 Broadway credits include Blithe Spirit, Gypsy,
The Pirate Queen, The Pajama Game and The
Trip to Bountiful. Other shows include: Thoroughly
Modern Millie, Wonderful Town, Kiss Me, Kate,
The Wild Party, A Year with Frog and Toad, Golden Child, The Diary of Anne Frank and The Life. Opera credits include Rodelinda (Metropolitan Opera), Iphigeie en Tauride (Seattle Opera and Metropolitan Opera), and works throughout the U.S, Canada, Europe and Japan. Dance credits include the Mark Morris Dance Group, the San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, the New York City Ballet, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Awards he has received include two Tony Awards, the Drama Desk, the Obie, the Lucille Lortel, and the Helen Hayes, among others.
What was your inspiration for the designs for Grease?
I looked at movies from the period, ranging from James Dean flicks to “Gidget.” I used a lot of middle-income catalogs from the period, Sears, Spiegel, Montgomery Ward, most of those stores don't even exist anymore. It also helps to find photos, even family photos, of real life.
You have worked with Kathleen Marshall on several other productions, including The Pajama Game, so you must be comfortable with each other and have developed some sort of shorthand in your communication. How did her dual role as Grease director/choreographer affect your creative process?
You do benefit by knowing each other so well, but you have to approach each show with the same intense curiosity and let yourselves discover new things. You go in and talk about things sometimes as if you have never talked about it before. Grease and The Pajama Game are roughly the same period, but we had to decide what differences there would be, especially in something like the clothes in "Shakin' at the High School Hop" in Grease, and "Hernando's Hideaway" in The Pajama Game. The silhouettes may be similar, but you have to discuss how to find innocence in a high school dance, even if it gets raunchy, while in The Pajama Game, you are dressing adults; it's a big difference.
 Generally, is there a sharing of ideas between the costume and scenic designers? What was the process like for you with Grease scenic designer Derek McLane who also worked with you on The Pajama Game?
I love working with Derek. He is usually ahead of me due to our different build schedules, but we talked about color and texture a lot. I was inspired by his sense of fun.
When you designed Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which you won a Tony Award for Best Costume Design, you discovered that the authentic dresses of the flapper era were too restricting for the dancers to execute the choreography. Yet you were able to build the skirts wider for the high kicks and still be true to the look of the 1920s. Did you have any choreography challenges or other issues with Grease?
The Fifties were made for dance, but we take advantage of modern fabrics with a bit of stretch.
You’ve said that you originally wanted to be an actor but you were “ best as an actor when I didn’t have to speak.” What sparked your interest in costume design?
It was still about people and characters.
Do you design on paper or with a computer, and why? How has your process (technically or otherwise) changed since you began your career in costume design?
I have always drawn; I admire sketches via computer; but I enjoy the tactile sense of a pencil in my hand too much to give it up. Years of experience sometimes make it possible for me to make certain decisions without drawing as completely; it can be fun to discover, with a gifted costume shop, some details while working on a dress form. And I, more and more, enjoy actors helping define a costume in the fitting room.
 Who was your mentor?
I have many; my biggest, Theoni V. Aldredge, my "design" mother. I enjoy looking at and learning from my peers, fashion design and my students at NYU.
What was the greatest piece of advice you were given and what advice do you have for young costume designers today?
Never turn anything down. Learn to really see something when you look at it. Look hard.
Is there one fashion era in particular that moves your creative juices?
The one that I'm on, but I do love the last two centuries.
In your own wardrobe, is there a piece that you cannot live without?
A great black suit.
What’s next for you?
My first The Glass Menagerie with Gordon Edelstein directing Judith Ivey and an opera about Willy Wonka, named The Golden Ticket.
Check out the Grease podcasts
Read more about Grease
Production photos: Joan Marcus
Sketches courtesy of Martin Pakledinaz
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