On April 7, I attended TDF’s Costumes & Cocktails disco. The evening, which honored four designers and craftspeople in the theater via the 28th Irene Sharaff Awards, simultaneously celebrated 50 years of TDF’s Costume Collection. The event was the brainchild of TDF executive director Deeksha Gaur, who assumed leadership of the not-for-profit organization a year and a half ago. (Full disclosure: I was invited to Costumes & Cocktails as Gaur’s guest.)
I said yes to attending because I believe in TDF’s mission, I love to celebrate designers and artisans, and I wanted to see what this new affair was about.
Upon arrival, I felt as though I’d stumbled into the next big event of our business — like I was at the very first “Miscast.” (I did race to the excellent 25th edition of MCC’s aforementioned gala concert right after.) Now I’m going to be able to say I was at the first Costumes & Cocktails (so long as this event becomes a staple in the calendar, as I hope it will). This night was imaginative and fun, moving and meaningful.
As I stepped inside the restaurant TAO Downtown, the entry corridor was decorated in sketches and photos of work by Tony Award-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes, costume and textile designer Wilberth Gonzalez and scenic designer Robert Israel — three of the night’s awardees. When I entered the venue’s main space, I saw that TAO had been outfitted as a costume museum. Broadway gowns by Barnes and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” fashions by Gonzalez cascaded down the venue’s central staircase, allowing guests to reflect on the oeuvres of these artists and view their craftsmanship close up. Headpieces by milliner Arnold S. Levine, the event’s fourth honoree, were also on view. This exhibit was a brilliant way to celebrate these award recipients while also highlighting the collection’s Library and Research Center, which preserves and displays costume design resources — such as these pieces.
But the most brilliant touch of the night was the “Shop for Good.” Select pieces from TDF’s costume collection were available to attendees for purchase off the rack. Proceeds of the sales benefitted the collection but also gave us a firsthand appreciation of the quality and type of clothing one can rent and what it might be like to visit this collection’s Queens-based warehouse. (I went home with a ’70s-style knit top and some wild Daisy Dukes.)
The whole party was an immersive celebration of design. And when the program began, it was a celebration of the artists. The official festivities kicked off with a performance by dancers, clad in bell bottoms, jumpsuits and faux fur vests — all sourced from the collection. The performers grooved to the song “Boogie Wonderland” in a routine that permeated the space and threw us back to the 1970s, when the costume collection was founded.
Stephen Cabral, director of the costume collection, officially welcomed attendees to the Sharaff Awards portion of the evening, noting that TAO was the perfect venue for the party because the late Irene Sharaff was always inspired by Pan-Asian motifs, having famously won a Tony for her design of the 1951 original production of “The King and I.”
Gonzalez, Levine, Israel and Barnes each gave emotional acceptance speeches — thanking the people who kept them going as well as their vast teams of assistants, associates and artisans who physically construct the costume, sets and headwear worthy of Broadway and theater at large. As so many of those creative laborers populated the audience, I felt like I was on the inside of the design world.
After all, the annual Sharaff Awards is typically an industry-facing event, but Gaur aimed to expand its visibility with Costumes & Cocktails. “I’ve known from the start of my tenure here that I want to find more pathways for our whole community to know and celebrate TDF and its decades-long impact on audiences and the industry,” she told Broadway News. “The collection’s 50th anniversary provided a fantastic opportunity to build upon the joyful legacy of the Sharaff Awards to do just that.”
I sincerely hope this becomes an annual event; consider my calendar already marked for the next one.
Ruthie Fierberg is the executive editor of Broadway News.
The opinions, beliefs, or views expressed by the author are theirs alone and do not purport to reflect the opinions, beliefs or views of Broadway News or its affiliates.
