I attended a press preview today of "Curtain Call: Celebrating a Century of Women Designing for Live Performance," a free exhibition opening Monday, November 17 to the public at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (at Lincoln Center). The Library and the League of Professional Theatre Women have collaborated on the project, which will be open through May 2, 2009.
The exhibition features costume, set, lighting, and projection designs (exhibited in the form of models, sketches, plots, finished costumes, and some multimedia presentations) including works by: scenic designers Christine Jones, and Anna Louizos, projection designers Wendall K. Harrington and Sage Carter, lighting designers Jean Rosenthal and Peggy Clark, and costume designers Susan Hilferty and Maria Bjornson, to name just a few.
The model fo Anna Louizos' 2008 Tony®-nominated set design for In the Heights is part of the exhibition.
The exhibition was conceptualized and co-curated by award-winning costume designer Carrie Robbins (and in face, her designs for the upcoming Broadway production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas are in the show) in collaboration with performance historian Barbara Cohen-Stratyner, the Judy R. and Alfred A. Rosenberg Curator of Exhibitions for the Performing Arts Library. Lighting designer Beverly Emmons, who lit the exhibit, was at the preview, as were set designer Heidi Ettinger and costume designer Jody Sperling, both of whom have work on display.
Among the hundreds of items on display:
Set models from Spring Awakening, Avenue Q, Tom Sawyer, and An American Tragedy
Jean Rosenthal's legendary lighting plot for Billy the Kid
The gown in which Constance Towers' Anna waltzed with Yul Brynner's King to “Shall We Dance?”
Glinda's blue Dior-inspired number from Wicked
Richard Burton's casual Hamlet garb
The wings from Angels in America
Here's the library link for more info: www.nypl.org. It's free. Go check it out.