What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1215882
JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette M y job is absolutely not fashion," Linda Cho argues. "It's storytelling." Cho is the Tony Award-winning costume designer delivering the regal looks in the new stage version of "Anastasia." The musical earned her another Tony nomination for Best Costume Design of a Musical, following her 2014 win in the category for "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder." Brought to life by music-and-lyrics team Stephen Falherty and Lynn Ahrens — who won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical with "Once On This Island" — "Anastasia" opened on Broadway in 2017 and draws inspiration from the 1956 historical drama starring Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brynner; heavily from the 1997 animated film that earned Flaherty and Ahrens two Academy Award nominations for their score and songwriting; and, of course, from the real mystery and rumors surrounding the disappearance of Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, the youngest daughter of Nicholas II, Russia's last czar. "It's such a rich archive of things surrounding that family, including the personal photographs," Cho says of her research process. "The Czar was an early photograph enthusiast, so he took a lot of his own candid photographs of the family. That gives you a lot of perspective about how he felt. He was very much a family person and a beloved father, and the family was very tight-knit." Along with research into the real person, as in the case of Anastasia, Cho also begins her process when she takes on a project by examining the sociopolitical climate of the MARCH 1-7, 2020 WHAT'S UP! 3 A Tale Of Attire 'Anastasia' costumes travel back in time COVER STORY Cho place and time where the story is set. "Anastasia" begins in Russia at the apex of the Bolshevik revolution and follows Anya's journey to 1920s Paris in her search for home, love and family. The costume designer, Cho explains, unearths aspects of the characters' personalities through manifestation in their physical appearance. "It's helping to tell the story of these people. And the story is not just how much money do they make; where do they come from. It's also their state of mind — how they want to project themselves into the world," she poses. "How do they feel about themselves? Are they having an off day? Are they uptight? Are they carefree? All those things are going to manifest in the decisions that they make on their appearance." Though Cho begins every new show as a clean slate, in the case of "Anastasia," she and director Darko Tresnjak knew a large portion of the audience would have a nostalgic affection for the animated film. It would be a nice nod, the two decided, to celebrate that part of the history of the piece. In addition to favorite songs from the film moving seamlessly to the stage, fans will have some visual cues to tie back to the '97 film, among them Anya's blue dress she wears to the ballet — her Cinderella moment, Cho calls it. Of the 127 costumes in the show — all designed and sketched by Cho — another stunning gown stands out for its grandeur, but also for its inception. Cho originally had Anya in a simpler pink dress for a scene where she greets the press and at the last minute in production, the director decided the moment needed to make more of a statement with a more extravagant ensemble. "So I was given by the shop manager about 20 minutes to just design," Cho remembers. "She said, 'Here's some books. Here's an empty room. You have 20 minutes. Because if we're going to make something new, I need a sketch right now.' So I quickly looked at it and sketched it, and that has become the red dress that she wears at the end, which is featured in a lot of press. "And that was made over the course of three days with, I think, 12 people working on it at all times. You just have to be ready to pivot, ready to jump," she adds with a laugh. Costume designer Linda Cho reveals the Dowager Empress was one of her favorite characters to design. "I liked the challenge of not just looking at period for her, but she is somebody who is of an older generation, and many times people of an older generation … make their clothes last longer and they find a silhouette that works for them and tend to stick to it. So a combination of that and being a very wealthy woman who can buy anything she wants. Also, reflecting her state of mind — the devastation of losing her entire family, but still having an elevated station in Paris and certainly within the Russian ex-pat community there. So there are a lot of different interesting layers in her character that I enjoyed designing for." (Courtesy Photos) FAQ 'Anastasia' WHEN — 7 p.m. March 10-11; 1:30 & 7 p.m. March 12; 8 p.m. March 13; 2 & 8 p.m. March 14; 2 p.m. March 15 WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville COST — $40-$81 INFO — 443-5600, waltonartscenter.org Anya at press conference Dowager Empress leaving Russia