Peter John Hall (January 22, 1926 – May 27, 2010) was a British-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

costume designer who spent most of his career as costumer for the Dallas Opera, in addition to his work for Covent Garden, La Scala, the Old Vic and the Vienna State Opera, as well as productions in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for the American Ballet Theatre, the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

, the New York City Opera and on Broadway. Hall was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, on January 22, 1926. He attended the West of England College of Art (later known as the University of the West of England). He served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, where he specialized in designing

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

for air bases and gun emplacements.Fox, Margalit
"Peter J. Hall, Costume Designer for Opera, Dies at 84"
''

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'', June 9, 2010. Accessed June 14, 2010. After completing his military service, his mother gave him two days to find work in the theater before considering options, but Hall was able to find a job his first day looking for work as an assistant stage manager in a musical based on the opera '' Die Fledermaus'', where he was able to make do in the wake of postwar shortages of materials. While working as a costume designer at Covent Garden, he met

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

, who brought him to the Dallas Opera in the 1960s, where he designed the occasional set, but spent most of his career on the costumes for 70 operas. He was the resident costume designer for the Metropolitan Opera in the 1970s to 1980s, where his work included costumes for Zeffirelli's productions of '' La bohème'', '' Otello'' and '' Tosca''. While in New York City, he also designed costumes for the 1979 Broadway production of '' Zoot Suit''. He dressed

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and Mick Jagger while they were on tour, calling Bowie "serious, intellectual, wonderful to work with", while Jagger was "exactly the opposite".Bargreen, Melinda
"Peter J. Hall designs costumes for Seattle Opera's upcoming "I Puritani""
''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

'', April 27, 2008. Accessed June 14, 2010. He dressed performers including Judi Dench, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland and Kiri Te Kanawa, and was noted by ''

'' for his costumes and "the way they moved, the way they caught the light, the way they could be coaxed amicably around singers of some dimension", with John Gage of the Dallas Opera describing how "his designs look like Renaissance paintings". A gown he created for soprano

Lella Cuberli Lella Cuberli (September 29, 1945) is an American soprano, particularly associated with the Belcanto repertory. Born Lela Alice Terrell in Austin, Texas, she studied in Dallas and later in Milan. She made her professional debut in Siena, in 1973 ...

in the Dallas Opera's production of ''

Semiramide ''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Fe ...

'' weighed 65 pounds and was constructed of scarlet covered with costume jewels, requiring four people on stage to control the 20-foot-long

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

he designed. A resident of

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, he died there at age 84 on May 27, 2010, after a long illness. He left no immediate survivors.

References

Externals

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Peter J. 1926 births 2010 deaths Alumni of the University of the West of England, Bristol American costume designers British Army personnel of World War II Theatre people from Bristol People from Dallas British emigrants to the United States