It's not all a 'Land of Sweets' for those who clothe 'The Nutcracker'

Among tutus, mouse outfits and soldier uniforms, the holiday favorite marks an end-of-semester breathing space for those who costume 11 show casts a year.

By Susan Williams

Photos by Paul Martens
Michelle Boyle works on one of the more than 150 costumes used in Tchaikovsky's holiday classic.

Photos by Paul Martens
Farzad helps fit Cristina Gustaitis into one of the costumes she would wear in the holiday ballet performance on the Bloomington campus. Gustaitis is in the seventh grade at Jackson Creek Middle School.

Taking double-casting into consideration, that means fitting, tucking, building, fluffing, hemming, mending and cleaning the wardrobes of 99 children and about the same number of adults for four performances. And that's at the end of a fall season which already put on three operas, another ballet, and several studio operas and recitals. As soon as the holidays are over, there are three more operas, a spring ballet, and then the summer season with another opera and a musical.

According to Mary Grusak, IU assistant professor and head of costumes, wigs and make-up, costuming 11 shows a year is no small task. She oversees the costuming crew and teaches in IU's associate degree program in costume construction technology. Grusak said that even with student workers and graduate assistants, her staff is quite small for the amount of work there is to do.

While many of the costumes are rented or pulled from IU's own stock, her staff builds wardrobes for an average of two opera productions each year. Even those that are rented or recycled still need mending, resizing and an occasional complete rescue here and there.

"We can build most dance costumes in one day, unless it's a classical tutu, which takes two or three days," Grusak said."Opera costumes, though, can be quite involved. I would say that from start to finish, with all of the trimming and finishing work that needs to be done, most take four to five days to complete.

"We like to have at least five months to build an entire opera, but I have to point out that this is not five months when we don't have other things happening. We double up the work, and while we are building the new production, we still have to get costumes ready for other productions that happen first."

"We must plan a year ahead of time," said Farzad."We get a casting list in the spring for the next year's shows, and in the last week of April, we do muslin fittings on all the students before they leave for the summer."

Once Grusak knows what productions have been chosen for the next season, she figures where the costumes will come from and a budget. For the two shows whose costumes require construction, costume designers consult with directors to discuss production concepts, then research clothing of the time periods and render sketches. Following the directors' approvals, Grusak and the designers decide on fabrics, which are purchased in early summer at a fabric house in Louisville—1,000 yards were needed for this fall's The Marriage of Figaro.

Historical patterning books are sometimes used for pattern development, but often patterns must be made from scratch. That's where Farzad enters, using flat patterning methods or draping on a dress form to make a pattern. She said that after 27 years in costuming at IU, 25 of those as supervisor, not too many designs give her problems. She relies on the basics, including selecting the right materials.

"We choose the fabric we will use with a lot of things in mind. How will it drape, will it hold up, what will it look like under lights, can it be dry cleaned or washed," said Farzad."Then we pre-wash the fabric in our laundry facilities before we build the costumes. This all takes planning."

Then, after the show, there are storage issues. Cartwheel tutus—the fluffy, round, short ones that come to mind when you think"ballet"—need special care. They cannot be hung, but must be stored in boxes in order to hold their form. The costume for"Mother Ginger," the Nutcracker character from whose skirts dancers in the"Land of Sweets" scene emerge, is so huge and cumbersome with permanently sewn-in hoops, it is stored away in the school's paint shop. And it is never cleaned.

"Some of the costumes, those with a lot of braiding, other decor or difficult constructions, cannot be cleaned," said Farzad. But most costumes do get freshened, often every other night during dress rehearsals and performances. A local dry cleaner is contracted to do costumes that cannot be laundered and also for short notice and emergency jobs.

And speaking of cleaning, after years of experience, the crew does offer one helpful hint to the amateurs among us."We have found that Coast soap takes make-up and most stains out of any fabric," said Grusak.

After 11 shows per season, in 27 years Farzad has seen approximately 300 operas and ballets. Insisting that she likes them all, she admits that she may be partial to The Nutcracker, after ushering it through seven costume redesigns, each taking about three years to complete.

"The Nutcracker is special," she said."It is a huge show, the biggest we do. It's the end of the semester and the season of holidays."