Jonathan Bixby (costume designer)
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Charles Bixby was a costume designer and a founding member of Drama Dept., a New York-based theater company.
Jonathan Bixby died April 29,2001 at Cabrini Medical Center Hospice, New York City due to complications from colon cancer.
Jonathan Bixby and his designing partner Gregory Gale
designed the Broadway hit Urinetown
(Lucille Lortel Nomination). In 2002 Bixby and Gale received the Theater Development Fund Irene Sharaff Young Master Award.
Among the Regional theater productions he created costumes for were Rhinoceros (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival); Merton of the Movies (Geffen Playhouse); Lives of the Saints (Berkshire Theater Festival); Sayonara - LA Drama Critics Award (Theater of the Stars, Houston - Seattle 5th Ave. and Los Angeles); June Moon (McCarter Theater); Man of La Mancha and Oklahoma! (Birmingham Theater); A Streetcar Named Desire and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Bloomsberg Theater Ensemble)
His unique imagination was expressed in the costumes he designed for the long touring international Cirque Ingenieux, and designs for many international and U.S. touring companies, including The Sound of Music, Brigadoon, The Wiz, Evita, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, Tango Passion (Europe), The King and I (West End, USA and Japan) and Hello Dolly (Paris Premiere).
His film work includes Angel Passing with Hume Cronyn
and Teresa Wright
(Sundance Festival), Eventual Wife and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:Coming Out of Their Shells Tour Video. Along with his Daytime Emmy award winning TV work with Carol Luiken on All My Children
, Bixby also served as a costume designer on the ABC daytime series One Life to Live
.
Background
Bixby was born June 21,1959 in Delaware County ,Pennsylvania. He attended and graduated from Penncrest High School in 1977. He was a performer in Emanon, the theatrical group at Penncrest,mentored by Judy Roman. He left Mansfield College after his first year and moved to New York where he enrolled in the renowned Lester Polikoff School of Set and Costume Design to pursue his love of the stage.He was at that time the youngest person ever accepted at Polikoff .Jonathan Bixby died April 29,2001 at Cabrini Medical Center Hospice, New York City due to complications from colon cancer.
Works
Bixby served as the costume designer on many of the Drama Dept's productions, including The Torch-Bearers; Country Club (2000 Drama Desk nomination); As Bees In Honey Drown and June Moon. Among Bixby's Broadway credits are Band In Berlin, the revival of Hello Dolly and Street Corner Symphony. Numerous other credits include Strike Up the Band and The Tenderloin directed by John Rando (City Centers Encores! series); The Coconuts (American Place Theater - 1996 Art Deco Society Award); Sheba (the Jewish Rep.); Advice From a Caterpillar (Lucille Lortell); The Skin of Our Teeth; Man Is Man; The Three Sisters; Galileo; Life is a Dream and The Importance of Being Earnest (Jean Cocteau Repertory).Jonathan Bixby and his designing partner Gregory Gale
Gregory Gale
-Career:Gale is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology and is well known for his character-driven designs. In 2008, Gale was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play for his work on Cyrano de Bergerac...
designed the Broadway hit Urinetown
Urinetown
Urinetown: The Musical is a satirical comedy musical, with music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis. It satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and municipal politics...
(Lucille Lortel Nomination). In 2002 Bixby and Gale received the Theater Development Fund Irene Sharaff Young Master Award.
Among the Regional theater productions he created costumes for were Rhinoceros (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival); Merton of the Movies (Geffen Playhouse); Lives of the Saints (Berkshire Theater Festival); Sayonara - LA Drama Critics Award (Theater of the Stars, Houston - Seattle 5th Ave. and Los Angeles); June Moon (McCarter Theater); Man of La Mancha and Oklahoma! (Birmingham Theater); A Streetcar Named Desire and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Bloomsberg Theater Ensemble)
His unique imagination was expressed in the costumes he designed for the long touring international Cirque Ingenieux, and designs for many international and U.S. touring companies, including The Sound of Music, Brigadoon, The Wiz, Evita, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, Tango Passion (Europe), The King and I (West End, USA and Japan) and Hello Dolly (Paris Premiere).
His film work includes Angel Passing with Hume Cronyn
Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn, OC was a Canadian actor of stage and screen, who enjoyed a long career, often appearing professionally alongside his second wife, Jessica Tandy.-Early life:...
and Teresa Wright
Teresa Wright
Teresa Wright was an American actress. She received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1942 for her performance in Mrs. Miniver. That same year, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance in Pride of the Yankees opposite Gary Cooper...
(Sundance Festival), Eventual Wife and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:Coming Out of Their Shells Tour Video. Along with his Daytime Emmy award winning TV work with Carol Luiken on All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, Bixby also served as a costume designer on the ABC daytime series One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
.