1. Eclectic Designs: Susan Hilferty
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Eclectic Designs: Susan Hilferty
www.susanhilferty.com
Christian Woodard-Swett
Theatrical Design Concept
Dr. Virginia Donnell
1/25/11

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Eclectic Designs: Susan Hilferty
Susan Hilferty was born in Arlington Massachusetts on January 23, 1953 to Robert and
Joan Massa Hilferty. Hilferty graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in painting from Syracuse
University and a Master of Fine Art in theater design from Yale. She also studied at the St.
Martin’s School of Art in London. Hilferty started designing costumes at the Berkshire Theatre
Festival and also designs regularly for regional theatres.
Despite being a busy costume designer she has found ways to reach her students by first
teaching at Parsons School of Design and in 1993 accepted a position at New York University’s
Tisch School of the Arts and in 1997 was promoted to chair of the department bringing her
dedication, vitality and expert skill.
She has designed over three hundred productions from Broadway, opera, theatre, and
film
Literature Review
One of Hilferty’s most notable career achievements was being costume designer for Wicked
which was based on Gregory Maguire’s acclaimed novel and L. Frank Baum. She designed more
than two hundred costumes including the shoes and hats with each being unique but aesthetically
different. One of the things that was unique about the costume process was that Hilferty had to
make it not only a believable world but also had to bring the idea that animals could talk, that
there was magic and that there are Munchkins and Witches in this place called Oz. Hilferty’s
design process included researching history and trying to create a “parallel universe”
(www.susanhilferty.com) her research focused on the time that Baum wrote the books dated

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from 1900 to 1920. She also created a style that she calls “twisted Edwardian”
(www.susanhilfery.com) which is Edwardian era suits and dresses but in an asymmetrical style
and twists wildly around the actor.
One of Hilferty’s costume designs was for Glinda who was the epitome of good. In doing
her research she asked the little girls what they thought goodness looked like and all came back
with a princess or bride. She started by collecting and studying pictures from different
coronations, wedding dresses and dresses that spoke of femininity. Glinda’s style was also
influenced because of her connection to the sky, sun, and stars. Her dress, wand, and tiara were
all about her connection to the sky. She personifies lightness, and the sparkles that adorn her
outfit help to influence her look throughout the play.
Hilferty also designs a costume for Elphaba who is the exact opposite of Glinda. Glinda
was connected to the sky, but Elphaba is connected to the earth. Her dress has patterns and
textures of fossils and rock striations. She also mixed different colors into Elphaba’s skirt so that
everything is twisted together, and it’s able to enhance her connection to the earth. Hilferty was
nominated and won a Tony award, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk award for Outstanding
Costume Design.
Hilferty designed the costumes for the Broadway musical Lestat inspired by the Anne
Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles and was nominated for a Tony award for Best Costume Design
for a musical. She has also designed costumes for Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
which was produced at Lincoln Center Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Hilferty has been the
costume designer for this production three times since she had originally done the show in 1983.
She was interviewed by Paul Cooper, and he asked her had there been any significant costume

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changes since she first did the production in 1983, and she stated that “ the only changes that
happened to the costumes were when the actors themselves had changed and then some doubling
changed for the production”(www.susanhilferty.com/articles/dseign&vision). Some of the roles
that were originally played by men are now women roles, and the costumes had to be taken and
slightly altered also because of the doubling of the characters.
One of Hilfertys costume design was of the Second Merchant and the goldsmith in the
play they were played by the same man. She had an idea to divide the characters in half so that it
would be two costumes in one but each side would represent the second merchant or the
goldsmith. Hilferty also helped design the different accessories that would go with each costume
exchange and also helped with the hair. The actor who played the second merchant and
goldsmith actually bleached one part of his hair and put a perm on the other side, so he could
match both of his characters.
Hilferty and Athol Fugard have worked together since 1980 when she was assigned to
him randomly while she was a scenic and costume design student at Yale University. She first
worked with Fugard on his production of a Lesson From Aloes.
Hilferty and Fugard have worked continuously for over thirty years together on such
plays as The Blood Knot, A Place With the Pigs, and The Road to Mecca. Fugard said this of
working with Hilferty “her ability to really understand what the play is trying to say and to relate
that to how the design elements can be useful in conveying that to an audience”
(www.susanhilferty.com).

