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    Carrie Robbins, Costume Designer for Dozens of Broadway Shows, Dies at 81

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    She made a classic wig and poodle skirt for “Grease” (using a bath mat and a toilet cover) and turned actors into Spanish inquisitors, British highwaymen and more.Carrie Robbins, a meticulous and resourceful costume designer who worked on more than 30 Broadway shows from the 1960s to the 2000s, died on April 12 in Manhattan. She was 81.Her death, at a hospital, was confirmed by Daniel Neiden, a friend, who said her health had declined after she fell and broke her hip in December.In 1972, when she was just 29 years old, Ms. Robbins began “emerging as one of the hottest costume designers in show business,” as the syndicated fashion columnist Patricia Shelton put it, thanks to her work that year on the original Broadway production of “Grease,” six years before it was turned into a hit movie.Ms. Robbins was given a budget of only $4,000 (the equivalent of about $30,000 today). For the character Frenchy, she dyed a wig bright red using a Magic Marker and fashioned a pink poodle skirt out of her own bath mat and furry toilet seat cover.To prepare for designing the costumes for “Grease,” Ms. Robbins studied high school yearbooks from the 1950s.Betty Lee Hunt AssociatesThe poodle skirt practically became a mandatory feature of “Grease” shows. And when, years later, Ms. Robbins visited a production of “Grease” backstage, she saw a man taking a red Magic Marker to a wig. Baffled, she told him that the wardrobe department surely could afford a high-end custom hairpiece. He replied that only a Magic Marker would be authentic.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Theater

      When the Wig Is a Character: Backstage at Jocelyn Bioh’s New Play

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      The styles in “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” in previews on Broadway, require a wig designer, several braiders, some synthetic hair and lots of patience.Known for her amusing scripts and plaited hairstyles, Jocelyn Bioh can count only three times when she was without braids. “There’s a real freedom in getting your braids done,” she said. “Then you don’t have to worry about your hair for the next few weeks.”The playwright’s lifelong commitment to interwoven hairdos inspired “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” a Broadway comedy about a day in the life of a hair braiding salon. It’s most likely the first Broadway play to shine a spotlight on Black women’s hair, and what it takes to style it.Set in Central Harlem, around 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue (where many of these salons are clustered), “Jaja’s” presents a spirited group of West African hair stylists as their designs take shape and they juggle the uncertainties and perplexities of their new lives here. Because these women are rarely part of conversations about immigration, Bioh felt it was important for audiences to hear their stories.In writing the play, Bioh (“Nollywood Dreams,” “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play”) sought to put a face to something that was likely to be unfamiliar to many theatergoers. “I want to take them into this really unique, funny, crazy, exciting, in some ways mundane space that holds women who all have incredible stories,” said Bioh, a native New Yorker whose parents emigrated from Ghana. “That’s what I’m trying to unpack in my play. What’s the other? What’s in the other?”A mock-up of the wig, one of the play’s more colorful hair designs.Alongside the comedy and drama, “Jaja’s” features a multitude of strand mastery, as Bioh and the director Whitney White (“Our Dear Dead Drug Lord”) were determined to show a range of hairdos coming to life onstage. To pull this off, most of these styles are executed in real time with a little stage magic courtesy of wigs constructed by the hair and wig designer Nikiya Mathis. Cast members, who braid hair onstage, practiced during rehearsals on wigs she designed for the performance.“There are so many moving pieces to the show that involve hair, and it’s not just me backstage,” Mathis said. “It’s also the actors onstage, it’s what Jocelyn has written, and it’s what Whitney will be helping us to reveal.”“Part of that,” she continued, “is going to be the magic of figuring out how we’re going to construct the wigs and how to potentially take them apart.”The show is running about 90 minutes, without an intermission, yet these hairstyles can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a whole day to complete. There’s also the art of the craft. Creating a single braid starts with a cluster of hair: fingertips planted against the scalp, grasped at the roots of three sectioned tufts, deftly and repeatedly crocheted until a pattern emerges. The options are endless. The humble braid can stand alone, of course, but when woven loosely, it becomes the box braid. Woven against the scalp, it becomes the cornrow. Woven infinitesimally, it becomes the micro.Building wigs that mimic these looks is labor intensive, and audiences are just beginning to see how the production, in previews at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, pulls it off. This summer we followed along on the assembly and design of one of the flashier styles, a wig known as Jaja’s Strawberry-Swirl Knotless Afro-Pop Bob, worn by the actress Kalyne Coleman in the show.Sew, Braid, Dye: One Wig, Many HandsThe wig-making process begins when a gallon-size poly bag is fitted on the actor’s head to make a mold. Once the measurements are taken and the hairline is drawn, the bag is removed, and the mold is filled with polyester fiber and placed on a canvas wig block. Lace is secured to the frame, which serves as the wig’s foundation, and finally strands of hair are sewn in one by one.The show’s hair and wig designer, Nikiya Mathis, dyes the wigs in a solution of water and semi-permanent color. The more saturated the water is with dye, the deeper the pigment. She then agitates the hair to ensure all the strands attain the desired hue.The hair design team builds the look together, with each stylist completing one braid at a time. Human hair is woven into the lace infrastructure, then small pieces of synthetic hair are added to give each braid length and fullness. More synthetic hair is bunched and teased at the ends of each braid to create volume for the puff.Before the fitting, Kalyne Coleman’s real hair was braided into cornrows, which sit close to her head, so that the wig would fit over it easily. Then a stocking cap is placed over her head and secured with pins. The wig is then applied, and baby hair is pulled out. The edges are curled with gel to complete the look. More

