For more than four years, Michael Krass has been clipping images from his library, pinning photographs to walls, and poring over color palettes and fabrics to create his piece of Hadestown. As the costume designer for the 14-time Tony-nominated Broadway musical, Krass has been on board since the lead-up to the show鈥檚 Off-Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop and, through his wardrobe designs, helped create a new interpretation of characters who have lived since the ancient Greeks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to understand that this fantastic show could have been anything, set anywhere, at any time,鈥� he stresses. 鈥淲e began by speaking of periods of conservativism in America, so we looked at the Depression, at the 鈥�50s, at the 鈥�80s, and all of those are still reflect in parts of the design.鈥� But Krass built his closet around the world writer-composer-lyricist Ana茂s Mitchell wrote, that director Rachel Chavkin envisioned, and the minute specifics he noticed in each actor鈥檚 performance.
鈥淲e began with no restrictions of time, place, color, age, shine, texture within the text. All of what you see now 鈥攁nd 鈥楴ew Orleans鈥� or 鈥楧epression-era鈥�, as it's now so often described鈥攚ere only a few of our thoughts,鈥� Krass explains. 鈥淎nd many, many specifics are not at all derived from those realms, but were developed organically.
鈥淭he effort was to imagine a world that no one has seen before, but which resonated deeply with an iconic American ethos. What is mythic clothing? How can an actor become an individual within it?鈥� In other words: Underworld, but make it fashion.
In his words, 鈥淲hat now appears inevitable and even iconic was a full invention of a small group of creators responding with emotion to every musical and performative impulse around us.鈥�
Eurydice
鈥淚 think our director Rachel Chavkin won鈥檛 mind me saying that, as Hadesetown has developed, she has most particularly related to Eurydice, and so her input here was especially strong and wonderfully personal, even recalling clothing she herself wore or wished to wear as a young woman. And the fact is, I knew Rachel as my student at NYU when she was 18, so we had a communal past to draw from.
鈥淓urydice is an outsider, maybe a runaway. Someone new to this world, this bar. So her overcoat and bag and scarf are to hide her and protect her, to give her a shell that can be removed as she warms to the world she enters, and to Orpheus. I showed Rachel the early on [in our process], and we have clung to it. Eurydice鈥檚 textured and worn coat and other clothing鈥攁 slip and vest鈥攖ry to tell the story of an inventive impoverished girl with style and humor, perhaps a dumpster-diver. Her boots are bulky and practical and worn and strong. I鈥檓 hoping that she鈥檚 recognizable to us from our own travels. Ashe wears a small worn white feather in her hair. Feathers are a motif throughout the show鈥攁 thought that came from our writer Ana茂s鈥擡urydice鈥檚 is the most simple, pure, prosaic.鈥�
Hades
鈥淗ades is a god, a capitalist, an industrialist, a powerful thug we must recognize iconically. After many others, we looked most specifically at a photo of the Depression-era politician Huey Long, who wore pinstripes. There was implied power to the look. Black has great power on our stage, and a fabric emerged that had silver thread in its striping. There are several methods of using various fabrics and additions like paint, foil, layering, to provide a glow, a silver luster to the god figures throughout Hadestown. Then I thought of the particularly American swagger of cowboy boots, of the snake references to his character both in mythology and in Ana茂s鈥� lyrics, and the boots became snakeskin, along with the sleeve garters which Patrick Page thought might help him tell the story of a working class man who鈥檇 made good. The tattoo of bricks was Patrick鈥檚 idea, as well, revealed only in the second act as we begin to know Hades more intimately.鈥�
Hermes
鈥淗ermes as narrator is a character very much interwoven with the performer. Each iteration, even as the role developed, has been a response to the performer, and so when Andr茅 De Shields came to us in the London production, it became clear in the first days of rehearsal that this Hermes would be precise, sharp, quick. Move like a dancer. Have edge and wit. I watched him, got images in my head, spoke to both him and Rachel, and formulated this look. It鈥檚 a pure collaboration, and I can no longer separate the role from Andr茅 from this suit. We wanted a gesture toward feathered wings on him, and as I watched the way Andr茅鈥檚 hands dance, I thought that the wittiest and most evident place might be emerging from his jacket sleeve vents. I set them myself鈥攚e had feathers foiled in silver鈥攖hen I laid them out in a curving fan shape and they were sewn on by my gentle staff.鈥�
Orpheus
鈥淥rpheus is, too, something of an outsider. The artist, the dreamer, uncaring about the temporal. We searched鈥攁nd tried so many ideas鈥攖o find a look for him that had history and charm and ease. Reeve Carney has great personal style and was absolutely key in identifying what Orpheus might wear. His suspenders match ones that Reeve wears. The idea of vintage pants, even hand-me-downs from Hermes, who raised him, was from Reeve. I brought 20 pairs of vintage pants from my own collection, and when we chose one, we had them copied so that we could have two pairs, one heavily aged and nearly ruined to reflect Orpheus鈥� viciously difficult trip to Hadestown. A fantastic craftsman, Hochi Asiatico, was our painter/ager for the show. He has a studio full of tools and paints to make his work, and it鈥檚 full of truth.鈥�
Persephone
鈥淚n every iteration of this costume, Persephone (always Amber Gray) has been in this shade of green. She is spring and summer as we begin, and brings life and energy and hope to the world and to those we meet in the bar. But the dress has changed as we developed the world of Hadestown. There was a point in Canada where we tried a Grecian gown of sorts, with a metallic corset of vines worn on the outside. Then, in previews, Rachel sidled up to me and said 鈥淯m, I think she鈥檚 Dolly Parton,鈥� and our world cracked open to allow the fun and even trashy energy of Persephone to enter. That idea gave birth to the idea of a bar, of Hades as a thug. Amber reveled in that instant change and the dress became the oddest combination of a 鈥�40s band singer and Dolly in the 鈥�80s and maybe today鈥檚 Real Housewives. It鈥檚 about repression and explosion鈥攁gain taken from Amber as she developed her performance鈥攁nd those mad asymmetrical sleeves shot out of my pencil as I drew her.鈥�
The Workers Chorus
I felt that the workers 鈥榙own below鈥� needed to be ungendered, but still sexual. There鈥檚 a lot of soft bondage imagery in the show鈥攖hat oppressive bondage within class and industry鈥攁nd the leather overalls, which have existed in history, tell a great story. The bandagey bandeaux they wear around their chests happened because female breasts and male chests can be deeply erogenous and so obviously human, and I wanted to deny the workers that freedom and individuality, push them toward imposed anonymity. It鈥檚 the reason their hair is covered with skullcaps, as well.
The Fates
鈥淭he fates are described as 鈥榯hree old women all dressed the same鈥�, but are played by fantastically sexual younger actresses. That dichotomy was great fun to explore. Their color pallet鈥攇ray, silver, black鈥攔elates them to Hermes and Hades both. Their fabrics let them move as the wind they sing about. I used a version of Depression-era shapes, carefully designed for and fitted to each actress, made them weirdly asymmetrical, each in differently patterned and dyed silk chiffon, with a lustrous silver slip below. Then each was lightly foiled and painted to catch light as they moved. The turbans were Rachel鈥檚 thought, and I loved that they both dehumanize but also heighten their looks. Their shoes have weight but also delicacy and detail. They fuss. They care. They鈥檙e shoppers. And they wear a harness with feathers, again a bondage motif to tell a story of their position in this world of gods.鈥�
