Five-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long may be the most recognized name for Broadway costume design. With his visions for Dreamgirls coming to town, Windy City Times spoke to the man with a huge Great White Way resume.
Windy City Times: Hello, William. How long exactly have you been designing costumes?
William Ivey Long: My first Broadway show was 1978. I graduated from the Yale drama school in '75. So over 30 years, but I was in my diapers— yikes, how did that happen?
WCT: Designing in diapers—that's a new one!
WIL: They were beautiful diapers, I can tell you that since I designed them myself. [ Laughs ] It has been 30 years and 60 Broadway shows. My current one, which opens previews in about a month, is my 60th.
WCT: What is that called?
WIL: It's called Looped, and is starring Valerie Harper as Tallulah Bankhead. I know—gay heaven, right?
WCT: Sounds like it. You studied at Yale, where you were roommates with Sigourney Weaver.
WIL: Yes, Sigourney was my actual roommate and Meryl Streep lived downstairs. There were five people who lived in one Victorian house. It was crazy.
WCT: That is. Did you have any idea they would become famous?
WIL: Yes, we knew about both of them. Sigourney was the most beautiful woman in the world, and Meryl was just so focused and brilliant. At the end of our first year she had become a verb, "to Streep it up." Her fellow students had said that meaning to own the stage. How about that? That happened at the end of the first year! So, yes we knew.
WCT: Wow. She was amazing even back then.
WIL: I don't tell people that often. I was going to save that for my book but you get it first.
WCT: So you are going to put out a book?
WIL: I am working on a book right this minute, yeah. It's going to be a combination of a storybook with a lot of pictures. It will have to come out next year. We just started working on it.
WCT: You are a busy guy.
WIL: I am lucky. I worked over a year and half on Dreamgirls. Because of that I am just catching up on all the Broadway shows that have opened since I have been in a dark theater.
WCT: Tell our readers about your Dreamgirls experience.
WIL: Well, we have a co-producer, Mr. Shin, from South Korea. They call him the Cameron Mackintosh of South Korea. He's done Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera, big old things like that. We mounted our entire show in South Korea.
WCT: That's a twist.
WIL: It was wildly surreal. No Motown, no African-American experience, but it became a very strong story. I think our telling of it is the stronger for it because it makes the relationships very clear and makes the women's journey more poignant and stronger. As Henry Krieger, the composer, said, "Now it truly is an international story." I am very proud of that. I am here to tell you.
WCT: For people that are thinking of the movie, is it very different?
WIL: First of all there was the source material, meaning the Shirelles, the Marvelettes, the Chiffons and the Supremes. That was that Motown energy. The musical was in the eighties, then the movie twenty years later and now four years after that is this version. It is the telling of a similar story. I think the movie is the reason the revival is happening. So many more people saw the movie than could have possible seen a three year run on Broadway.
WCT: That's true.
WIL: Bill Condon who directed the movie, asked Henry Krieger to write more songs for the movie and we have added those to this production. The most important one is Listen. Beyonce sang it as Deena at the very end of the show. In our production it is a duet between Effie and Deena. It is the most amazing reconciliation song. It has never been in Dreamgirls or in the movie so we have that to offer.
WCT: Sounds like a good mix.
WIL: I think it is a good mix. When it was originally on Broadway it was closer to the time period that it is telling about from 1964 to 1978. It was almost a contemporary production when it opened. Our view is different now. It is sort of like marinating chicken because the flavors are stronger. Although, I have never made that comparison before, look what you are bringing out in me?
WCT: [ Laughs ] Well, I am from the South so I know about marinating chicken.
WIL: You are from the South! I am from North Carolina. Where are you from?
WCT: Tennessee.
WIL: I have family from east Tennessee and worked with Dolly Parton on 9 to 5: The Musical last year. The tour opens in September.
WCT: Oh, I have to see that. I read that you were honored at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003 for the "Legend of Fashion" award.
WIL: That's right and you know that I return every year to present it to the next person. Last year I was able to present it to Maria Pinto. I care very much about that department. I have many interns work with me from the fashion department. I look forward to seeing their fashion shows every year.
WCT: How big is your team that creates your visions?
WIL: On each project the producers hire a team and I bring five. So there can be a dozen in here at one time. I just moved into a huge loft, I was in a brownstone for fifteen years.
WCT: How did it feel in 2006 being inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame?
WIL: Yes, I was the second youngest person. I would love to be the youngest but it can't always happen. That was quite sobering because that was the real thing in our business. I don't think I qualify for the Baseball Hall of Fame so this is it.
WCT: With all of these shows did you have a favorite one or one you have wanted to do?
WIL: You know I am going to tell you the truth. Believe it or not, I think the early '80s were my favorite time because it was my first big musical, Nine. I just saw the movie, which was a completely different bird; at the same time Dreamgirls was adjacent to that theater and we were in competition with each other for the Tonys that year.
WCT: But you won…
WIL: Yes, I was very excited and envious because with the glorious story of Motown and 13 years of fashion I have always wanted to do this show. With great respect to my predecessor and friend Theoni V. Aldrige, who did the original, I really wanted to have a go at it. So, to answer your question, my favorite one and one I wanted to do were both in 1981.
Dreamgirls plays for two weeks at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph, through Jan. 31. For your tickets, visit www.BroadwayinChicago.com; for more on Long, visit www.Williamiveylong.com .
