2003 TDF/Irene Sharaff Award Recipients Announced

The Theatre Development Fund (TDF) Costume Collection’s advisory committee has announced the recipients of the 2003 TDF/Irene Sharaff Award for theatrical costume design.

José Varona will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for 50 years of design contributions to operas and ballets around the world. He has worked for such artists as Beverly Sills, Joan Sutherland, Placido Domingo, Joseph Papp, Alan Jay Lerner, George Balanchine, and Rudolf Nureyev, and has designed for such companies as New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Opera, Paris Opera, and the Australian Opera Company.

Anita Yavich will receive the Young Master Award. She has designed for the New York Shakespeare Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, Primary Stages, Goodspeed Opera House, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, and many more.

Maria Brizzi will receive the Artisan Award. With her sister, the late Grace Miceli, Brizzi founded Grace Costumes, which has been renowned for its crafting of costumes for for theater, opera, ballet, film, and television. Among the many productions for which the company has built costumes are the original Broadway productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, She Loves Me, Lorelei, The Wiz, and Beauty and the Beast.

The Posthumous Award will be awarded to Ruth Morley, who designed costumes for 35 Broadway shows including The
Miracle Worker, Wait Until Dark, Deathtrap, and the 1984 revival of Death of a Salesman. Morley, who passed away in 1991, also has a number of film credits, including her Oscar-nominated designs for The Miracle Worker as well as Taxi Driver, Kramer vs. Kramer, and The Prince of Tides.

All of the awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on Friday, March 28.