As costume director, there is a big scope of what I do. I am in charge of organizing the wig, makeup and wardrobe crews in regards to the upcoming seasons. I hire, organize and maintain everything in regards to San Francisco Opera in terms of wigs, makeup, costumes and running the shows. I also budget the shows and maintain those budgets. Doctor Atomic is an unusual show because we started budgeting about two years ago, before it was even written, so the process was different than for any other show. We constantly had to update and change the budget and make it more realistic as the information developed. After the budget was created, I assigned a supervisor, Jai Alltizer, to work with the designer. He is responsible for taking the designs and making sure that the designer gets what she wants within the allocated budget. I assign the drapers that I think will work best with the designer and with this period of clothing. Our goal is to create the director’s and the designer's vision, from drawings to garments.

Jai, the production supervisor, is in charge of working with the designer to develop what she is trying to create. There will be a female draper, her assistant and her team of four stitchers, and there is also a male draper who has a team of similar size. We also have a footwear coordinator who deals with all the shoes, which involves fitting and painting them. We have a crafts person who deals with hard goods, such as watches, badges and helmets. There is a milliner who deals with all the hats. We also have a painter/dyer and her assistant. This show requires a lot of painting and dying since it all takes place in a very dusty, dry desert area, and the clothes need to portray this. Once the show is in rehearsal, the dressers and the wig and makeup people get involved. Everyone needs to look very 1940s, so there is a team of four wig and makeup people and four full-time people in the wig shop who prepare the wigs.

It requires a lot more time. The big difference is it has never been done before, so the problems haven't been dealt with yet. It's much more of a mystery. For example, if this had been done before, you'd know what the choreography is and so you could prepare for dresses having to be able to jump in the air or costumes for men crawling on the floor. When a production has been done, there are all these givens, and it has gone through a rehearsal process in which all of these things have been dealt with. Because everything is newly built, it is much more challenging and satisfying for us to do a brand new production. It’s nice because you actually have much more control than if you are renting a production. You can build the movement requirements into the clothing.

In this opera, everybody has a watch. The watches are very important because they have a lot to do with the timing and the dropping of the atomic bomb. This is indicated in the libretto. For example, the chorus sings, “Tick, tick, tick.” Also, everyone in Los Alamos would have worn an identification badge, so we need to make sure everyone in the opera has one. Most of the accessories in the opera will be for men, including hats and helmets.

The whole production process is very exciting. Trying to achieve an opera that is realistic and historically correct is a challenge. What is different is that this is a new commission. It’s not often that we work on an opera in which we haven’t heard the music, but we are really looking forward to seeing this come together on stage.