PRESS

"The series of tender drawings, created by a master painter, shows not only her ability but also her empathy for all the world’s sorrows."
"The eyes are so expressive that peering out from within their painted forms and gilded circular frames, they tell an entire story. In number VI, a single tear courses down the subject’s cheek, so photo-real it appears to be liquid and ready to drop from the painting."
Susan Aurinko - NEWCITY

Interview - Read here
KARJAKA MAGAZINE

Interview - Read here
VOYAGE DENVER

Interview - Read here
BOLD JOURNEY 

Interview - Read here
SHOUTOUT COLORADO 

Podcast interview – Listen here
MOVE ME BRIGHTLY

Interview - Read here
CANVASREBEL 

Interview - Read here
SHOUTOUT COLORADO 

○

“Weriem’s costumes once again comprise a veritable symphony of fabrics, textures and colors.”
Lawrence A. Johnson – CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW

“Costumier Weriem’s lush, period designs are always one of Haymarket’s glories and they were here: Moore of Moore Hall looked for all the world like the famous eighteenth-century renderings of tenor Anton Raaff in the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo.“
Mark Thomas Ketterson – OPERA NEWS

Featured in Vogue's Red Carpet looks for the Grammy Awards: Click for full article
Jacket designed for Karim Sulayman, Tenor, Grammy Award winner for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.

“Projected behind the musicians through the afternoon were subtly animated graphics created and curated by Weriem. The color-blocked, unadorned renderings of dancing figures and Rococo motifs were perhaps more evocative of Matisse than Rigaud, but were nonetheless an unobtrusive and welcome visual supplement to the afternoon’s lovely music.”
Landon Hegedus – CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW

“Handsomely designed”
“Artful period costumes”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW

“The costumes by Weriem were thoroughly enjoyable.”
M. L. Rantala – HYDE PARK HERALD

○

“Weriem’s dazzling, be-feathered costumes were complemented on this occasion with some adorable, elaborately crafted middle-Eastern khussa shoes for the male characters. “
Mark Thomas Ketterson – OPERA NEW

“Weriem’s costumes are, as always, an authentic and eye-filling symphony of ornate fabrics.”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Weriem’s sumptuous wardrobe of earth-toned velvets and brocades”
Mark Thomas Ketterson – OPERA NEWS

“In no small part, Weriem’s brilliant costumes pull one into the magic of all this nonsense.”
Lawrence B. Johnson – CHICAGO ON THE AISLES

“Costumes, by Weriem, were gorgeous and evocative.”
Alastair Macaulay – NEW YORK TIMES

“Weriem’s richly textured costumes”
Joanne Sydney Lessner – OPERA NEWS

“The costumes by Weriem are splendid. The swinging coat-skirts of the men, the drapey Indian trousers, and the silk fabrics all resplendently mimic the colors of Indian spices – turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, and fiery pepper.”
Susan Galbraith – DC THEATER SCENE

Portrait – Click for full article
Hannah De Priest- SCHMOPERA

Radio interview – Click for full podcast
Oliver Camacho – OPERA BOX SCORE

○

“Weriem’s spectacular costumes, lavish in their draperies, fabrics and plumed headdresses”
Heidi Waleson – WALL STREET JOURNAL

“Just as authentic were designer Weriem’s gorgeous and ornate costumes, a veritable 17th century French aristocratic fashion parade. All those plumed headpieces and richly textured gowns, those snug doublets flared at the waist, could have come straight out of the Sun King’s courtly entertainments.”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Sumptuous costuming”
“Weriem’s ornate wardrobe fielded a swirl of comely brocades in a primary palette of rusts and maroons”.
Mark Thomas Ketterson – OPERA NEWS

“Weriem’s colorful, richly brocaded costumes, with ample headwear plumage, provided a feast for the eyes.”
“Vocally superb, visually sumptuous and utterly beguiling.”
“Handsomely costumed gods and goddesses flitting across the stage”
Lawrence A. Johnson – CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW

○

“Weriem’s costumes were elegant and comely, subtly enhancing the action without ever distracting from it.”
Tim Sawyier – CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIE

