Slideshow

Slide Show: 50 Years of Magnificent Costumes at the Portland Opera

October 23, 2014

Costume manager Frances Britt in her costume for Carmen, 1968

American premiere of Ernst Krenek’s Life of Orestes, 1975

Photography by Robert N Leppert

Costume manager Britt in her costume for La Traviata, 1975

Die Fledermaus in Washington Park, 1976

Photography by Robert N Leppert

The Marriage of Figaro in Washington Park, 1977

Photography by Dan Carter

Carmen, 1977

Frances Britt: "The first opera I sang in was Carmen in 1961. Back then, the opera was under the auspices of the Bureau of Parks and Recreation. Every summer we did an opera in Washington Park. The chorus was on risers, and it was windy. We were on one s

Photography by Dan Carter

Macbeth, 1987

Photography by Rick Adams

The Pearl Fishers, 1988

Frances Britt: "We rent shows, with their costumes and sets, more often than we build them, because it’s so expensive to build. We’ve gotten some pretty awful-looking alterations—made by other companies. Our saying is: 'send them to Portland Opera, and w

Photography by Duane Morris

Aida, 1989-90

Frances Britt: "We had an elephant named Tiki here for Aida twice. All she did was walk across the stage with a bunch of supernumeraries, who were costumed as slaves. One night she bolted. I don’t know what spooked her, but she started running across the

Die Fledermaus, 1993-94

Photography by Duane Morris

Der Rosenkavalier, 1995-96

Frances Britt: "We usually get one difficult singer per show. We got a singer once who didn’t like the high neck of the costume—it was the period, what are you going to do? But she complained so much that we made her a new costume. Another problem is foo

North American premiere of Reynaldo Hahn’s The Merchant of Venice, 1996, sets and costumes by Portland Opera

Photography by Duane Morris

Handel’s Julius Caesar is the company’s first baroque opera staging, 1999

The stage was covered in sand.

Photography by Duane Morris

The Cunning Little Vixen, 2000, sets and costumes by Portland Opera

Return appearance by BodyVox Dance Company

The Cunning Little Vixen, 2000, sets and costumes by Portland Opera

Turandot, 2003-4

The Magic Flue, 2006-07

West Coast premiere of Philip Glass's Orphée, 2009

The performance was commercially recorded by Orange Mountain Music.

Cosi fan Tutte, 2010

Carmina Burana and Pagliacci, 2010-2011, sets and costumes by Portland Opera with BodyVox Dancers

Frances Britt: "One of my very favorite operas we created is Carmina Burana. The chorus was in 1950s dress with hats, gloves, and purses I bought in thrift stores." BodyVox Dance Company developed out of the dance troupe that was assembled for the origin

Carmina Burana and Pagliacci, 2010-2011, sets and costumes by Portland Opera with BodyVox Dancers

Frances Britt: "We used the BodyVox dancers, and we had one of them dance with a big boa constrictor. The first time we were rehearsing, the snake handler walked through the chorus with the snake, and it freaked out one of the women so badly she almost h

Philip Glass’s Galileo Galilei, 2011-12, sets and costumes by Portland Opera

The company's second commercial recording

Photography by Cory Weaver

Philip Glass’s Galileo Galilei, 2011-12, sets and costumes by Portland Opera

Photography by Cory Weaver

Frances Britt: "When we’re building our own production, usually the director is the big boss and says what he would like. Then the costume designer draws renderings and goes fabric shopping. Some are beautiful artists; others just draw stick characters i

Photography by Portland Opera / scenary and costumes by Jacob A. Climer

Rinaldo, 2013, sets and costumes by Portland Opera

Photography by Cory Weaver

Photography by Portland Opera / scenary and costumes by Jacob A. Climer

Rinaldo, 2013, sets and costumes by Portland Opera

Photography by Cory Weaver

Falstaff, 2013

Frances Britt: "There’s no comparison between what the opera is now to what it was in the 1960s. It was pretty amateurish. There were no rules; no one belonged to the union. Robert Bailey, who was here before Christopher Mattaliano [the current general d

Salome, 2013-14, sets and costumes by Portland Opera

Frances Britt: "I’m going to be 79 in December. I never missed a day at work until 1997, when I broke my nose playing softball with the Portland Opera Divas. When I was thinking of retiring three years ago, one of the principal singers said, 'Frances, yo

In 1964, Portland Opera staged its first show, Die Fledermaus, in Madison High School’s cafeteria. Frances Britt was a chorus girl with the fledgling company, which had branched off from a city-organized event. Since then, she’s been involved in almost every one of the opera’s 219 productions. After swapping her role as singer for the backstage duties of costume manager in 1982, Britt has sewn thousands of outfits, creating new ones for the company’s original productions and altering costumes from shows rented from other opera houses. As Portland Opera begins its 50th-anniversary season this month (with Die Fledermaus, of course) we talk with the woman who has seen, and dressed, it all. Watch for the full story in our November issue.

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