Paula Klein was born in Vigo, Spain, and grew up in Stuttgart. After graduating from high school, she began studying acting under John Strasberg in Paris and started her theatrical career as an actress in France. In 2008, she expanded her work into the field of costume design and has since worked as a freelancer, primarily for opera, theatre, and musical productions at various venues.
Engagements have repeatedly taken her to the Théâtre du Châtelet (including "On the Town," "Nixon in China," Stephen Sondheim's "Passion," "42nd Street," and Johann Sebastian Bach's "St John Passion") and the Théâtre Marigny in Paris ("Peau d’Âne," "Funny Girl"). Further engagements followed at the Semperoper Dresden, the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, as well as the opera houses in Bilbao, Geneva, Lille, Rouen, Madrid, and Luxembourg. She maintains a close collaboration with artists such as Robert Wilson, Stephen Mear, Fanny Ardant, and Milena Canonero.
Paula Klein has been working with Calixto Bieito since 2018. Since then, she has been involved in various productions, designing costumes for Rihm’s opera "Jakob Lenz" and Kurt Weill’s "Der Silbersee" at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, for the musical "Cabaret" at Schauspiel Stuttgart, and for Handel’s "La Resurrezione" at the Schwetzingen Schlosstheater. Also with Calixto Bieito, she worked on Korngold’s "Die tote Stadt" at the Nasjonale Opera in Bergen, and Janáček’s "Jenůfa" and Mozart’s "Idomeneo" at the National Theatre Prague. Most recently, she designed the costumes for Calixto Bieito’s production of Shakespeare’s "Richard III" at the Teatro San Martín in Buenos Aires.
