Julie Taymor

In addition to her theatrical work, Taymor has also worked in film and opera. Her first opera, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, in 1992, utilised Cycladic and Haniwa sculpture in her masks that were placed on top of the principle singers’ heads. Taymor also directed and designed the masks, puppets, and costumes for a production of The Magic Flute at the Maggio Musicale Florentine in Florence in 1993 and then later at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004.

One of Taymor’s first forays into film was with her movie Titus, which she both wrote the screenplay for and directed. In this movie, Taymor drew upon the ideas that she had already developed in her stage production. Taymor also directed Frida, which won an Oscar both for Best Makeup and Best Original Score. Addtionally, Taymor helped devise the story of and directed Across the Universe, a movie musical detailing a love story set to Beatles songs.