Behind the scenes of ‘The Great Gatsby' at Mirvish, with its gorgeous gowns, elegant suits — and oodles of beads

But since this is a musical, the costumes need to be sturdy enough for performers to sing and dance in them eight shows a week. And they need to be pleasing to the 21st-century eye.

“In the 1920s, many dresses fell straight from the chest and skimmed over the hips with no waist,” Cho told the Star from her home in Manhattan.

“But to the more modern eye, we find things like a snatched waist and lifted bust more attractive. So my team and I created what we call the ‘Cheater ’20s.’ There’s a number in the show called ‘New Money,’ in which there’s lots of sparkle and jewel tones. There weren’t a lot of sequins in the actual 1920s. There were some, but not to the extent that I use here.”

For the actors, the costumes help them get into character.

“I feel so powerful in my ‘Gatsby’ clothes,” said Leanne Robinson, who plays Jordan Baker, a professional golfer who becomes a sort of plus-one for the show’s everyman narrator, Nick Carraway.

“Jordan is the only female you’ll see in the show wearing pants, but what’s surprising is that in the 1920s, even as a golfer, she wouldn’t have been wearing them — she would have been wearing long skirts,” said Robinson in a backstage interview earlier this week.

“Linda has designed these high-waisted, flared pants that give Jordan a domineering, masculine feel, but the tops are soft and feminine. They make you feel sexy and strong, head to toe. You stand up tall and own the looks.”

The fixes are in

For a touring show with so many costumes and costume changes — Daisy displays 10 outfits during the performance — as well as vigorous dancing, there are bound to be wardrobe snafus.

During one 35-second costume transition in which Jay had to change out of a full tuxedo and into a military outfit, the show’s wardrobe supervisor Michael Turner discovered a zipper had broken on one of the character’s custom-built knee-high boots.

“So right before a dance break, we used some dark-coloured gaffer tape to wrap around the boot,” he said, in a separate interview. “It wasn’t the most pleasing esthetic choice, but it could have been dangerous to the actors if the boot was undone. And we care about the artists’ safety above all.”

Turner and his wardrobe assistant help maintain the costumes’ integrity, assist with backstage changes (there are nine dressers employed to ensure all the actors have their costumes ready to go) and do quick little touch-ups. The two also take care of the laundry — each onstage character has three full sets of undergarments, crucial for days with two performances.

The Broadway tour travels with its own dry-cleaning system for spot-cleaning, especially useful for collars soiled with makeup.

“If the buildup of makeup is beyond what we can handle, we’ll send it out to a specialty cleaner,” said Turner.

“Gowns with features like ruching are sensitive and delicately stitched, and we don’t want to compromise them, so we’ll send them out to cleaners who can ensure that they’re handled correctly.”

Local heroes

Before the show arrives in a city, Turner will email a contact at the theatre’s wardrobe department, and they will discuss logistics. Will they need a dry cleaner? A cobbler?

“They all know places that do great work, that are reliable and fast,” said Turner.

The show’s opening number, “Roaring On,” features lots of dancing, singing women wearing dresses with beaded fringes. Inevitably, dozens of beads wind up scattered on the floor.

“You’ve got 15-inch fringes at the bottom of dresses that are beads on threads,” he said. “It doesn’t take much to break them. You can sit down on a chair. You can get a strand of beads stuck behind a partner’s knee as you’re dancing, and they fall off.”

It can take hours to rebead all the show’s dresses, and sometimes Turner must hire a local beader or stitcher to help out.

The company also has a special vacuum to scoop up any beads from the hidden automation tracks that help move the scenery. If that machinery gets stuck, it could cause delays, or even injuries.

Minor accidents are an inevitable part of live theatre. Actor Robinson has had bracelets and earrings drop off during various performances.

“Acting is supposed to be a depiction of real life,” she said, laughing. “If your earring falls off in real life, you’re going to pick it up. Same with your bracelet. Also, you have to be safe onstage. Someone else could step on that bracelet, slip and fall.”

For designer Cho, whose memorable second Tony acceptance speech for “The Great Gatsby” singled out her late Korean-born mother who helped raise her in the Toronto suburbs and taught her how to sew, the actors’ comfort is just as important as a show’s look.

“In a past show, I designed a crown made of metal, and got a jeweller to put in jewels,” she said. “It was so heavy that the actor suffered from back issues. For ‘Gatsby,’ I’ve designed headdresses, but had an incredible team of milliners make them so they’re extremely light.

“An actor has to feel comfortable in your costumes, and they must feel right for their character,” she added. “If you don’t have their confidence, you’re screwed. They have to completely believe in the clothes they’re wearing.”

“The Great Gatsby” continues at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, 244 Victoria St., until Aug. 23. Ticket details at mirvish.com.