Suzy Benzinger began her costume design career as the assistant to Theoni Aldridge on Broadway鈥檚 Dreamgirls in 1981. Little did she know how well the flash and splash of musicals would serve her in the gig she鈥檚 now had for the last 12 years: costume designer of Le R锚ve 鈥� The Dream at the Wynn in Las Vegas. 鈥淲e did La Cage, we did 42nd Street, all those huge musicals,鈥� says Benzinger. 鈥淪o I was used to big productions.鈥�
Still, a line of dozens of tapping chorines was small potatoes compared to the voluminous demands of the long-running Le R锚ve, which celebrated its 6,000th performance May 5. 鈥淥ne sketch can mean 200 actual costumes,鈥� says Benzinger. 鈥淎nd I have hundreds of sketches.鈥� From the massive size of the cast (over 90 performers) to the wear and tear on the costumes from the water and quick changes out of wet fabric, the costumes last about two months鈥攕omething Benzinger hadn鈥檛 anticipated when she first took the job. 鈥淭he real show is under water,鈥� she says.
鈥淎fter working with Twyla Tharp and the dancers of Movin鈥� Out, I knew movement and what costumes had to do to move, but I had to learn what happens to fabric if it got wet,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲hat happens to color, what pays off under the lights. I had to learn to build with more color and sparkle. We have fabric made all over the world.鈥� Benzinger spends days out of the year testing fabric in the water.
She and the full creative team, including Tony-winning lighting designers Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, never stop working on the show. Because the plot is so loose (鈥淭he idea is a dream, it鈥檚 a succession of images and ideas and emotions and things and we can change all of that depending on the music,鈥� she says), the show is constantly refreshed, and Le R锚ve recently experienced one of its greatest overhauls in the production鈥檚 history. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an evolving show. We change the colors and he changes his lights and [composer] Beno卯t [Jutras] will change the music,鈥� she explains.
Here, Benzinger walks us through her latest Le R锚ve redesign and how the completely new costumes manage to tell a new story with the same heart. Flip through the gallery to hear the origins of the new costumes:
Ruthie Fierberg is the Senior Features Editor of 半岛体育 covering all things theatre and co-hosting the Opening Night Red Carpet livestreams on 半岛体育's Facebook. Follow her on Twitter @RuthiesATrain, on Instagram @ruthiefierceberg, or via .
