Visit to St Petersburg

Visiting my good friend Teresa in Saint Petersburg is always a fun adventure. This trip, there was a plan, and it was the idea of my friend Nancy to visit the Star Wars exhibit at The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). It was fantastic and I want to share a few of the things we saw.

As you can see by the poster in the museum entry, the show opened November 11 and will be there until April 1, 2018. There is a web page and I have borrowed their explantion of the exhibition:

Immerse, imagine, and create. These principles guide visitors to Rebel, Jedi, Princess, Queen: Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume on a unique journey through the challenges and triumphs of dressing a mythical universe. From the mind of creator George Lucas, to the concept artists who put these ideas to paper, to the artisans and costume designers who produced these fantastical, iconic wardrobes, Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume examines the exciting process of turning ideas into reality. With powerful concepts and strong visuals, the exhibition will use fabric, form, color, and style to convey this complex story.

Let me tell you about my experience. If you have never been to "The Burg", the MFA is located on the busy and trendy Beach Drive. Teresa is a member of the MFA which allowed her to get one of us in for free, and then a nice young man at the ticket counter for members thought that Nancy looked under 18 and let her in for free too!

I guess we should have taken our picture in front of this sign, but I took this while waiting for Nancy and Teresa to get out of the gift shop which was full of Star Wars stuff...

A little information about the tour. As you enter the exhibit, you are handed a listening device that guides you through the different displays. There were adult talks and children talks, entered via a keyboard on the device using 3 digit numbers. Although informative, I found them long-winded and sometimes boring. I think I only listened to one all the way through and skipped many of them. I did read almost everything that was displayed which I guess is the medium I am more comfortable with in a museum.

First off, all the costumes are authentic. Thy do talk about multiple costumes being made for stunt doubles and potential damage from aggressive scenes, but these are the ones used in the movies. The first costumes we see are of Obi-Wan and Queen Padme Amildala. I listened to the whole narration for this one and I can not tell you what they said mostly. I do know they said that Sir Alec Guinness rolled around in the sand to make his costume look more worn...I guess the narrations are great for the true fans! I am just a big fan (but I am not a nerd!)

Princess Leia...

Nancy walking by some of the Imperial officers and soldiers from the Death Star...

Nancy capturing a photo of some members of the Senate. I should mention, these costumes are from all the movies in the Star Wars saga. The insignia on the floor is from a light above.

Cannot remember the names of these two characters (ha ha)...

They even had the droids. They had a little film clip running of C3PO in the first movie where we first meet Obi-Wan. The actor playing C3PO was in jeans from the waist down, and they were only filming the top half of the C3PO suit he was wearing. George Lucas was also in the clip...