never has to know, it wasn't really strapless.)