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Fugard had little experience in working with costume designers in his native country of
South Africa before getting assigned Hilferty, and they have continued their working relationship
with Fugard also saying this about her “ I believe that my relationship with Hilferty has made me
better both as a writer and director” (www.susanhilferty.com). He also credits Hilferty with
reenergizing his work and making his work a bold experiment. In working with Fugard Hilferty
found out that through all his other productions he was the actor, director, set and costume
designer. He did not know how to let others help him, and he was fond of saying to Hilferty “you
can’t teach old dog new tricks”. Fugard had to learn how to trust Hilferty and allow her to put his
vision into costume.
Hilferty has designed costumes for The Flying Karamozov Brothers and has worked on
retakes of the classics The Tempest, and Twelfth Night and has been experimenting in new
productions such as Ubu which was produced at Lincoln Center Theatre and was the costume
designer for La Jolla Playhouse’s The Matchmaker, Gillette, and 80 Days. She also designed
costumes based on Lee Blessing’s new work Down the Road and also did The Misanthrope,
directed by Robert Falls.
The La Jolla Playhouse put on a production of Figaro Gets a Divorce, and Hilferty was
costume designer and was able to make design choices based on the collaborative effort with her
and the other set designers. Through her costumes she was able to take the audience on a tour
through time from the 18th to the 20th century which traced the decline of aristocracy. One of her
actors changed throughout time as being a rich young man to a poor man and from a young man
to an old man. He starts to wear tailored clothes which include a tailcoat, trousers, and a wig but

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then he transitions into a 20th century man with the shirt and pants being too big and his shoes
being mismatched.
Another one of Hilferty’s designs is of The Tooth Crime which was produced at the Berkeley
Repertory Theatre. In this design concept she uses animal imagery and exotic fabrics to help
fashion the look of a post “rock n roll” look. She uses a leather cowl that has a texture of fish
scales which are colored in purples, greens and oranges.
In doing the costume design for The Tempest Hilferty worked with the directors Doug
Stein and Robert Woodruff, and they have worked together on different productions before, but
it’s always different because they each bring something new to the play. They start throwing
ideas around, and Hilferty starts to sketch and show visuals of the ideas they have, and they start
to talk about their reactions when they first read the play and how it brought images of floods,
high priestesses, and native cultures to their minds. Hilferty designed the costumes off the
feelings of “a civilized man raping primitive cultures. It’s not just about a power struggle, but
rape, taking advantage by force” (www.susanhilferty.com/articles/design&vision).
She did atomic research for the play because she wanted to understand how man could
have so much power over Mother Nature. Her costumes reflect the constant struggle for power
and the injustices that Ariel and Caliban have suffered at the hands of Prospero. Hilferty and the
other directors also began to discuss how the set design will look because that has a direct
bearing on the costumes and how they will appear on stage and to the audience.

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Results and Analysis
Hilferty is one of the most accomplished costume designers on Broadway. She is known
for her quality of work and the creativeness of her designs. She has also served as a set designer
as well as costume on some productions. She has been recognized by the League of Professional
Theatre Women by her continued excellence in costume design. In many ways Hilferty considers
herself “historian, a sociologist, and an art historian- in addition to all the other things that I do
with clothes” (www.susanhilferty.com). She believes that the actor and costume must work
together as one because that allows for fluidity throughout the play. She has worked with
playwright Athol Fugard for over thirty years because they understand how each other work and
what they expect from one another and Hilferty has said this of Fugard: “it’s like a perfect
marriage working with him” (www.susanhilferty/realizing Fugard). Directors are privileged to
work with her because they know she will produce outstanding costumes for their production.
Conclusion
Susan Hilferty is one of the most respected and revered costumes designer on Broadway
and internationally. She has been costume designer for over three hundred productions. She has
been nominated for over thirty awards and won eight. She is a vibrant costume designer. She
feels passionate about what she does, and that’s why so many directors and playwrights for film,
stage, and television continue to work with Hilferty because she produces the best results in
costume design.

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References
Cooper, Paul. "Design & Vision." 13/31/1985: 1-11.
www.susanhilferty.com.
Flatow, Sheryl. "A Wicked Good Storyteller." Playbill July 24 2008:
1-3. www.playbill.com/features/article
Fleming, John. "Designer Susan Hilferty discusses her eye-popping costumes
for the new musical "Wonderland"." St. Petersburg Times November 2009:
1-3. www.tampabay.com
Hilferty, Susan, and Jack Barbera. "Realizing Fugard." Twentieth Century
Literature Winter 1993: 1-6. www.susanhilferty.com
Howard, Beth. "Designers on Design: Susan Hilferty." Theatre Crafts
Magazine January 1990: 1-10. www.susanhilferty.com.
Owen, Bobbi. The Broadway Design Roster: Designers and their credits.
Greenwood Publishing Group Inc., 2003. Print