Today I want to give a shout out to the people in the wings. As you know, I have been following the 18 month- production of The Poet’s Shadow, a rock opera created, produced and implemented by PHAME’s crew of talented folks. For obvious reasons, people in the spotlight have been the singers and movers and musicians, all living with developmental disabilities and thriving on the stage.

Other people who get plenty of exposure are Bruce, the director, Matt, the conductor, Yulia and Erik, the choreographers, Jenny, the executive director, Anya the administrative magician of the organization and so on. But it takes so many more people to make this all work, those who bring the performers and pick them up, months on end. Those who sit for all hours of rehearsal in the lobbies, opening the locked doors of the rehearsal venues. Those who have tirelessly taught and led the courses that involved the writing, painting and drawing, staging, or PR, and those who have found the spaces and organized the structure of the production. They deserve just as much gratitude and recognition.

And then there is a creative genius back stage who’s products you will see without them ever being in the spotlight. I am thinking of Liliane, who designed the various, intricate costumes and sewed them, for what must be hundreds of volunteer hours, by hand, assisted by Ty who makes much of it possible. And no one realizes what a powerhouse is at work in the wings.

Liliane told me a bit about her life over a sumptuous breakfast at her new domicile in the forests near Lucia Falls in WA. The perfect hostess, she was born in England and loved to play dress-up and take on diverse roles from a young age. She earned a degree in theater and completing additional studies at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After some years of working in theatre, teaching history and helping develop curricula for award-winning education programs, she emigrated to the United States.

More than a decade was spent in San Francisco where she founded a one of a kind theatre that surrounded her with a family of like-minded actors and set the stage for much performance art, renowned for an extraordinary sense of costuming and creative fantasy. I had the pleasure to see some remnants of those years, stored away in the attic office, items begging for stories to be written about them.

It is hard to reconcile the larger-than-life character of a Diva with the modest person in the middle of a traditional European, elegant living room filled with bouquets of dahlias and crystal stemware collections in vitrines next to the working Vitriola. Might as well be transported to Lincolnshire, or some such.

It is, of course, the eye for beauty that connects the arc between acting at the forefront of performance art to living in a peaceful retreat in the woods. It is also the harsh reality of Californian economics – skyrocketing rent first and foremost – that broke the former ensemble apart and forced relocation for many who weren’t exactly trust fund babies.

One partnership survived all those changes. Comrade-in-art Ty lives here as well and they continue to collaborate in most productive ways. The man has a day job as a financial crimes investigator at a major financial institution, is also a painter and explores and supports many of the ventures in Liliane’s life. Warm, funny and attentive he makes you feel at ease immediately.

It is always hard to be on target when you look from the outside in but their collaborative relationship strikes me as ideal. Her creative flights of fancy are grounded by his pragmatism; his constriction by rationality are loosened by her vision.

The costumes she created for The Poet’s Shadow are a marvel. This is true not just for their beauty, but also for the ingenuity required to answer some major technical challenges.

The movers in the opera, for example, play the roles of a monster and also of flowers. Quick costume changes were out of the question, so one outfit had to serve both roles, and do so with changes that were within the limits of the physical abilities of the performers. Solution: Have flip up/down collars on capes, which can be shifted easily and promptly, displaying darkness on one side and bright floral colors on the other.

There were sizing challenges, with the unusual range of having to sew for football player-sized figures to tiny ballerinas.

There were the feathers for Mrs. Peacocks cape – lovingly hand-applied one by one, the heap of them.

There was the search for beautiful but reasonable materials given the constraints of the budget of a non-profit organization.

There was the task of making ordinary shoes into something extraordinary, fit for a fairy guide. All tackled with passion and years of experience in design and tailoring.

As someone who has trouble sewing on a button or hemming a skirt, I stand in awe. I very much hope that Portland will recognize the talent that has landed in our fair city and afford more opportunities for Liliane’s and Ty’s craft and/or performance skills – we would all be enriched.

Check the costumes out for yourself, here is the relevant info:

The Poet’s Shadow Seven performances: August 23, 24, 25 (matinee), 28, 29, 30, 31 (matinee) Hampton Opera Center, 211 Southeast Caruthers Street Portland, OR 97214Tickets on sale now at www.phamepdx.org/poet

And here is the most famous seamstress of them all: