“It feels like a music video,” says costume designer Paloma Young of the new musical.
“Its ‘Metropolis’ meets Madonna.”
But dont expect to find explicit recreations of her paintings in the set and costume design ofLempicka.
Eden Espinosa is Tamara Lempicka in ‘Lempicka’.Emilio Madrid
His set is an evocative base that can be transformed with the added design elements of lighting and costuming.
They were doing all these angular pieces, all very sculptural.
“How do we merge Soviet graphic art with fascism?.
Aleksandr Vesnin Model that inspired ‘Lempicka’ set design.courtesy of ‘Lempicka’ producers
And sometimes those machines are people.
I felt that there was a very distinct connection with what Marinetti and the Futurists were doing.
If you look at those posters, there’s an incredible sense of movement.
Soviet propaganda.courtesy of ‘Lempicka’ producers
It is very, very kinetic.
The work of Lempicka fits into that environment; these people are trying to break through the canvas.
It is that sense of kinetic movement, passion and spectacle.”
The set of ‘Lempicka’ on Broadway.Riccardo Hernandez
The lines that I have in the space are pretty geometric, says Hernandez.
Instead, her process is more intangible.
Those paintings are sexy and seductive.
The set of ‘Lempicka’ on Broadway.Riccardo Hernandez
What I was trying to do with the design is to give the audience something seductive and powerful.
I revisited a lot of Madonna stuff from the 90s.
Nothing is a copy of that, but it was a way to see the influence.
Lempicka costume sketches.Illustrations by Bee Gable, David Hyman and Paloma Young
So dont expect to turn up toLempickaand see a stage full of replicas of 1930s and ’40s clothing.
“This is a memory story, Young says.
We’re taking the essence of who Tamara sees herself as.
‘Lempicka’ costume sketches.Illustrations by Bee Gable, David Hyman and Paloma Young
She was iconic and ahead of her time.
She has these really bold colors, says Young.
We want a lot of body in the show, she says.
‘Lempicka’ costume sketches.Illustrations by Bee Gable, David Hyman and Paloma Young
But defying convention was what Lempicka was all about and thats the point for both Hernandez and Young.
We took some big leaps because we want to give people the energy of her work, reflects Young.
it’s possible for you to’t achieve that by having something that is at human scale.
‘Lempicka’ costume sketches.Illustrations by Bee Gable, David Hyman and Paloma Young
Because the way that she paints, even though the paintings are small, they feel enormous.
‘Lempicka’ costume sketches.Illustrations by Bee Gable, David Hyman and Paloma Young
