Skip to main content
2013 - 2014 Season

Welcome Backstage - Piazza Costumes

by Kristen Leinbach, Dramaturg

An image of costume designs

The process in bringing The Light in the Piazza to life continues to be an incredible journey. In order to recreate the idea of the 1950’s a lot of time has been and continues to be spent on the design elements of the show.
Our costumes are a crucial part of not only helping the actor’s to feel like they are in a different decade but also establish a consistent world or our production.

The costume designer, Ashley Cook stated the following….

“The design process thus far for The Light in the Piazza has been a great experience. This is such a beautiful story, and the music is so gorgeous, I was excited to work on it from the start. It has also been such a joy to work with such a talented director and this team of talented designers.

For this production, our director wanted the costumes to be really stylish, classy 1950’s. These are all fairly wealthy, stylish people and therefore need to look really sharp. He also wanted me to take inspiration from old technicolor films. I have decided to achieve this with a lack of patterned clothing. Everything is pretty solid and clean which, along with the use of brighter colors, should add to the technicolor feel of the show. I also took a lot of inspiration from the short story that the musical is based on. I love the description it has of the way Clara changes the longer she spends time in Italy, with the Nacarellis’. I wanted her costumes to reflect this change. Color is very important in this production. We wanted there to be a visual difference between the Italians and the Americans in both the cut and color of their clothing. Not only are the colors of the costumes a way to differentiate the Americans from the Italians at the beginning of the show, but it will be used to illustrate the changes that these characters have.

We just started fittings with the cast, and so far, these have gone really well. It is always a little scary because if things don’t fit,you have to go back to the drawing board. But for the most part, everything has worked out great. Other than that we are in the midst of building some dresses for the production, which has been such a fun experience!”

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

House of Desires Sneak Peek at the Museum of Art

March 16, 2024 03:06 PM
Friday March 1, 2024. The cast of The House of Desires performed three scenes in celebration of Spanish culture and the opening of our play, partnering with the "Spain and the Hispanic World" exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Guest Visits for House of Desires Creative Team

March 13, 2024 09:57 AM
The House of Desires creative team has made multiple connections across campus and disciplines this semester, and we are excited to share this unique production with so many university community members outside the Theatre and Media Arts department.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Sor Juana in Poetry and Letters

March 07, 2024 05:32 PM
Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz has sometimes been called "The Phoenix of America," as she is by far the most accomplished and globally read author to come out of the early Spanish-colonized Americas. Writing from New Spain (present day Mexico) , Sor Juana composed brilliant and biting poetry, wrote fiery letters in defense of her own creative spirit and the education of women, as well as dramas like the perfectly formed Spanish Golden Age style piece, House of Desires.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=