There is a hidden place behind the scenes at Teatro Regio, where the opera takes shape before the curtain rises.
It is the costume workshop, a place that smells of velvet, linen and patience. Here, skilled hands transform metres of fabric into stage costumes, embroidering threads and stories onto every hem.
From the sumptuous embroidery of Aida to the modern and sparkling updates of new productions, the costumes tell the story of a different era on stage.
Each costume is born from a sketch signed by the production’s costume designer; the scene takes shape for the first time, between lines, pencils and fabrics. In the costume department, those lines become reality and make each costume unique, tailored to the voice and movements of the performer, but with the ingenuity necessary to be adapted over time, or as needed, to other artists.
When the season ends, the costumes are inventoried, archived, or returned to production for new performances.
The Teatro Regio in Parma is one of the few theatres that still has it own in-house tailoring workshop, a living heritage where creativity and knowhow intertwine every day. Working alongside the seamstresses and pattern makers are the students of the Teatro Regio’s Tailoring Academy, young people who have chosen to give a future to an ancient craft. Here they experience it from the inside and learn how a costume can be born from a drawing and transformed on stage.
Time is tight, especially in the weeks leading up to a premiere: some measure, some sew, some iron, some design. Everything moves as if in a choreographed dance behind the scenes. The rhythm of tailoring, in fact, follows its own tempo, made up of whispering scissors, fabrics falling to the floor like curtains, low voices and steady hands.
When the music starts, the spool of thread is changed; a new show is about to begin.
