Utah Opera Costume Showcase - Madame Butterfly

Note: Melonie’s costume designs will be featured in the Utah Opera Costume Showcase after the Opening Night performance of Madame Butterfly.

When I design costumes for a show, the research is thrilling.  It’s what I imagine being an archaeologist might be like: the more you look, the more pieces you find to fit the puzzle. I never feel like I’ve completed the research process, but there does come a point when there’s enough information on the page and swimming around in my brain that I have to get it onto paper. That’s when I start drawing the characters. All that information combines with ideas and concepts I’ve thought about for the show, and they become something unique and interesting to each character. Once the pencil drawing is done, I like to photocopy my designs because sometimes my ideas of what color the clothes should be changes. In other words, in case I mess up.

I’ll be honest, I enjoy painting far more than drawing as I truly love watching the colors I’ve mixed on my palette soak into the heavy paper and be manipulated to create highlights and shadows. I usually let it sit over night and look at it again the next day – probably because it’s always very late by the time I finish, and I’m not thinking clearly any more. After some tweaking, I step back and am amazed to find something that I can be truly proud of. Something that is historical and, hopefully, artistic.  Something that is a part of me.  That is what excites me the most.