Sydney designer Tim Chappel’s family was once disappointed with his career choice. Not any more.
Tim Chappel is buzzing. “Just before you arrived, there was the most incredible giant butterfly,” the Oscar-winning costume designer says, nestling an Aperol Spritz at lunchtime on a warm summer day. “It was an orchard butterfly – one of the few native butterflies. It eats citrus.”
“It’s a fabulous project,” Chappel, 57, says of the show written by composer-conductor Luke Di Somma and director Constantine Costi. “They’ve taken the conventions of opera and the conventions of musical theatre and mixed them. So you’ve got these incredibly trained opera voices, but it’s in the format of a musical. It’s opera for the masses, often funny and tragic at the same time.”
When the film’s success took them to the Oscars, Chappel and Gardiner were certain they were not going to win. They expected the Oscar would go to France’s, which had “exquisite costumes” compared with “our stuff, which was chicken wire and hot glue”.“When they sit you down, they were like ‘you two, don’t move’,” Chappel says. “Behind us were all the other nominees, some in giant gowns. I thought, ‘She’s clearly not going anywhere because she’s 10, 12 people in.
When a waitress suggests another Aperol Spritz, Chappel is keen. I order a coffee, but it’s hot, there’s no rush to get back to the office and I’ve never tried a Spritz. So he sets off after the waitress to order me one, too.Credit:Costume design is an art that requires knowing how colours, shapes and textures can evoke certain emotions in an audience, working closely with performers to make sure they are as comfortable as possible.
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