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Costumer Maggie Green inspects Hercules' lion skin cloak that will be used in an evening's performance. Green has created costumes for 42 operas with the Pacific Opera Project.
Costumer Maggie Green holds up a costume that was inspired by "Wonder Woman"
By Brenda Rees
Highland Park -- It’s opening night. Tension and excitement fill the air inside the Highland Park Ebell Club, where the Pacific Opera Project is presenting the U.S. premiere of Vivaldi’s Ercole su'l Testmonde, a baroque Italian opera involving Hercules and a group of Amazonian women. Stage hands move quickly around the tiered boxed seats; in the adjoining room, tables are set for an after-show party.
Off to one side, in two small rooms, costumer Maggie Green carefully checks the clothing racks holding a sensual mix of textures; smooth breastplates, flowing robes, Roman-style helmets, and Hercules’ furry lion skin cloak. She holds up a leather-like bustier with a brocade top. “We wanted the Amazons to have a feel of Wonder Woman,” she says.
A resident of La Canada, Green has been a costumer extraordinaire for the opera company since the company's 2012 inaugural version of Sweeney Todd. She has costumed almost every show since; counting double bills and revivals, Green has costumed 42 operas and created more than 1,500 outfits.
Compared to other productions, tonight’s mythological-based show is straightforward. “Everyone keeps their costume on for the entire show, so there are no costume changes,” says Green with a slight sigh of relief. One of the biggest shows was the double bill of Gianni Schicci & L’enfant et lesSortilèges when she – and two additional helpers – assisted with backstage changes for 84 costumed characters.
Maggie Green infused the 1950s style into costumes for "The Elixer of Love"
Of all the 42 operas that Maggie Green has created costumes for Pacific Opera Project, she's particularly fond of the turn-of-the-century style of Ariadne auf Naxos.
Maggie Green is the costumer extraordinaire for the Pacific Opera Project, establishing the company's style with scrupulously imaginative and quirky wardrobes.
Maggie Green infused the 1950s style into costumes for "The Elixer of Love"
Martha Benedict
Pacific Opera Project's current production of "Ercole su'l Termodonte" marks the 42nd opera that costumer Maggie Green has worked her magic on.
Martha Benedict
Of all the 42 operas that Maggie Green has created costumes for Pacific Opera Project, she's particularly fond of the turn-of-the-century style of Ariadne auf Naxos.
Martha Benedict
Maggie Green created costumes for the Mikado, one of 42 operas she's done for the Pacific Opera Project.
Martha_Benedict
Maggie Green helped transform Mozart's "The Abduction from the Seraglio" into the world of Star Trek with colorful alien women.
Martha Benedict
Costumer Maggie Green makes sure all the costumes are in place for an evening's performance at the Highland Ebell Theater.
By Brenda Rees
“I came late to this; you could call it a midlife crisis,” describes Green about embarking on a new career in her late 40s. But costuming was always a love; she designed costumes for family and friends since she was a teenager.
Green received her certificate in costume design from the Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy. Making the rounds in local productions, she met Josh Shaw. When Shaw launched the opera company in 2012, he asked Green to join his ragtag team of wide-eyed opera lovers who wanted to make the art form more accessible.
Green helped establish the company's style with scrupulously imaginative and quirky wardrobes. She’s been asked to create day-glo anime-inspired school girls, Scottish royalty, Klingons, anatomically correct satyrs, mermaids, video game characters, and a singing teapot.
“I wasn’t an opera fan growing up; I learn about each show as we do them,” admits Green. Her favorite so far is Ariadne aid Naxos because it was set in 1913 with costumes both classical and vaudevillian.
Even with a tiny budget, Green finds a way to produce costumes rich in color, details, and history. Volunteers help, but most of the time, it’s just her needle and thread doing the work.
“The best part of my job is seeing the look when an actor puts on the costume for the very first time,” she says with a big smile and a long sigh. “That is IT. That moment they become the character.”
Costumer Maggie Green inspects Hercules' lion skin cloak that will be used in an evening's performance. Green has created costumes for 42 operas with the Pacific Opera Project.
By Brenda Rees
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