"Rent, build, or buy?" When you are contemplating a new domicile, that's a question you have to ask yourself. But if you are Pittsburgh Opera, that is also the question that you ask regarding costumes and props. On Tuesday, I visited the costume shop while the children's choristers were being fitted for their regalia, and although I can't show you pictures of the kids (legal issues regarding minors and photographic release forms), I can show you the costume shop itself!

More shoes than Imelda Marcos! More hats than John B. Stetson! More shirts than... a lot of people! When you walk down to the basement of the Pittsburgh Opera building (it seems that artists always live in basements or garrets), that's what you see. Rows and rows of everything clothing.

When Pittsburgh Opera puts on a piece, the set and props can be rented from another company or built from scratch. The latter is a rather expensive proposition (unless it can be rented to other companies), so the set is often rented (and if you recall my piece on Tosca Backstage, you'll also remember that famous singers have imbued their energy into the props). Depending on the size of the cast and the complexity and period of the dress, costumes can be rented, sewn from scratch (again, an expensive proposition), or bought. It turns out that shoes are not part of the costumes that travel with the set, so Pittsburgh Opera owns a lot of shoes. The kingly garb that enrobed Michael Hendrick in Ariadne auf Naxos was rented, but because the kids in the children's chorus are difficult to fit, the costumers spent some time at the local thrift shops finding clothing that looked right and could be taken in. When you can't rent, you can buy (and at discount prices)!

And because costumes have to be taken in or let out, hemmed, cuffed, or trimmed, the costumers have a myriad of machines and threads in just about every color known to man. There are boxes of ribbons, bows, buttons—sometimes they are added to a costume, sometimes they are removed—and the costumers pay attention to detail. At 14 years of age, one young lady chorister would have been (in the time Pagliacci was penned) of marriagable age. Consequently, her parents would have dressed her as a young lady. But at that young age, she would still be playing with her friends—so if you see her socks drooping around her ankles, it is to firm up this dichotomy. Other children are portrayed as outgrowing their clothes, or wearing over-large hand-me-downs from their elder siblings. All of this contributes to the vitality of the scenes. Even if you don't know how the set and costuming is put together, your subconscious still registers these small clues, and makes the scene seem all that much more real.

So, whence the title for this piece? In addition to playing rock'n'roll, local radio station WDVE often features comedy bits. One of these was called "Pants an'at", and featured a particular Pittsburghese turn of phrase: an'at (a contraction for "and that" for those unfamiliar with it). Yinz Know Yinzes from Picksburgh an' 'at When... Yinz finish all yinzes sentences with the words an' 'at. It is such a uniquely Pittsburghean turn of phrase that we even have a "country code" sticker for Pittsburgh. Originally designed for identifying the coutry of origin for European license plates, these oval stickers had two letters on them: NL for the Netherlands, DE for Germany (Deutchland), DK for Denmark, etc. Of course, there is an ISO standard defining all the 2-letter codes (and these same codes are used for international internet addresses). But in the US (the ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 code element for United States), the stickers achieved cult status. You'll see OBX (for North Carolina's Outer Banks), FDNY (honoring the New York Fire Department), and PGH, PIT, and N@ (for sweet home Pittsburgh).

Now to digress from my digression, if you fly a lot, you recognized that "PIT" is also the FAA and IATA 3-letter airport code for Pittsburgh. But if you're a geek like me you'll also know that every airport has a code. Monroeville Airport is 4G0 (did you know that Monroeville even had an airport?), Finleyville is G05, and Bandel Airport in Eighty Four is 22D. Much though it'd make a great airport code, the registered codes are purely alphanumeric, so N@ remains a purely local joke.

Pittsburgh Opera also has a wig-master. Sometimes the wigs are obvious (the judge in Cosi fan Tutte), but very often the flowing locks sported by the singers are the results of the wig-masters craft. They look completely natural, and only after the performance have I realized that the singer was not as flaxen-haired as I had supposed. Of course, in Pagliacci, some of the wigs are rather comical. Clowns are supposed to have bright orange hair...

And of course, everything in the costume shop will eventually need to be cleaned! Consequently, there is a dizzying array of cleaning products available to the costumers. But there is also dye (in case the myriad colors of thread, ribbon, and fabric are insufficient), spot remover, fixatives, swabs, daubers, and things I didn't recognize!

Mark Twain said that "Clothes make the man" (although most people forget the second half of the quote). And the costume shop makes the clothes.