He laughs in a way that can truly be described as operatic while the two women are, appropriately, wigging out about their new digs. Gatcheco shares the space with wig master Ashlee Naegle, who at the moment is making a clear plastic head mold of Il trovatore principal Lester Lynch (who plays Di Luna). A tall window in the room frames the view of the Space Needle so perfectly, it’s as if it were a huge poster. They’re surrounded by dress forms, barrels of fabric bolts, yellow bins full of boots, hats lining a shelf, endless spools of colored thread and stacked boxes labeled “Tassels,” “Fringe,” “Pompoms and Bows.”Īt the southeast end of the space sits the newly christened wig workshop, easily identifiable by the rows of mannequin heads sporting wigs of various hairstyles. One staffer at a wide counter snips camouflage fabric off a bolt, another perfects a delicate lace cuff. Behind-the-scenes creation has suddenly become public, as anyone walking along Speight Jenkins Way can follow a new pathway adjacent to the building to see costume work in progress through the windows.ĭuring an advance tour of the building this week, the costume staff was already busy prepping for the next production, Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore. Technically located below ground, the space nonetheless feels bright and airy, thanks to natural light pouring in from the street-level windows running the length of the wide-open, high-ceiling room. Now, the whole production department can breathe (and sew) easier. “I’d say, ‘Hello and welcome!’ and they’d have a stunned look on their face.” With the new building, she says, “We’ve probably quadrupled our space.”

“It would be funny when someone came up and the curtain wasn’t pulled,” recalls Seattle Opera hair and makeup manager Liesl Alice Gatcheco. It had no door, just a plain curtain separating the windowless space from the freight elevator. The hair and makeup department was lodged in a storage space at the end of a hallway. The old building - a former carpet factory in South Lake Union that Seattle Opera had leased for staff, rehearsal space and storage since 1993 - was notoriously dark, cramped and labyrinthine.

Seattle opera 2018