You’re mounting an enormous production about China back in the misty distance of “legendary times,” so the logical source of costumes would be … China?
That was the choice made by veteran costume designer Mary Traylor for the Lyric Opera production of Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot,” which next weekend opens the company’s inaugural season at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. She went online, identified a company known by multiple names in Xian, the capital of the Shaanxi province, and decided to give it a shot.
“I ordered a sample costume from them a year ago to see if it was even a possibility, to see the workmanship,” Traylor said. “It was lovely and we proceeded to open the lines of communication.”
And so emails began flying through cyberspace between Kansas City and Xian, as Traylor tried to explain the opera company’s needs and the color palette she wanted. To this day, Traylor isn’t sure whether she was communicating with a man or a woman.
“The thought of me being able to communicate with them in Chinese was not even remotely possible, so we communicated in English,” Traylor said. “Their English was pretty good.”
“Turandot” is a big opera, a fable about an ice princess who extracts a heavy price from men foolish enough to woo her, and demands scale and scope.
Traylor said the show uses 178 costumes or more — she’s lost count — and the only way to supply them and stay within budget was by turning to the Chinese company.
Evan Luskin, the Lyric’s general director, said that initially the company intended to rent the costumes. The budget was $32,500. Then, for artistic reasons, a decision was made to have most of them sewn in China. The company is on budget, but Luskin said having them all made in Kansas City would have been “wildly expensive.”
Comments