“Dressed in costumer Weriem’s artful re-creations of stock Elizabethan theatrical attire […]”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“The costumes by Weriem were as freely inventive as they were suggestive of historical accuracy, although oriented more towards the late Baroque than the early Classical, like the stage design itself. Movements and gestures were beautifully coordinated by stage director Sarah Edgar, contributing to a performance that was both musically satisfying and a joy to watch overall.”
Marta Tonegutti – CHICAGO ON THE AISLE

“Weriem’s ornate period-style costumes were just the thing to dress up a desert island of the Enlightenment era […]”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Weriem’s costumes once again are spectacularly striking, especially the divine raiment of Giove, Giunone, and Diana, which mix classical and baroque styles.”
Barnaby Hughes – STAGE AND CINEMA

“[…] charming production by Haymarket design stalwarts Sarah Edgar, Weriem, Zuleyka V. Benitez and Lindsey Lyddan. […] Weriem’s ornate costumes included plumed headgear for the gods, a red velvet tunic for Endimione and goat-fleece pants for the satyrs.”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE 

○

“As always, Weriem’s sumptuous costumes are one of the chief delights of a HOC production. She manages to get everything so perfectly right, not just historically, but aesthetically, from the embroidered fringe of Oriana’s gown to the magical symbols on Melissa’s frock. They must be seen to be fully appreciated.”
Barnaby Hughes – STAGE AND CINEMA

“Weriem, HOC’s resident costume designer since the company’s inception, quite outdid herself with her eye-filling, richly textured costumes.”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Weriem’s sumptuous costumes, especially the contrast between Oriana’s soft red gown and Melissa’s stiff, ornate, dark brocade, conveyed us to the 18th century.”
Wynne Delacoma – CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW

“This was Haymarket’s most visually appealing show to date, with a sumptuous array of period-perfect costumes (love the neck ruffs) […]”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Weriem’s gorgeous and well-researched costume designs are one of the chief delights of this production […]”
Barnaby Hughes – STAGE AND CINEMA

“The entrance of a sartorially resplendent quintet of shepherds and shepherdesses—well appointed by costume director Weriem—marked the opening of the second scene […]”
Tim Sawyier – CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW

○

Featured in The People Issue – Click for full article
Deanna Isaacs – CHICAGO READER

“Caruana’s cast is genderless, seemingly empowered and subjugated by their black garb and bright blue eye makeup; Weriem’s costumes, imaginative in their regal-goth design, look interchangeable for both sexes.”
SEECHICAGODANCE.COM

“Though Weriem’s plethora of costumes and masks can be distracting, she has great fun with that sexual ambiguity. The straps of tutu-like bustiers for the men outline their nipples, while Tiffany McCord as Lully is apparently topless, her breasts cleverly disguised.”
Laura Molzahn – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Weriem’s lavish costume design brings the baroque era vividly to life through embroidered silks, flowing linen sleeves and colorful ribbons on every surface.”
Barnaby Hughes – STAGE AND CINEMA

“Pastoral leitmotifs unified this courtly entertainment, not only in the music but also in the period-specific costume and set designs of Haymarket stalwarts Weriem and David Mayernik, respectively.”

“Weriem’s eye-filling costumes were a splendid time-trip in themselves, notably Diana’s patterned-velvet mantua, the huntresses’ forest-green gowns and the hunters’ beige and brown doublets, breeches and tonnelets.”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“[…] with some of the sharpest and most character-revealing costume work to date here by the ingenious Weriem […]”
Andrew Patner – CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

“Most stylish early opera productions in 2014″
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

○

“[…] like Weriem’s artful costumes, the designs faithfully adhered to 18th-century theatrical style and were eye-catching to boot.”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“At Haymarket, even the costume designers have a scholarly grounding, and Weriem’s period outfits, changing from act to act — especially Vespetta’s once she had hit the jackpot — told the story […]”
Andrew Patner – CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

“Decked out in period wigs and Weriem’s richly textured costumes, the dozen cast members looked as if they had stepped out of 17th century English paintings.”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

○

“Dressed in Weriem’s simple, rustic costumes, the performers looked as if they had stepped out of an 18th century landscape painting.”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Weriem’s ornate period costumes and set designer David Mayernik’s painted revolving panels mirrored the authentic sounds emanating from Trompeter’s “pit” band.”
John von Rhein – CHICAGO TRIBUNE