Desmond Heeley to Receive the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design

	Desmond Heeley

Three-time Tony award-winning costume and scenic designer Desmond Heeley is among the 2013 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards recipients. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Friday, May 3, at 6:30pm, at the Hudson Theatre (145 West 44th Street). Heeley will receive the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design.

TDF/Irene Sharaff Award honorees are selected by the TDF Costume Collection's Advisory Committee and are presented through Theatre Development Fund's Costume Collection.

Heeley is a costume and set designer for theatre, opera, and ballet. Heeley has been called one of the pre-eminent designers of the twentieth century because of his elaborate and imaginative designs.

Beginning as an apprentice with The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Heeley's practical aptitude for costumes, painting, and properties was noticed by Peter Brook, with whom he assisted on multiple productions. Heeley then began his career at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company followed by Titus Andronicus (1955) with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Through his partnership with The Stratford Festival, he has created over thirty-seven production designs since 1957.

His legendary work has been produced for opera and ballet companies around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, England's National Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, the Marquis de Cuevas Ballet, New York City Opera, and The National Ballet.

On Broadway his work has been seen in The Importance of Being Earnest (2011 - scenic and costume design), The Circle (1989 - scenic design), Camelot (1981- scenic and costume design), Teibele and Her Demon (1979- scenic and costume design), Cyrano (1973 - costume design), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1967 - scenic and costume design), and Twelfth Night (1958 - scenic and costume design). He is the winner of the 2011 Tony award for best costume design of a play for The Importance of Being Earnest and the 1968 Tony awards for costume design and scenic design for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Heeley was the first person to win a Tony Award for costume and scenic design for the same show.

He was professor of design at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and has taught and lectured on stage and costume design at universities throughout The United States, Canada, and England. Heeley has received numerous awards throughout his distinguished career. He was the first recipient of the TDF/ Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award (1994). The Allan Jones Memorial Award followed in 1995, and in 1997 he was the recipient of the Institute for Theater Technology Award in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the performing arts. Having celebrated over sixty years working in the theatre, Heeley's designs can be seen in museums, archives, and private collections across Canada, the United States, and Great Britain.

The awardees were selected by the TDF/Costume Collection's Advisory Committee, which is comprised of leading members of the theatrical costume design community. They are: Kitty Leech, chair; Gregg Barnes, Suzy Benzinger, Dean Brown, Stephen Cabral, Traci DiGesu, Linda Fisher, Lana Fritz, Rodney Gordon, Desmond Heeley, Allen Lee Hughes, Holly Hynes, Carolyn Kostopoulos, Anna Louizos, Mimi Maxmen, David Murin, Sally Ann Parsons, Robert Perdziola, Gregory Poplyk, Carrie Robbins, Tony Walton, Patrick Wiley, and David Zinn.

The Robert L. B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design not only honors the name of Robert Tobin, but also symbolizes his passion, respect, and esteem for the art of theatrical design. The recipient of this award has achieved a career so distinguished in theatrical design that his or her work becomes an example to all designers of the beauty, feeling, and empathy that a designer creates through true mastery of this art. The Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatrical Design was first presented in 2004 to acclaimed set and costume designer Tony Walton. The award has since been presented to Robert O'Hearn (2005), Franco Zeffirelli (2006), Santo Loquasto (2007), John Conklin (2008), Bob Crowley (2009), Ming Cho Lee (2010), Robin Wagner (2011) and Lloyd Burlingame (2012).

This year's TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards Ceremony is being generously underwritten by The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund.