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Veni Vidi Viscy

@viscountess / viscountess.tumblr.com

Fashion and Costume Designer. Broadway Dresser. Fashion Illustrator. For custom design commission info, email ViscountessNewYork[at]gmail.com Instagram: @ViscountessNYC
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viscountess

Haven’t been on here in forever but I wanted to share some memories from the Phantom load out and I’ll have to do it in a couple of different posts because there’s a lot to unpack (or if you want to be technical... pack)

The first was my very own Greg Mills™ shot with the chandelier a few minutes before the end of our lunch break. 

And the second is accidentally making it into the corner of the TheatreMania capture of Ruthie II’s final journey. You won’t see me in the rest of the shots because the LX crew was loading our own truck up the block while the carpenters took care of that precious cargo. 

#phantom of the opera#phantom load out#backstage life#the darcy files#greg mills photography#ruthie ii#phantom chandelier
viscountess

A #bts look at the weeks leading up to reopening Phantom at the Majestic. Its been a whirlwind ever since we restarted and I spent most of August and September jumping from show to show to help with the restart.

A lot of the theatres aren't very straightforward with where the staircases lead so at one point while trying to get to one of the followspot. perches I took a wrong turn (okay 4 wrong turns. They were ready to send out a search party 🤣) and ended up on the proscenium where the Phantom shows up during Il Muto.

#the darcy files#broadway is back#phantom of the opera
viscountess

Caught Phantom tonight on my day off. Definitely nuanced changes and some more significant ones which was just all around fun to keep an eye and ear out for.

viscountess

If you’re in NY from now through till September 26, the Showstoppers Costume Exhibit in Times Square is a must see! 

Tickets are now on sale for an eight-week limited engagement through September 26 at 234 West 42nd Street. Formerly the home of Modell’s, world-renown design firm, Thinc Design, has transformed the Times Square space into an immersive maze featuring more than 100 of the industry’s most beautiful and complex garments. As guests make their way through the exhibit, they will get to see up close the detail and craftsmanship typically only seen far away on stage or screen. Costume makers and experts will be on-site demonstrating their techniques and skills and interacting with guests, and multimedia elements will provide a rare opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the process. This one-of-a-kind, immersive exhibition can only be seen in New York City’s vital Theatre District. All proceeds from the exhibition will raise money for the Costume Industry Coalition Recovery Fund, which continues to support one of the hardest hit sectors of the entertainment industry.

They invited a lot of people from the industry for opening weekend and honestly seeing so many familiar faces and costumes just did the heart good. Here are a handful of my favorite pics from the Phantom part of the exhibit, but there are costumes on display from Lion King, Frozen, Aladdin, Moulin Rouge, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Hamilton, Six and so SO many more (I’ll share a selection of those too in another post!)

#phantom of the opera#christine daae#phantom costumes#showstoppers nyc#broadway costumes
viscountess

Introducing the cast of CollaborAzian’s of "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder!"

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to work with some of the crazy talented people from the new online concert of GGLAM for this shoot with photography by Mari Uchida! Ali Ewoldt (Phoebe D'Ysquith) and Diane Phelan (Sibella Hallward) are styled in Viscountess New York and Karl Josef Co's (Monty Navarro) wardrobe is J. Crew Mens. The production, directed by Alan Muraoka premieres on  Broadway On Demand July 15th. 

-> Full Broadway World Article

Tickets are available at https://www.collaborazian.com and the proceeds benefit #stopAAPIhate causes.

Instagram Links:

#a gentleman's guide to love and murder#gglam#gentleman's guide#ali ewoldt#diane phelan#karl josef co#sibella hallward#phoebe dysquith#asian designers#aapi on broadway#asian performers#christine daae#phantom alumni#stop aapi hate#collaborazian
viscountess

I’ve mentioned it before but with the incredible casting of Lucy St Louis as Christine and Saori Oda as Carlotta and such lovely diversity in the ensemble (my heart is so so happy), I wanted to share the little known fact that Leila Benn Harris (2007) was the first WOC to play Christine Daae in the West End (sharing the principle role equally with Robyn North). Leila’s father is of Egyptian heritage.

