Throughout the show, Altomare wears a handful of costumes, yet all but one are worn in the second act when in Paris. During the first act, Altomare only wears one outfit where she’s draped in brown from head to toe. During the intermission, Anya transforms from a struggling young woman to a Russian princess.
“It’s pretty amazing what it does to me internally,” said Altomare, “wearing the brown, street rat costume in Act I, and the beautiful regal costumes in Act II. It affects my posture, it informs my scenes, and I think it’s a beautiful juxtaposition for the audience to see what Communist Russia was in those days. You look at what Paris was and what it stood for; it was this freedom that no one from Russia could even fathom. I think in that regard, it’s pretty amazing what Linda Cho has done with the costumes and how it shows that juxtaposition so perfectly; it’s really driven home what life was like in two completely different countries.”
