They didn’t just appear there on stage overnight, you know. The gilded interiors of Don Carlo’s Baroque palace, Juliet’s Veronese balcony, the midnight blue velvet gown Maria Callas wore in her role as Anne Boleyn in 1957.

Every set, sculpture, and immaculately crafted costume that captivates audiences on stage at Milan’s beloved Teatro alla Scala is an artistic feat in and of itself–odes to both creative innovation and centuries-old Italian handmade traditions. Right at this moment, scenography feats, dream worlds, and impossible realities are being brought to life inside an unassuming industrial warehouse on Via Bergognone just outside Milan’s city center.