SUNSHINE CARNIVAL – COSTUMES AT THEIR MOST RADIANT

On May 31, 2019, a show “Sunshine Carnival” was put to fruition. The 3000-seat scaffold was dead full, and spectators even flooded the aisles around Noel Palza at Sun World Ba Na Hills. For two sessions a day, Sunshine Prom never ceased to be fervently embraced.

“My family saw the show in the morning. But by the afternoon, our kids insisted on a repeat. In one whole day at Ba Na Hills, even the two sessions barely made them satiable. Perhaps we must visit Ba Na all weekends”, said Mr. Nguyen Hoang An, a visitor from Hanoi, with great humor.

The combined wonder of choreography, music, multilayered shows of artists and in particular, the radiant and well-woven costumes that constantly won the hearts of the starry eyed audience and were exclusively crafted for every single character of different kingdoms of the Land of the Light.

All the costumes of the show were exclusively designed by young talented designer Tom Trandt, the only Vietnamese representative out of 16 candidates who joined the International Dashion Showcase (IFS) 2019 in London.

The most sophisticated and flamboyant costumes of the Sunshine Prom were the ones for the Sun God and his Queen. It was quite time consuming to sort Plexiglass, a lightweight material with lustrous gold effect, and Tom Trandt was required to cut the material on his own into 3D pieces to stud on the costumes.

The Land of Joy is particularly known for its movable feasts. The costumes for its subjects are drenched in warm colors, bordering on earthy ones to engender a sense of coziness and pleasure. The silhouettes are largely loose and baggy to fit feverish physical gesticulation. In particular, the costumes of the Lord and his lady of the Land of Joy were crafted with great sophistication, notably the lapel tagged with a string of coin sequins, bearing some resemblance to medieval costumes in Europe.

The Land of Mysteries is the host venue of numerous pursuits from acrobats and marionettes to magic… The diversity requires a wide array of colors on the palette apart from the main cobalt blue tone to demonstrate the fresh and glowing vibe of this land. The land gave the designer team a migraine because they were required to take into account various effects, from giant wings to the marionettes or men without heads… All must be in synergy of colors and sizes to demonstrate the imposing myths enshrouding the land.

The most salient characteristic of costumes of the Land of Ice is “walking gowns” that make the audience think the characters must be sliding on ice. To make these costumes, the designer crafted iron cages installed with wheels draped in a white farthingale adorned with snowflake patterns. As characters move, wheels move the gowns gracefully as in a figure skating performance.

The sophistication of costume design comes not just from the costumes themselves, but also from accessories. Eah landlord is equipped with a possession, from a specter to simply a folding fan to project his power halo. The Magic Land is drenched chiefly in purple, with the focus on the cap well presented in old fairy tales.

The Giant Gate is well characterized by actors on stilts who don costumes studded with vines as if they are walking from a scene of the Lord of The Rings.

The Land of Flowers is portrayed with male actors as leaves and female ones as half-shut blossoms. Their skirts are frilled and loose down just like thrilling flowers opening up their petals.

The Land of Volcanoes are meanwhile soaked in earthen red like juicy magma from a volcanic eruption. The costumes of subjects of this land fuel the audience’s heart with zeal and bright red passion. “A successful show would never be without notable contributions of costumes. As a mere spectator, I actually found the costumes of the Sunshine Carnival so delicate and well-crafted. Few shows could boast those impressive, dynamic and sophisticated costumes”, said Mr. Nguyen The Anh, a spectator from Ho Chi Minh City.