Behind the Scenes

	Estela Vrancovich

Name: Estela Vrancovich

City of Birth: Cordoba, Argentina

City of Residence: Miami

Artistic Medium: Costume Designer

Credits and Awards:
Carbonell Nominations 2001-2005
Hollywood Playhouse: Man of La Mancha,  Ruthless
Caldwell Theatre: The Countess,  Heartbeats
Mosaic Theatre: The Elephant Man
Parker Playhouse: Nefertiti The Musical

Curtain Up Award 2002
Hollywood Playhouse, Ruthless

Curtain Up Nominations 2003-2005
Caldwell Theatre: Fortune's Fool
It's A Fabulous Life
Bill Hindman Sustain Artistic Achievement-New Theatre 2005

What brought you to South Florida?
Personal matters

What inspired you to become a costume designer?
Monsters and faeries in my childhood

How long have you been a costume designer?
I graduated as a fashion designer soon to realize whatever I was designing had more to do with costuming than street wear.

How much of what you design is indicated in the script and how much is your own imagination?
Sometimes it’s all about the script others just pure imagination.  It has a lot to do with the type of show and the direction.

What are some of the things you have to take into account when designing costumes for a production?
The basics come from logistics, such as time period, type of show and budget.  Once that is clarified, the actual design process starts, having to do with the characters, their psychological aspects, physique, settings and a thousand more aspects that make each show a unique experience.

How do you research period costumes?
I have extensive training in research and studies of the arts.  In my country I created “Maria Burgos Indumentaria”, an institute for fashion and costume design with a ‘hands on’ motto.  I also taught history of clothing.  I think that the clothing from yesterday becomes the costume of today when it comes to period pieces.  Also, there are many resources, like the downtown library and the Internet.

What are the challenges involved in costuming contemporary plays?
Lots of challenges.  I did my first contemporary show at Hollywood Playhouse, Michael McKeever's Open Season.  I was very scared but then after dissecting the characters and analyzing their surroundings, I was fascinated by the possibilities.  Now I feel I’m more challenged by contempos than by period ones.

In designing costumes, what is your main inspiration?
Anything can become a source of inspiration and I have a strong sense of what will work and what won’t work.  I think that for a costume to be real it has to have fundamentation—I have to be able to explain it fully and also make it real for the actor wearing it.  In reality, my design becomes a costume when the actor gives it life.  It’s a collaboration project.  I could design the most beautiful thing but if it doesn’t work for the actor, then is not a good design.  There is an area between my inspiration and the real possibilities—sometimes it’s wide others just a thin line—and I love it.

What production has offered you the most challenges?
Like I said, my first contemporary show and the ones with a very tiny budget.

What have been your favorite productions to design?

Narnia was one of the most beautiful shows and a very special one.  I was in faerie land working alone in designing and constructing a huge production full of wonderful and mythical creatures at a very special moment in my life. An Actor's Playhouse production with Earl Maulding directing it, that production empowered me to continue my quest to stay in this career and try to make it in South Florida.

Have there ever been any wardrobe malfunctions on stage?
I’m sure, but nothing major.  This is a good question for the actors wearing the costumes I create; I’m usually not there after the show opens.

Do you make some of your own clothes as well?
No.

Upcoming Productions:
Oleanna at Mosaic Theatre in May, the Shakespeare Project at New Theatre in August, Frog and Toad for Marj O'Neill-Butler, and I'll be traveling to South America with another project.

"Thank you all and please support all forms of art."
Estela Vrancovich