Behind the Scenes at the Opera House

Alfred Walker (Orest) and Christine Goerke (Elektra).

Cory Weaver Photo, c/o San Francisco Opera

Note the beautiful tunic she's wearing.

Susan Bullock (Elektra)

Prague State Opera

Keen-eyed observers will have noted that the costumes Susan Bullock and Christine Goerke wore as Elektra in the Prague and SF bring-ups were not the same! I asked San Francisco Opera about this, and the press office was kind enough to consult Jai Alltizer, who was the SF Opera Costume Supervisor for Elektra. Allitzer replied as follows:

So happy Lisa liked the tunic Ms. Goerke was wearing in Elektra. The tunic is black linen and it was constructed here in our costume studio, as was her trench coat.

We are the second company to perform this production and it is possible another version of the Elektra costume may be created.

The designer wants Elektra to be comfortable, wear black contemporary clothing, and generally be less stylish than Chrysothemis. 

These parameters allow great flexibility.

I also wanted to mention that when I chatted with her at the stage door after Elektra, Christine Goerke remarked on how great the makeup and wig people at SF Opera are. She loved her wig, and, really, it could be her own hair, but in black. She raved about the makeup artists as well, because she didn't look as though she was wearing makeup on stage.

My own observation is that this was also true of Adrianne Pieczonka (Chrysothemis) and Alfred Walker, while Michaela Martens, as Klytemnestra, was pretty clearly supposed to look as though she was wearing a little too much makeup.

Lastly, I thought the makeup artists did a fantastic job with Aurelia Florian's makeup for La Traviata. She went from looking slightly flushed in Acts 1 and II to looking pale, wan, and near death in Act III, and the makeup was pretty darned subtle in achieving these effects.