Her run can go a little underappreciated, but luckily Brinkhoff/Moegenburg took some absolutely phenomenal photos of that cast and there are various recordings of her performances and appearances on YouTube.

*And of course when she went on with Ramin Karimloo, we had two BIPOC leads in the roles!

#leila benn harris#phantom of the opera#lucy st louis#ramin karimloo#christine daae
viscountess

MY DARLINGS!!

I originally posted this on my cosplay Instagram (@venividiviscy) but I would be totally remiss if I didn’t share it here too because many of you have been my ride or die GGLAM peeps since the beginning.

I’ve been working on making a Sibella Marry You costume, but it was taking a minute to really get going with it so I decided to recreate Sibella’s entire wardrobe in as modern day looks from my closet. I got to use some of the fun vintage jewelry pieces I found in my mom’s closet and the dress I’m wearing for Marry You is of course a Viscountess original. 

It was a particularly fun challenge because the parameters I gave myself were that they had to make sense as a modern day counterpart (I had the perfect outfit for her rose corset/ivory petticoat moment but it was the wrong mood) and that I had to stay as close to the color scheme as possible. 

...and also not repeat shoes, but that’s just because I’m a silly human. 

Stay tuned for the Phoebe version!

Website | Instagram | RedBubble

#gentleman's guide to vice and virtue#gglam#sibella hallward#sibella costumes#gglam costumes#gentleman's guide#closet cosplay#broadway cosplay#broadway costumes#musicals
viscountess

When I saw tonight’s Final Jeopardy category was “Broadway Roles” I yelled ‘BET IT ALL’ at the screen (this is how Jeopardy works in my household)

...and then had a pretty good laugh when I saw what the clue was. 

#phantom of the opera#broadway#jeopardy
viscountess

One of the shutdown projects I started about a month ago was creating my own Vegas Hannibal Tiara and it actually ended up being a lot of fun. In the process I discovered that they’re like snowflakes, seemingly identical but ever so slightly different even within the same production at the same time on the same character so that gave me some creative leeway to pick my favorite elements of  different ones to incorporate them into mine. 

It’s particularly amusing to me that it started out as a distinctly US interpretation of the design (with Vegas having some more distinct elements), but those tiaras had since traveled across the world to the Russian, Sweden, Russia and World Tour productions so there was a lot of material to reference. 

I don’t really do costume commissions anymore, but the tiara is available on my website as a made to order piece.

Viscountess on Instagram | Costuming Instagram | Facebook | RedBubble 

#phantom of the opera#phantom las vegas#hannibal tiara#hannibal cosplay#hannibal slavegirl#cosplay#cosplay accessories
viscountess
Anonymous asked:

Will your cosplay tips stream be viewable after? I'd love to see it but I have to work during the time it's happening

It sure well! It should end up in the IGTV tab once it’s done and we save everything.

viscountess
Anonymous asked:

So apparently there is some Broadway rule that means the Six alternates have to wear a version of the principal’s costume and not their own “alternate costume”. Do you know the specific reason/rule since you work in the industry?

If I’m understanding the question correctly, it’s not a Broadway rule so much as a choice of the costume designer. I’m not familiar with the exact reasoning behind it in Six, but the reasons alternate and/or swing costumes exist are for scenes -or in the case of Six, the entire show- where everyone in the group is meant to look uniform but not identical (i.e. everyone in the Hello Dolly Sunday clothes scene has some variation a bustle dress with sleeves and the swing has their own swing look rather than anything exactly the same as another ensemble member)

So in the case of Six, they wanted the Alternate Queens to have costumes in color schemes that weren’t already in the primary Six (hence the teal) and featuring design elements of of the costumes worn by the main queens so that they wore that costume when they went on and there won’t be an aesthetic concern of any two performers in a 6 person cast wearing identical looks.

It’s only a rule as far as that is the direction handed down by design and the wardrobe crew executes those instructions.

Actual Broadway AEA rules in regards to costumes are things like: you can’t give one person’s dance shoes to the next dancer that comes, or any skin pieces such as bras, socks, tights, etc. cannot be shared.

