The Rural We: Charles Caine

The world-renowned costume designer, South Egremont, Mass. resident Charles Caine, ran the costume shop at the Metropolitan Opera for 17 years and designed both costumes and sets for major opera companies throughout the world. He has worked with the most prominent singers and directors of our time, and he has the anecdotes (some salacious, others simply fascinating) to prove it. Now happily designing costumes for the Berkshire Opera Festival, he will be reflecting on his illustrious career in a talk, “The Art of Costume Design in Opera,” this Saturday, April 27 at 2:30 p.m. at Saint James Place in Great Barrington. (The program is free, but reservations are recommended.) The presentation, in which Caine will include his sketches, costumes and jewelry he has designed, is Berkshire Opera Festival’s participation in ArtWeek events happening throughout the state from April 26 to May 5.

I was born and raised in Manhattan, and went to the “Fame” high school. At Carnegie Mellon University — one of the only colleges who gave degrees in theater design — I specialized in scenery, lighting and costumes. After graduation, I was drafted into the Army. Indirectly, that’s how I ended up at the Met. My colleagues in the Army were artists, directors and actors, and because we had so little to do with government work, we did what Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney did in Hollywood — we started a theater group for the Armed Forces. One of my buddies had worked with the Met Opera in Atlanta when they were on tour, and was offered a job in New York. When I got out of the army a few months later, he called and said, “Are you on top of costume design? The Met is looking for a costume designer to run their costume shop.” It sounds like a movie plot, but that’s what happened.

I worked on "Antony & Cleopatra," which opened the new Met 50 years ago. It was an outstanding production. I loved working on it with Franco Zeffirelli. He was a true genius. Over the years I worked with Cecil Beaton, Sir Tyrone Guthrie, and was in a studio with Marc Chagall for three months painting costumes with him.

After I left the Met I went to work for many regional companies, including Sherrill Milne’s first "Falstaff" in Miami.

I’ve been coming up to the Berkshires since 1973. We had a growing family and used to do the thing so many do: Friday afternoon we packed up and came here, then went back on Sunday. All of us — a dog, a cat and two little kids. I don’t know how we did it. There have actually been — and still are — many opera people living here. Shirley Verrett had a property in Hillsdale. Jon Cheek, who still sings at the Met, lives in Egremont.

I’m so happy that the Berkshires has an opera company. I’m proud to be part of it, and thrilled by every production we’ve done. I love Brian Garman and Jonathan Loy, who run it. They’re so innovative and always open to new ideas. I’m privileged at this point in my career that I’m a part of it.