The newest mega present at Berlin’s Friedrichstadt-Palast options mirror balls sharpened into cone bras, wacky inflatable costumes bobbing round an enormous swimming pool, and roughly 100 million Swarovski crystals — one weighing 400 kilos.
Credit score for all that fantasy and sparkle goes to Paris trend legend Jean Paul Gaultier, curator and visible design director of the brand new cabaret-style revue that premiered Wednesday evening within the German capital.
“Every time it’s a brand new story, and meaning you could discover one thing else, one thing totally different,” he mentioned. “So creativity is concerned, positively. And that’s very thrilling.”
About 1,900 attended the opening evening together with Gaultier, Irish musical twins Jedward, Austrian singer and drag performer Conchita Wurst, American actress Pleasure Sunday and French actor William Abadie.
Pleasure Sunday on the premiere.
Courtesy of Friedrichstadt-Palast
“Falling | In Love” is the title of the bold present, billed as the most costly ever mounted by the state theater, owned by the Metropolis of Berlin. The manufacturing finances was practically 14 million euros and it’s slated for a two-year run.
Half Moulin Rouge, half Cirque du Soleil, half rock live performance, the “grand reveals” served up by Friedrichstadt-Palast contain greater than 100 performers, together with singers, dancers and acrobats. Your complete ensemble includes round 500 individuals from 28 nations.
The brand new present’s protagonist is a younger, deaf and mute poet who doesn’t match into any mildew. Whereas passionate and filled with longing, he lives within the form of joyless, hopeless place the place one needs to be swallowed up by a gap within the floor.
Lo and behold, he falls by “the grey asphalt of civilization” right into a “hidden backyard of affection” the place he experiences “the everlasting human dream of a greater world,” in response to the theater.
A scene from “Falling | In Love.”
Nady El-Tounsy
Enter Gaultier, who sketched colourful, otherworldly units — some moist, some dry — and greater than 400 costumes that carry the story to life.
In an interview with WWD, the designer — who created the all-singing, all-dancing autobiographical cabaret “Style Freak Present” in 2018 — mentioned he places himself within the place of the spectator.
“I attempted to make what I felt was greatest for every character,” he mentioned. “We additionally needed to create an environment and guarantee a visible affect.”
Cue a kaleidoscope of vivid hues.
“You realize, you may say numerous issues by colours,” Gaultier mentioned, explaining that the present depicts “three tribes — a blue one, a crimson one and a inexperienced one, and on the finish it turns into a rainbow. In fact, all of that’s symbolic, making coloration a key ingredient in creating the present.”
Colourful tribes costumed by Jean Paul Gaultier.
Nady El-Tounsy
In line with the theater, the phrase “falling” within the present title alludes to the sense of foreboding felt by many individuals in these troubled instances, although the last word message of the present is certainly one of hope.
“We imagine in the great thing about this world and within the good of individuals, regardless of every part,” mentioned Berndt Schmidt, common director and producer on the theater, suggesting that guests will fall into “a sea of affection.”
Gaultier mentioned he associated strongly to the narrative, and the present’s uplifting message.
“The story is sort of optimistic, and that’s why I liked it,” he mentioned. “It’s all about what’s occurring now, with totally different tribes preventing, right here represented with totally different colours. So in fact, it pertains to racism and the variations that may separate individuals. However like I mentioned, totally different colours can come collectively and turn into a rainbow, so it’s symbolic of inclusivity, unity, fluidity, and likewise celebrating variations.”
The designer famous that the protagonist is handicapped, however overcomes this and is ready to talk with individuals. “So it reveals what might occur to the world, and what has to occur to the world.”
The sparkly present boasts 100 million Swarovski crystals, billed as a world document.
Nady El-Tounsy
Gaultier’s costumes recall components from his huge and eclectic oeuvre, achieved over a profession spanning 50 years. There are caged constructions, cone bras, samurai collars, body-swallowing catsuits and strong-shouldered tailoring.
And as was at all times the case at his energetic runway reveals, every outfit is matched to strikingly unique hairstyles and make-up — or jarringly juxtaposed, as within the powdered Marie-Antoinette wigs paired with biker leathers in a single scene of “Falling | In Love.”
Demonstrating that he nonetheless has a style for trend’s outer fringes, Gaultier conscripted the alien-looking Canadian couple generally known as Fecal Matter, and the Russian efficiency artist Sasha Frolova, synonymous with latex and summary kinds, to costume a number of scenes.
“I used to be considering collaborating with some individuals whose work I like,” Gaultier mentioned.
Fecal Matter’s Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran query gender boundaries and beliefs of magnificence with their fashions, whereas slyly poking enjoyable at consumerism.
The pale, bald duo — keen on darkened eyeballs, zombie make-up and physique dysphoria — based Fecal Matter in 2016 and in the present day boast 743,000 followers on Instagram. They created near 50 costumes for the Berlin present, with one stole resembling a headless, two-tailed fish wrapped across the shoulders.
“I believed that they could possibly be fabulous for this present. I like how they appear, and the way they current themselves as a result of their expression is exclusive and provides some emotion that I’m not capable of give,” Gaultier mentioned. “I feel they carry one thing very fascinating for that present.”
Frolova makes sculptures, digital artwork and inflatable latex costumes which might be colourful, cartoonish and otherworldly.
Inflatable costumes by Sasha Frolova.
Nady El-Tounsy
“I like her work, she’s an actual artist,” Gaultier enthused of the 45 seems she created for the stage. “It’s really one thing that’s good for a present like this — it’s past trend, and really inventive. Visually, it’s improbable — like a dream.”
The brand new present at Friedrichstadt-Palast represents an encore for Gaultier, who had designed round 500 costumes for “The One” revue that opened in 2016.
The famed couturier, who retired from the runway in 2020, was very happy to once more fill what’s billed as the biggest theater stage on the earth.
“When you find yourself designing a trend assortment, you create it along with your type, however it’s creating garments women and men can really purchase and put on. It’s a enterprise, so there are some codes to respect, and plenty of guidelines,” he mentioned.
In contrast, creating costumes for a revue at Friedrichstadt-Palast means exerting a boundless creativity to create fantasy worlds. “So it’s very totally different,” Gaultier enthused.
That mentioned, he pressured that he should respect the narrative. “There’s a story you need to comply with, and it isn’t my story,” Gaultier defined. “You should be cautious to create issues that flatter the story and doesn’t change its spirit or targets.”
Oliver Hoppmann, inventive director of Friedrichstadt-Palast since 2015, authored the brand new present and likewise directed it. “Falling | In Love” unfurls over two hours, with a 30-minute intermission. Ticket costs begin at round 30 euros.
Oliver Hoppmann and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Courtesy of Friedrichstadt-Palast