#asks#six costumes
viscountess

Join me tomorrow (Saturday, February 13) at 10am LIVE on the GoldOller Facebook page for another Kids Korner Fashion Illustration Class! We'll draw! We'll erase! We'll draw some more! We'll color things in with markers! 

It’s fun and it’s free and you can ask me things like “what’s your favorite kind of dog” and I can be all “I love corgis because they’re fluffy”

Website | Instagram | RedBubble

#fashion illustration#art class#virtual classes#free online art classes#darcy's art#star princess
viscountess

Phantom Costumes + Magnets: A Love Story in Two Acts

The most visible magnets on the costumes are of course the two (Countess and Wishing) that actually have capes that go over them and helps to keep them from falling closed and getting in the way during the scene. The top photos are of the West End Elissa Skirt where they actually have rows of magnets down the back opening which I thought was pretty nifty.

#phantom of the opera#costuming tricks#phantom costumes#wishing gown#countess costume#rooftop costume#elissa skirt
viscountess
dreaming24601 asked:

I have an odd question. Do you know where people can buy shoes like they have on Broadway? There's a specific style that Ive noticed is kind of popular- Christine wears them during masquerade, most of the women in pipin wear them. Theyre like boots with a low heel. I sometimes see them on stage in crazy colors, but I have no idea where to find them! Id love some for myself but also for costumes that I make

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You have definitely asked the right person! (I will and have done an entire symposium on just Broadway shoes)

The short answer to your question shoes you are thinking of are most likely LaDucas! They are the most common brand of dance shoes used in Broadway shows which is probably what you saw the ensemble of Pippin wear.

You see them on stage in crazy colors and designs because shows tend to custom order their boots (and occasionally buy the stock shoes and paint them as needed). I have a handful of friends who have ordered custom Laducas for their weddings and a few who ordered them just cuz, so this is a great option.

image

Going just by this picture I pulled up in an image search, the heel shape definitely matches up. 

An example of custom LaDucas in Phantom are Elizabeth Welch’s newest set of boots (Christine Masquerade and Triangle, respectively)

Phantom did used to get their shoes/boots from Peter Fox so there have been other low heeled boots worn with the Star Princess costume, like these (you can generally tell they’re Peter Foxes by by the pointed toe and thin heel)

image

In addition to LaDuca, Capezio and Arika Nerguiz are also favored by performers if you want to look into custom shoes from them. I took a really quick look through both sites and don’t see stock boots though.

Hope this helps!

#broadway shoes#shoes#laducas#arika nerguiz#capezio#dance shoes#star princess shoes#masquerade shoes#pippin
viscountess

Some Hannibal Slavegirl progress!

I’ve spent the last few weeks putting together the belt. I had pretty much all the pieces I needed for it from when I first started the project (many many moons ago) and only needed a few more oblong/teardrop shaped red and emerald gems. Luckily the belt portion could be stabilized as an iron-on and then machined over because I was going to have to throw something at a wall if that needed to be done by hand.

A big “invisible overhaul” is the inside. It was originally built to be a lace up closure, which was a lot of work and absolutely not conducive to putting on without help, which would have turned setting the belt into a total cluster had I not put in a zipper at some point. I ended up going up to a larger zipper for the sake of sturdiness. I added some mock lacing rather than the gold trim CB so that aspect of it is US based and I ended up being quite happy with the end product. Added cookies and changed out the boning for something sturdier.

I’ve been dreading setting the belt for years because of how many snaps I’d have to sew on but that was actually not bad at all once I put down the first one to anchor it. The actual suckiest part was how many times I’ve had to reset the front tiara to find the right angle. 

And lastly I went back and handstitched the sides of all the gold trim because it moved around to much when it was just sewn down the middle. I had to cut a lot of corners the first time around because of deadline reasons, so it’s kinda nice to be able to go back and do everything right.

I’ll be sharing a video of how to shorten a jumbo costume zipper (it’s  on my main Insta and here’s my Cosplay IG.

#phantom of the opera#cosplay#hannibal slavegirl#christine daae#costume making