| Description | By Lerner & Loewe, Director John Dexter. Premiere, The Lyric, 17 Sep 1985.The file contains costume and set designs. The costumes are in the style of 1900s and use a strong and varied colour palette from sky blue to burgundy for the women with period colours of darks and light 'casual' suits for the men, they are annotated by character name and some have extra details for example, 4171 'plus pink stole'. The period features are obvious in many designs for example, 4234 a bathing suit and cap. In several characters are active with props for example, 4152 reading a book or as pairs undertaking an activity for example, 4180 skating. Some drawings show the verso of costumes and corresponding details such as how they are fastened for example, 4155 buttons. Formal to casual wear is marked by a change in palette for example, 4158 and 4159 formal suit and casual suit respectively. Some of the drawings are less finely finished for example, 4163 which is draw and scribbled in with felt tip. 4164 and 4239 have a fabric sample attached to the verso. In keeping with the period a few drawings reflect art f the time, 4179 is reminiscent of Toulouse Lautrec. In some drawings costume parts are shown side by side for example, 4249 shows the character with her jacket on and off and some show groups of people for example, 4253. There are also some portraits such as 4264 which depicts Gigi as a girl. The sets are designed as painted panels with cut-out detailing/features in front. These panels were placed alongside each other to create the full backdrop, this is evident in 4203. Complete panels were used for the front-curtain [see 4202]. The colour palette is vibrant tones of blue, greens, yellows and pinks. Several drawings show the design process from less complete drawing to refined drawing for example, 4201-2 fair ground scene. Some scenes are of real life places for example, 4204 the interior of Maxim's [Parisian cafe], which also appears as a line drawing in 4206 [see 4302 also]. Some also appear to show two alternative colour ways for example, 4207-8 show the same scene but the latter has a darkened colourwash applied to it. 4289 shows the positioning of set pieces and there are several drawn scenes/part storyboards for example, 4287 these show the stage edges as well as the design in sketch form. 4305-6 [recto and verso of same page] and 4307 depicts designs for furniture and 4308-17 depicts designs in art nouveau style for fret work [this was placed across the top of the set forming an arch], the measurements for which are on 4311. Other moulded details are shown on 4318-19. Herbert also employed a new technique, 4320-1; 24 shows scenes which have been drawn onto grids.
Pencil, pen, felt tip and paint on paper. |