Minnesota Children's Theatre costume designer Sarah Bahr, of Darwin, helps bring productions to life
Feb. 28—MINNEAPOLIS
— Growing up in the country south of
Darwin
, on the shores of Lake Erie, Sarah Bahr never had a lot of other kids living nearby. So, she and her sister learned to entertain themselves.
"My sister and I always played make-believe — very elaborate games of make-believe," inspired by their favorite books and stories, Bahr said.
She also grew up with creative parents who fostered that spirit in their children. Bahr's mother was a quilter and taught her daughter to sew, while her father built the family home. They also made sure their children had opportunities to experience the arts.
"I was really fortunate. My mom would bring me and my sister to the Twin Cities and we'd see shows at the Children's Theatre and the Guthrie. We'd go to museums, we'd go to the Dayton's Christmas display," Bahr said. "We were immersed in this arts world."
Now Bahr is part of that world, full of theater and art. She is currently the associate costume designer for the
Children's Theatre Company's
production of "Alice in Wonderland," showing until March 31 in Minneapolis.
As a freelance costume and scenic designer, Bahr has designed and created looks for some of the biggest and most prestigious theater companies in Minnesota, including the Guthrie and the Minnesota Opera.
"Every month is different, every day is different," Bahr said. "Every project is drastically different."
Costume designer for theater wasn't a job Bahr ever dreamed of as a kid, because she never knew it existed. It wasn't until she found herself in the costume shop of the University of Minnesota — Morris drama department that her eyes were opened to the possibilities.
"I stepped into the costume shop and I was like 'Oh my gosh, this is where I need to be,'" said Bahr, who at the time was enrolled at the school to take a few years of general education classes before transferring to the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities for fashion design.
While she did end up transferring to another U of M campus, it was to Duluth, where she enrolled in the school's theater program offering a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She graduated with a degree in design and technical theater, and also did internships at the Guthrie and the Sante Fe Opera. It was these internships that helped her get her first job right out of school, at the Minnesota Opera, building costumes.
She also tried her hand at working in one of the biggest theater cities in the world — New York City, where she built costumes for Broadway for five years. But she missed the collaborative experiences she had in the Minnesota theater community, so she came back home.
"The theater community here is robust and also very tight-knit," Bahr said. "There are a lot of theaters, a lot of work."
In addition to her theater work, Bahr teaches at various universities. When she returned to Minnesota, Bahr enrolled at the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities to obtain a Master of Fine Arts in design and technical theater.
"I really love mentoring and teaching," Bahr said.
Over the last decade, Bahr has used her talents to create costumes and scenery for a wide array of shows including theater, opera and dance.
Her creations have been seen on stage in Minnesota at the Jungle Theater, Ten Thousands Things Theater Company, Trademark Theater, Penumbra, Theater Mu, History Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre and the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona.
Nationally, she has worked with the San Diego Opera and the Cincinnati Opera, as well as creating costumes for various dance performances.
"I do love designing for dance because it's about emotion and the movement," Bahr said.
The type of production has an impact on the costumes Bahr designs.
For theater companies that perform for small crowds in places like churches or schools, Bahr can be a bit more subtle with the fabrics and design because the audience might be sitting only a few feet away from the actors.
For large productions with the Minnesota Opera or the Ordway Music Theater, where the stage is large and thousands of people make up the audience, the costumes need to fit the venue.
"You can be a little bit more bold with the fabric choices; you need higher contrast, trim and glitz," Bahr said.
While Bahr might be responsible for designing the costumes or sets for a show, the process of going from idea to stage is a collaboration between Bahr and many other people.
She works with the director, the show's creative team and the actors. She researches the show's time period and themes, analyzes the characters and gathers feedback. Then she sketches out ideas, finds the perfect fabrics and then transforms those design drawings into finished costumes.
"So we make it to opening night with something that feels totally appropriate for the character," Bahr said.
Her current gig at the Children's Theatre is a bit unique. The costumes for the show were designed in 2013 by G.W. "Skip" Mercier. However, he died in 2021, so Bahr was brought on to be the associate costume designer for the show.
"They've hired me to uphold his vision, redesign anything that is not working," Bahr said. "It's kind of an interesting, non-traditional design position, but it is super amazing and wonderful."
Bahr has been able to put her own mark on this production of "Alice in Wonderland." She gave the Cheshire Cat costume a bit of a refresh, and was able to design the costumes for an extended scene around Humpty Dumpty's famous tumble off a wall.
"I designed a broken egg head with a yolk oozing out of it," Bahr said. "We elevated that scene a little bit. It is going to be super hilarious."
Designing for a theater that specializes in productions for children opens up even more opportunities for creativity. For the Cheshire Cat, Bahr remade part of the costume with a fur-like fabric, something just a bit wacky and silly.
"Your audience is kids," Bahr said. "You can really bring in the comedy and fun."
For those wanting to see Bahr's creations in action, tickets to "Alice in Wonderland" can be purchased online at
For the up-and-coming theater costume and scenic designers, Bahr advises them to intern with as many companies as they can, the larger the better. The skills that can be learned at the top level of theater can be used at all levels, Bahr said, and building a network with well-known companies in it might help a person when looking for a job.
"It's about getting connected," Bahr said. "Get a variety of experiences because you never know when opportunity will come."
Bahr is grateful for all the opportunities that have come her way, allowing her to live her dream and see her creations help tell some of the most famous stories.
"I love the idea of storytelling with clothes," Bahr said.
She also loves being able to share her love of theater, opera and dance through her costumes and shine a spotlight on an integral part of drama, because sometimes a costume can be almost a character in itself.
"I like to create the theater," Bahr said.
