North Coast Repertory Theatre presents “A Conversation with Edith Head”
North Coast Repertory Theatre, located at 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive in Solana Beach, presents Susan Claassen in the award-winning “A Conversation with Edith Head.” A behind the scenes feast of great movie lore and delicious stories as told by eight-time Academy Award winning costume designer, Edith Head takes place at 7: 30 p.m., Monday and Tuesday, March 21 and 22.
Susan Claassen stars in her internationally acclaimed portrayal of legendary costume designer, Edith Head. Hollywood’s golden age comes to life in an evening of wit, wisdom, and a whisper of gossip! “A Conversation with Edith Head,” based on “Edith Head’s Hollywood”by Edith Head & Paddy Calistro, is a feast of delicious behind-the-scenes stories about Hollywood’s greatest stars that provide an intimate portrait of Hollywood’s legendary costume designer. In her six decades of costume design, Edith Head worked on over eleven hundred films; dressed the greatest stars of Hollywood; received 35 Academy Award® nominations, and won an unprecedented eight Oscars®. Edith Head’s story is as fascinating as the history of the film industry itself, filled with humor, frustration and, above all, glamour. This diva of design helped to define glamour in the most glamorous place in the world – Hollywood.
Much of the dialogue in “A Conversation with Edith Head” comes directly from the famed designer. When she was asked to write the authorized posthumous autobiography, Edith Head’s Hollywood, Calistro acquired more than thirteen hours of recollections recorded by Edith Head, which she and Claassen painstakingly reviewed to gather the remarkable “Edithisms”– as Ms. Head referred to her own sayings–that abound in the show. In addition, Claassen and Calistro collected insights from Hollywood insiders who knew Ms. Head best: costume designer Bob Mackie, who once worked as Ms. Head’s sketch artist; her dear friend Edie Wasserman, wife of the late Universal Studio head Lew Wasserman; and Art Linkletter, award-winning host of “House Party,” the daytime television show of the 1950s that brought Edith Head into the homes of America.
Susan Claassen (Suz) is celebrating her 47th anniversary with Tucson’s Invisible Theatre. As managing artistic director, she has produced and directed over 500 productions.
Edith Head (1897 – 1981) was undoubtedly Hollywood’s most famous costume designer, or “magician,” as she liked to call herself. Her career spanned fifty-eight years of movie making. In those years she dressed almost every major star who shone in the industry and, with her straight-cut bangs, dark glasses and tailored suits as her trademarks, became more famous than most of them. Edith Head died in 1981 of a progressive and rare blood disease, myeloid metaplasia, two weeks after completing work on her last film, “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.” She left her estate to the Motion Picture and Television Fund and to other charitable organizations aiding Native American children and her beloved animals. Her funeral was attended by hundreds, including not only Hollywood’s stars, but also her devoted colleagues who worked with her behind the scenes. A Paramount security guard dressed in a uniform designed by Edith Head mused, “I remember her real well. At Christmas she took care of everyone on the lot. She was the greatest designer in the world. Edith Head was quite a girl.”
For tickets and information, call the Box Office at 858-481-2155 or visit northcoastrep.org.
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