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      in Movies

      Paul Huntley, Hair Master of Broadway and Hollywood, Is Dead at 88

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      The many famous heads he worked on included those of Elizabeth Taylor and Carol Channing. Some actors requested him in their contracts.Paul Huntley, the hair stylist and wig designer who gave Carol Channing her expansive bouffant in “Hello, Dolly!,” Alan Cumming his plastered curl in “Cabaret” and Sutton Foster her golden bob in “Anything Goes,” died on Friday in London. He was 88. His death was confirmed by a friend, Liz Carboni, who said he had been hospitalized for a lung infection.Mr. Huntley left New York for London, his native city, in February, and made clear in an interview with The New York Times that his work on “Diana: The Musical,” which is to begin performances on Broadway in November, would be his last. The pandemic, he said, had dried up opportunities, and his fractured hip was hurting.In a 60-year career, Mr. Huntley styled hair and created wigs for more than 200 shows, including “The Elephant Man,” “Chicago” and “Cats.” He was so respected that Betty Buckley, Jessica Lange and others had contracts specifying that he would do their hair.“He put wigs on my head for every show except ‘Les Miz’ in London. He was the master,” the actress Patti LuPone said. “When I put on a Paul Huntley wig, I never felt anything but my character.”The costume designer William Ivey Long called him “by far the premier hair designer on the planet, hands down.”Mr. Huntley tried a wig on Sutton Foster in 2002 for her role in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” for which he sought to evoke New York City in 1922 with bangs, spit curls and finger waves.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesMr. Huntley’s output was prodigious, and he typically worked on several shows at once. In 2014 alone, he turned out 48 wigs for “Bullets Over Broadway” and more than 60 wigs and facial pieces for the Shakespeare Theater Company’s two-part “Henry IV” in Washington.In 2002, when he designed the hair for the Broadway musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” he also worked on “Morning’s at Seven,” “Hairspray” and the Off Broadway comedy “Helen.”For the show “Diana” — a version of which, filmed without an audience during the pandemic, is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on Oct. 1 — he created four wigs for the actress Jeanna de Waal to portray how the style of the Princess of Wales changed over time, from mousy ingenuousness to windswept sophistication.Paul Huntley was born on July 2, 1933, in Greater London, one of five children of a military man and a homemaker. He was fascinated at an early age by his mother’s movie magazines. After leaving school, he tried to find an apprenticeship in the film industry, but the flooded post-World War II job market had no space for him, so he enrolled at an acting school in London.He ended up helping with hair design for school productions and in the 1950s, after two years of military service, became an apprentice at Wig Creations, a large London theatrical company. He went on to become the main designer, working with the likes of Vivien Leigh, Marlene Dietrich and Laurence Olivier.Mr. Huntley helped construct the signature braids worn by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 movie “Cleopatra.” Ms. Taylor introduced him to the director Mike Nichols, who a decade later enlisted Mr. Huntley to do hair for his Broadway production of “Uncle Vanya” at Circle in the Square. He eventually became the go-to designer for plays and musicals, including “The Real Thing,” “The Heidi Chronicles” and “Crazy for You.” More

