Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, John Gielgud, Katherine Hepburn, Barbra Streisand and Alec Guinness are just a few of the hundreds of actors costumed by Ray Diffen during his career of more than fifty years in the US, UK and Canada. Working for a cadre of talented collaborators—producers, directors, designers and actors—Ray and his team of craftsmen created stage clothing for the best known Shakespeare Festivals, spectacular musical theatre productions, innovative dance companies, and epic stagings of the world’s best opera at the Met in New York City. Behind the scenes—in rehearsals, dressing rooms, and in that most intimate of settings, the fitting room—the actors’ lives are revealed, as they try on the skins of the characters they will portray. Despite tensions flaring in the crucible of theatrical pre-production, Ray Diffen and company stayed on task to implement the collaborators’ shared vision to create memorable performances.
A History of the Theatre Costume Business is the first-ever comprehensive book on the subject, as related by award-winning actors and designers, and first hand by the drapers, tailors, and craftspeople who make the clothes that dazzle on stage. Readers will learn why stage clothes are made today, by whom, and how. They will also learn how today’s shops and ateliers arose from the shops and makers who founded the business. This never-before-told story shows that there is as much drama behind the scenes as there is in the performance: famous actors relate their intimate experiences in the fitting room, the glories of gorgeous costumes, and the mortification when things go wrong, while the costume makers explain how famous shows were created with toil, tears, and sweat, and sometimes even a little blood. This is history told by the people who were present at the creation – some of whom are no longer around to tell their own story. Based on original research and first-hand reporting, A History of the Theatre Costume Business is written for theatre professionals: actors, directors, producers, costume makers, and designers. It is also an excellent resource for all theatregoers who have marveled at the gorgeous dresses and fanciful costumes that create the magic on stage, as well as for the next generation of drapers and designers.
The School of Journalism at Columbia University has awarded the Pulitzer Prize since 1917. Nowadays there are prizes in 21 categories from the fields of journalism, literature and music. The Pulitzer Prize Archive presentsthe history of this award from its beginnings to the present: In parts A toE the awarding oftheprize in each category is documented, commented and arranged chronologically. Part F covers the history of the prize biographically and bibliographically. Part G provides the background to thedecisions.
This full color book is an excellent reference for costume jewelry lovers and collectors. While this first edition is by no means a complete representation of Bill’s designs, it is the first catalog of Bill’s work and the most comprehensive look at his life and career to date. Nearly 300 photographs, 10 editorial fashion photographs (out of more than the 200 that featured his work) and dozens of advertisements serve to authenticate Bill’s designs. William Franklin, “Bill”, Smith came from humble beginnings in small town Madison, Indiana and became a successful fine and costume jewelry designer. After three semesters at Indiana University as a Fine Arts major, Bill moved to New York to pursue a dance career. However, there were limited roles for Black dancers in the early 1950s, so he turned to jewelry design to make a living. Soon, he was being sought after by socialites, performers, and fashionistas alike for his frequently outrageous, over-the-top designs. Ethel Scull, Charlotte Ford, Loretta Young, Lena Horne, and Leontyne Price were among his famous clients. Bill was fond of using alternative materials, such as items found in hardware stores and nature, “You can use anything you want – but don’t make it look like what it is – give it another dimension”. His Russian gold-plated gas pipe bracelet was a piece photographed in several fashion magazines throughout his career. In 1968, as the first Black Vice President of Richelieu, and the first designer to put his name on a collection, Bill created jewelry “clothing” made of pearls, chains, or faux coins. Models wearing his daring designs strutted the runway in a 1969 segment of the Today Show with Barbara Walters in August,1969. His oversized brooches, necklaces and earrings in bright, bold jewel tones have a decidedly masculine feel to them. Bill collaborated with fashion designers Jon Haggins, Arthur McGee, Mr. Mort, Scott Barrie, and others to create signature accessories for their collections. Bill Smith, t.j. (for “the jeweler” so as not to be confused with the clothing designer) won several prestigious design awards including the Swarovski Great Designs in Costume Jewelry award in 11967 and the coveted Coty Award in 1970. Bill designed nearly 200 pieces of jewelry for the Broadway production of Coco, starring Katharine Hepburn. Bill was also selected to create the crown for the Miss Black America pageant, which was worn by winners from 1968-1975. Bill Smith’s designs are in the permanent collections of the Jefferson County History and Art Museum in Madison, Indiana, The MET in New York City, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University, Bloomington, and the Yale University Art Collection.
