Collaborative Effort

Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, & Atlanta Opera make hospital gowns for Grady

By Collin Kelley

Three of Atlanta’s most high profile performance companies have joined forces to produce hospital gowns for Grady Health System as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Eighteen full-time artists and 27 part-time and volunteer staff who work in the costume shops of Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, and The Atlanta Opera are working from home to sew and deliver approximately 500 gowns per week while their respective performances are suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak. The gowns will help relieve the shortages in hospital supplies affecting hospitals nationwide.

Since it’s uncertain when live performances will be allowed to resume, the joint initiative is scheduled through June, and the organizations are pursuing additional funding to continue throughout the summer.

While making gowns is a new project, all three organizations have been actively producing personal protective equipment (PPE) since the pandemic began to spread in mid-March.

The Atlanta Opera and Atlanta Ballet’s costume shop artists began by producing medical mask covers for Grady Health System, while Alliance Theatre’s costume and production artists worked to produce protective mask covers for Emory Healthcare.

“This is a time of great need for the medical community and the community at large,” The Atlanta Opera’s artistic director Tomer Zvulan said. “The question that we ask ourselves is no longer ‘How can we save our productions?’ but ‘How can we help save lives?’”

In April, the Georgia Power Foundation presented a $25,000 donation to the Alliance Theatre’s mask-making effort. The company’s costume shop, props and production staff are putting their skills to work and creating fabric masks for medical personnel at Emory Healthcare’s five metro Atlanta facilities.

To date, the Alliance has delivered over 3,000 masks/400 gowns; the Atlanta Ballet has delivered over 2,256 masks/600 gowns/250 scrub caps; and The Atlanta Opera has delivered over 1,700 masks/505 gowns.

All three organizations will continue to provide mask covers as well as the gowns. Fabric face masks are also available for sale to the public on the Alliance Theatre’s website.