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      in Theater

      Broadway’s Hair Master Puts Away the Wigs

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      The eminent Broadway wig designer Paul Huntley in 1997, with a hairpiece to be worn by F. Murray Abraham in “Triumph of Love” on Broadway.Credit…Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesSkip to contentSkip to site indexExit InterviewBroadway’s Hair Master Puts Away the WigsChallenged physically and financially, Paul Huntley, a backstage legend whose artistry is demanded in many a star’s contract, says this show will be his last.The eminent Broadway wig designer Paul Huntley in 1997, with a hairpiece to be worn by F. Murray Abraham in “Triumph of Love” on Broadway.Credit…Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesSupported byContinue reading the main storyFeb. 7, 2021Time was when just about every bouffant on Broadway could be traced back to Paul Huntley.From “The Elephant Man” to “Chicago,” “Cats” to “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” Huntley was the designer behind the wigs and often-elaborate locks that helped define the lasting visual impression of some 300 projects, earning him a special Tony Award in 2003.He also designed hair for about 60 films, styling the likes of Bette Davis, Jessica Lange and Vivien Leigh. He turned Glenn Close into Cruella de Vil for the 1996 live-action “101 Dalmatians” and Al Pacino into Phil Spector for the 2013 HBO biopic. He fashioned “Tootsie” twice, transforming Dustin Hoffman for the 1982 film and Santino Fontana for the 2019 Broadway musical adaptation.The costume designer William Ivey Long has pronounced him “by far the premier hair designer on the planet hands down.”Born in London to a working class family, Huntley grew up paging through his mother’s movie magazines. He attended acting school but ended up helping with the wigs instead.Following two years of military service, he worked as an apprentice at Wig Creations, a large London theatrical company, where he helped construct Elizabeth Taylor’s bedazzling braids for “Cleopatra.”The actress introduced him to the director Mike Nichols, who asked Huntley to do hair for his 1973 Broadway production of “Uncle Vanya.” He has been at it ever since.Many of the numerous wigs Huntley designed for the 2002 musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”Credit…Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesMuch changed in the theater over the years. Rock musicals. Synthetic hair. Mic packs, which went inside wigs, forced them to be made more commodious.Sporting a pinkie ring, wire-rimmed glasses and elegant black turtlenecks, Huntley remained a constant — known for his patience in dealing with divas and his ability to channel characters through his curls, waves and tresses.He repeatedly rose to the challenge, creating 48 wigs for “Bullets Over Broadway” in 2014 and more than 60 human hair wigs and facial pieces the same year for the Shakespeare Theater Company’s two-part “Henry IV” in Washington.But just as young Broadway ensemble players have been benched by Covid-19, so too has Huntley been out of work, which he said forced him to sell his Upper West Side home-studio townhouse.Now, at 87, Huntley has decided to take a final bow. The Broadway musical “Diana,” which had begun previews before it was delayed by the pandemic, will be his last show. (It has been filmed for Netflix.)He is ready to return to his flat in London. And, particularly after a bad fall that left his hip fractured, he is ready to rest.Huntley with the special Tony Award he received in 2003.Credit…Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic, via Getty ImagesIn a telephone interview from his bed in New York — a condition in which he declined to be photographed — just before he was to board a flight to England, Huntley reflected on this bittersweet fork in the road.You have threatened retirement before. After all these years, why leave Broadway now?There is no work to be had, so it was a wise thing to do. And I’m in my late 80s, so I think it was time.Looking back on your career, do you have favorites?I preferred straight plays, like “Amadeus” — the white powdered wigs, which I always loved. I think you could be more subtle, which is what I tried to do in my career — make things as real as possible — whereas musicals, of course, it’s chorus girls and lots and lots of wigs.Which of your musicals did you particularly enjoy?One of my most favorite, of course, is “Cats,” which I adored because it was so very different from what I was used to doing. And I also loved “Evita” — I love that show very much. I just loved the look. And I love the music. It was Patti LuPone, who I work with a lot, who always requested me.Huntley designed Patti LuPone’s wigs for the original Broadway production of “Evita.”Credit…via Paul HuntleyHuntley has donated historic items like these to the Theater Hall of Fame at the Gershwin Theater.Credit…via Paul HuntleyActors repeatedly asked to work with you, yes? Betty Buckley, Carol Channing …A lot of people requested me, you see, in their contracts. So that’s what happened.“Diana” chronicles Lady Diana Spencer’s royal romance and marriage. How did you like working on a musical about a recent real-life figure?It actually went very well. We had to make sure that we captured her in as short a time as possible, because it is, after all, a show. So she in fact has four wigs — when she started out, as a pudding face, she had a mousy look at the beginning and then gradually it got more flamboyant and windswept and windblown. And the color changed, of course, all the time. I was very fond of her and this was a tribute. I quite like the musical.Jeanna de Waal as Princess Diana in the musical “Diana,” which Huntley says will be his last. The pandemic delayed its opening.Credit…Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesWhy are you bedridden — what happened?I was holding a “Diana” wig in my hand at home and slipped. I went backward, took a nasty fall down the stairs and fractured my pelvis, which meant I couldn’t walk. Now it’s just physiotherapy and exercise and wishing I was better.Have you received your Covid-19 vaccinations yet?I finished my shots yesterday. If you don’t guard against these things, as we can hear and see, the most terrible things have happened. There is no work for people and a lot of shows are not going to return.When Broadway does resume, will you come back from London for the opening of “Diana”?I will. The show had two preview performances. Then it all stopped.Why did you have to sell your house?I am struggling financially. It’s been very difficult. And the fact that I’m not well doesn’t please me.You shared that house with your partner, Paul Plassan, who died in 1991?Yes, we were together for 21 years. They called us the Two Pauls.What is it like looking back on your long career?I was always interested in new things, so one was very happy to do it. There were certain projects that, aesthetically. I may not have thought much of. But generally speaking, I enjoyed the rush.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More