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Marketplace dancers in the Broadway production of Disney’s Aladdin
Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway is a jaw-dropping, multi-million dollar spectacle that brings to the stage the beloved 1992 cartoon film. Along with new music, stellar performances and exciting effects, Aladdin features some of the most ambitious costumes in Broadway history. Gregg Barnes is the two time Tony Award-winning costume designer behind these elaborate costumes that mix old school craftsmanship with new and emerging technology that transports audience to “A Whole New World.”
A character sketch for a woman in the marketplace
Two years later, a reworked version and all new costumes would make their way to the Mirvish Theatre stage in Toronto for their pre-Broadway try-out. During the interim, Barnes designed the Tony Award-nominated costumes for the wildly successful Kinky Boots. Eventually Aladdin opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway in March of this year, received great reviews, and has already extended through January 2015. Barnes’ work was overlooked during the award season (he didn’t receive a Tony Award nomination) but did win The BroadwayWorld.com (fan-voted) Award for Best Costume Design. And a close look at the costumes reveals the extreme art and craftsmanship that went into it all.
Gregg Barnes’ character sketch of a harem girl
For Aladdin, Barnes was inspired by a wide range of source material, including “belly dancers, Dancing with the Stars, Roxy ushers, Max Tilke’s research of ancient Middle Eastern garments, The Cotton Club, Hollywood kitsch and MGM musicals, modern wedding dresses, tattoo art, exotic visions conjured by Bakst, Antonio and the Victorian Orientalists, Islamic architecture, jewelry (both ethnic and Cartier), carved wood blocks, and calligraphy among others!”
The costumes in Aladdin take us from the marketplace (which Nicholaw envisioned as a color blocked world of bright colors that glowed, in honor of the original animation) to the palace, which is “glistening, pale, and sugar-coated” à la “It’s A Small World,” complete with fantasy tap dance sequences, parades and a royal wedding. Barnes’ design for Aladdin is comprised of 337 costumes, including 136 individual designs, 161 pairs of custom made shoes, 1,225 different fabrics (83 of which are custom created textile designs) and 712 different styles of beads. Ensemble members average 11 costumes each, with 108 costume changes in less than one minute, and 58 in less than 30 seconds. To produce costumes of this caliber at this volume certainly takes a village.
The smoke design for printing the harem pants
A close-up of the beading embellishments on the harem pants.
In the course of bringing these wonderful designs from page to stage, Barnes and his team faced the need, as well as the opportunity, to use technology as a way to control and execute several complex elements. One such technology that was utilized to great results was digital pattern design and sublimated dyeing of custom fabric prints. Barnes designed a beautiful rolling smoke motif and flame pattern for a set of harem pants worn in a fantasy sequence within the “Friend Like Me” number. In order to be able to engineer a print to follow the shape of the pant, as well as offer multiple color ways, and the ability to easily keep up with the demand of swings, replacements and the possibility of future touring and international companies, the decision was made to have the fabric printed.
Gregg Barnes’ sketch for Aladdin
In an exciting use of traditional craftsmanship to create non-traditional elements, the Aladdin costume team called upon Rodney Gordon to create silicone molded dimensional details. Barnes’ design for the Palace Guard costumes features a beautiful series of menacing metalwork, such as harnesses with dimensional appliques and embedded jewels, as well as elaborate snakehead shoulder pieces. To create these in a way that was easy to reproduce, as well as light for the performers, they were first sculpted in clay and then cast. The molds were filled with a colored silicone, embedded with a fine mesh to allow these elements to be easily stitched to the finished costume. Additional paint and bronzing powders completed the look.
Adam Jacobs in the final result