Designing costumes for an opera is a difficult task. It's a problem solver's dream quest. Costuming is a key component of overall character development. If the setting is especially minimal, costumes communicate to a viewer before anything else. For example, a black backdrop and four colored cubes provide an opportunity for the costumes to show weather conditions, social strata, and historical context.
Constant dialogue is necessary.
The needs of the whole outweigh the needs of the one. A costume can be finished, yet there is always the possibility of disaster on stage, which demands she be on hand to remedy it. When finally on stage, costumes can prove too constraining, or clash with the lights, or be unmaneuverable within the set. She spent a year and a half at Pacific Coast Performing Arts before coming to CSU, Chico to manage the costume shop.