Hollywood Isn't the Only Three-Ring Circus
Academy Award–winning costume designer Colleen Atwood ran away and joined the circus.
Well, not exactly, but as close as a Hollywood costume designer can get.
Atwood, the woman who garnered Oscars for her costume designs in the movies “Chicago” and “Memoirs of a Geisha,” was hired to design about 200 outfits for the performers in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, which opens at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on July 19.
“I have always loved the tradition of the circus and the costumes,” said Los Angeles resident Atwood, who noted that this was a new challenge in her long repertoire of costume designing.
It was one year ago that Atwood was contacted by Kenneth Feld, chairman and chief executive of the circus company, and his daughter, Nicole Feld, one of the circus’ producers, about creating a wide range of glittery costumes for the 136th edition of “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
They were enticed by Atwood’s incredible creations, which have been seen on the big screen in such films as “Edward Scissorhands” and “Lemony Snicket’s An Unforunate Series of Events.”
While the Felds had already selected a costume theme, “The Circus of Dreams,” that still gave Atwood a wide berth to come up with some stellar creations. “My initial concept I came up with quickly,” Atwood said, “and then the director, Shanda Sawyer, came up with her concepts.”
The two melded their ideas, with Atwood giving a slight nod to traditional circus colors and the classic circus stripes.
One of the main challenges was designing costumes that would move with the performers, particularly the rubbery acrobats, the somersaulting horseback riders and Herkules the Strongman, who gets hit with a 50-pound cannonball. She also had to work with durable fabrics such as spandex and other synthetics and combine them with lots of glittery accents. “There were lots of stones, lots of Swarovski,” she noted.
One of her favorite creations is the black, silver and pink costume worn by the elephant girl dancers, which has an elephant ear accent at the shoulder and an elephant face on the front.
“One thing that was interesting was the challenge of designing for a young audience and kids,” the costume designer said. “I did a lot of girly colors such as lavenders and pinks that lit well.”
Oscar material
Atwood has a slew of film credits—more than 45—under her belt. They range from “The Mexican” and “The Silence of the Lambs” to “Big Fish” and “Mission Impossible III.” Currently she is working on the movie “Sweeney Todd,” which will be directed by Tim Burton.
Atwood has a range of depth and cultural understanding that has helped in her vast career. She worked as a wrangler on her grandparents’ working ranch near Ellensburg, Wash., which was good experience for putting in long hours on movie productions.
Atwood said she never studied costume design but did study painting and art at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. In her twenties she moved east to attend New York University’s film school and began work on her first film, “Ragtime,” which appeared in theaters in 1981. Her first lead designer assignment came on the film “Firstborn” in 1984.
Her extensive background and years of costume research gave her the ability to design in six months the scores of costumes that the circus needed for its 17 acts.
After months of working on plans, in December she flew to the circus’ winter home in Palmetto, Fla., where she fit the cast of characters that work in the circus.
She hasn’t worked with the circus since January, when the troupe set off for its busy 43-city show schedule around the country. Atwood’s costumes will be with the circus for the next two seasons.
“It was really fascinating to work with people who spoke 12 languages,” Atwood said. “It’s an amazing organization. I never thought about what a little global place the circus is, with everybody working together. The world could learn a lesson here.”
