I genuinely believe she influenced the fabric (no pun intended) of the American musical more than she'll ever get credit for. She will be missed, but her contributions and legacy will live on for a very long time.
And in my opinion the designer of the single best costume I have ever seen anywhere.
Chita Rivera wore the same shirtwaist dress throughout almost all of The Rink. It was a drab print (blue?). But during the musical numbers there were hidden deep box pleats that just appeared with every turn and extension and this dress danced as much as the star. When each of Chita's songs ended the dress immediately fell back to its everyday look.
Phenomenal.
Good night Theoni. Love to Tom.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher
Her designs were incredible as evidenced in thousands of Broadway costumes. Her Dreamgirls costumes were brilliant, not to mention her work on the quick change for the Effie character.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
She designed the costumes for ABT's Themes and Variations which I saw on Tuesday evening in DC. The costumes for this piece were absolutely stunning.
Just a few of my favorite costumes of hers:
Annie - because it was my first Broadway show Original "42nd Street" - the gowns in Dames. Dreamgirls - the photoshoot La Cages - the Saint Tropez scene
There will never be another like her.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
Brilliant costume designer. Probably her most iconic designs were the finale costumes for ACL ... which Michael Bennett originally wanted in red. Thanks, Theoni, for your brilliance and making so many shows absolutely beautiful.
Even her minor costumes for her minor shows were remarkable.
And she did so many major shows--if you add in the ones no one remembers, and the sum total of shows she designed must be in the thousands.
I believe there was one year in the mid-1980s when there were over 1,000 of her costumes being worn in one year on Broadway.
Her costumes were the single great thing about the movie of The Great Gatsby. The movie was pompous and overblown but her costumes created a trend and (did very nicely for Ralph Lauren as well).
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
The revival of FOLLIES in 2001. (Unless you want to count the recreations of her costumes for the more recent CHORUS LINE.) Updated On: 1/21/11 at 03:04 PM
Going through Playbill's photo tribute, I had forgotten what wonderful work she had done on shows like The Rink. Not particularly flashy, but wonderful and real.