The Opera Company of Philadelphia presents Verdi's La Traviata in May, 2010.  Join us as we meet OCP's award-winning Costume Director  Richard St. Clair.  Richard will talk about the design process, the research involved in creating a costume, working with singers to create the perfect costume just for them, and more. 

Students should  have a reasonable grasp of the opera's plot and characters in order to participate in the program. In part of the program, guest Richard St. Clair, a professional costume designer who has designed thousands of costumes for the Opera Company and theater productions, will talk about his design process.

Participating schools in the Greater Philadelphia area will receive a special invitation to attend the final dress rehearsal of the opera. You will receive more information about this opportunity after you register.

Pre-Videoconference Activities

• Review OCP Sounds of Learning materials including a review of the opera's plot.
  
• Review audio/video clips from La Traviata (available on YouTube)
• Design a Costume: Students may wish to design their own costume as based on an activity in the provided student guide to gain some insight into the process. It is encouraged that students read the provided opera plot synopsis and have a good understanding of the characters in the opera. These materials will be provided by the Opera Company.
• Review Interviews with Richard St. Clair (under Resources)
• Develop Questions: Students should come prepared with questions for Richard St. Clair.  Questions may be about his inspirations, when he stared designing, why design for the theater instead of the fashion world, what it's like to work with temperamental divas, his proudest accomplishment and more.

About Richard St. Clair

Richard St. Clair has been costume designer/director at Opera
Company of Philadelphia for the past 24 years. His designs for the
company include Bellini’s Norma and I Capuleti e i Montecchi,
Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann, Verdi’s Trovatore, Mascagni’s Cavalleria
Rusticana, and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. Philadelphia’s productions of
Puccini’s Bohème and Rossini’s Italian Girl in Algiers, featuring St.
Clair’s costumes, were telecast on PBS. St. Clair is a two-time winner
of Philadelphia’s Barrymore Award for Best Costumes for A Year with
Frog and Toad and Sleeping Beauty. His other designs have included
Donizetti’s Don Pasquale for the Metropolitan Opera Guild, the world
premieres of Schuman’s A Question of Taste for Glimmerglass Opera and
Baby Case for the Arden Theater, Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar for the
Curtis Institute of Music and the world premiere of Terrence McNally's
The Golden Age for Philadelphia Theater Company. St. Clair teaches
costume design at Philadelphia University of the Arts.

A Note about Program Resources

The Opera Company provides a 40-page student workbook and an ancillary teacher workbook which is over 80 pages. Also included are a CD-Rom with additional materials and an audio CD of highlights from the opera.  If the participating school is outside the Philadelphia area, the Opera Company will send the teacher packet to the school and provide the student work book for download.