Jun 5, 2025 11:00 EST
Stage & Screen
556
Costume designs for Norma Desmond's kimono in a production of 'Sunset Boulevard'
[COSTUME DESIGNS - SUNSET BOULEVARD]
Attributed to ANTHONY POWELL. Three preliminary costume designs for a patterned kimono worn by Glenn Close, who starred as Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical, "Sunset Boulevard," which ran in Los Angeles and on Broadway from 1993 to 1994. Three drawings comprising "Back of Kimono," "Right Front...," and "Left Front," in pencil and ink on onionskin paper, with ink annotations in the margins; the largest measures 22 1/2 x 32 1/4 inches. Framed. Wear, including soiling, creasing, folds, pinholes, and tears, and with some tape repairs.
These costume sketches, showing the details of a zebra-inspired animal print, were likely designed and drawn by Anthony Powell for a kimono worn by Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in Act I of the 1993-94 production of Sunset Boulevard. Close would go on to win the 1995 Tony Award for Best Actress for her role in the musical, and Powell received a nomination for Best Costume Design. Though unsigned, the sketches and the annotations appear to be in the hand of Anthony Powell, and they were acquired from the collection of Powell's friend and fellow costume designer, Barbara Matera, who also worked on Close's Sunset Boulevard costumes. According to an October 23, 1994, "Talk of the Town" piece in The New Yorker, Matera stepped in when disaster struck Glenn Close's costumes after the Los Angeles leg of the production wrapped:
"It was almost a costume designer's worst nightmare. Anthony Powell, the British costume designer, who has accompanied the production from London to Los Angeles and now to New York, said it was a 'spot check for any fine tuning.' 'Puzzlement' is the word he uses to describe his first reaction to the fact that 'everything was five inches off the floor.' All of Close's eleven costume changes were unwearable. Powell, who is fifty-nine and has turned down eleven movies and three plays while devoting his days and nights to 'Sunset,' isn't spending much time trying to piece together what happened. He thinks it was something in the dry cleaning... Powell said Close 'is so very sensible and has both feet on the ground, and with all that good Yankee upbringing she didn't panic at all and she knew we would have a solution. I can think of a number of actresses who would have had hysterics and rolled around on the floor.' With two weeks to go until the first preview, and with hand-beaded dresses that in some cases had taken eight weeks to make, Powell enlisted the aid of the costume-maker Barbara Matera. Her staff of seamstresses and beaders and embroiderers is sewing as fast as it can. The cost is 'over six figures,' Powell says, but he won't specify how far over. 'Touch wood, it's going pretty well. I always hesitate to say that. I always think there's somebody up there waiting and watching and listening with thunderbolts poised.'"
Sold for $480
Estimated at $400 - $600
Includes Buyer's Premium
[COSTUME DESIGNS - SUNSET BOULEVARD]
Attributed to ANTHONY POWELL. Three preliminary costume designs for a patterned kimono worn by Glenn Close, who starred as Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical, "Sunset Boulevard," which ran in Los Angeles and on Broadway from 1993 to 1994. Three drawings comprising "Back of Kimono," "Right Front...," and "Left Front," in pencil and ink on onionskin paper, with ink annotations in the margins; the largest measures 22 1/2 x 32 1/4 inches. Framed. Wear, including soiling, creasing, folds, pinholes, and tears, and with some tape repairs.
These costume sketches, showing the details of a zebra-inspired animal print, were likely designed and drawn by Anthony Powell for a kimono worn by Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in Act I of the 1993-94 production of Sunset Boulevard. Close would go on to win the 1995 Tony Award for Best Actress for her role in the musical, and Powell received a nomination for Best Costume Design. Though unsigned, the sketches and the annotations appear to be in the hand of Anthony Powell, and they were acquired from the collection of Powell's friend and fellow costume designer, Barbara Matera, who also worked on Close's Sunset Boulevard costumes. According to an October 23, 1994, "Talk of the Town" piece in The New Yorker, Matera stepped in when disaster struck Glenn Close's costumes after the Los Angeles leg of the production wrapped:
"It was almost a costume designer's worst nightmare. Anthony Powell, the British costume designer, who has accompanied the production from London to Los Angeles and now to New York, said it was a 'spot check for any fine tuning.' 'Puzzlement' is the word he uses to describe his first reaction to the fact that 'everything was five inches off the floor.' All of Close's eleven costume changes were unwearable. Powell, who is fifty-nine and has turned down eleven movies and three plays while devoting his days and nights to 'Sunset,' isn't spending much time trying to piece together what happened. He thinks it was something in the dry cleaning... Powell said Close 'is so very sensible and has both feet on the ground, and with all that good Yankee upbringing she didn't panic at all and she knew we would have a solution. I can think of a number of actresses who would have had hysterics and rolled around on the floor.' With two weeks to go until the first preview, and with hand-beaded dresses that in some cases had taken eight weeks to make, Powell enlisted the aid of the costume-maker Barbara Matera. Her staff of seamstresses and beaders and embroiderers is sewing as fast as it can. The cost is 'over six figures,' Powell says, but he won't specify how far over. 'Touch wood, it's going pretty well. I always hesitate to say that. I always think there's somebody up there waiting and watching and listening with thunderbolts poised.'"
Auction: Stage & Screen, Jun 5, 2025
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Popular Stage & Screen Auction on Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 11am
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Memorabilia, Autographs, Artwork & Photographs of the Theater, Hollywood, Music and Dance
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Hosted in Collaboration with the Entertainment Community Fund (Formerly the Actors Fund)
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Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle hosted the popular Stage & Screen auction on June 5, 2025. Fans and collectors around the world vied for exciting offerings celebrating the performing arts of Theater, Hollywood, Music and Dance.
The Glass Menagerie
Highlighting the sale was an extraordinary script of The Glass Menagerie, inscribed by Tennessee Williams to Jo Mielziner, the celebrated set and lighting designer. Mielziner’s annotated carbon copy, it sold for $11,520, many times its $1,500-2,500 estimate. His notes reveal early design ideas, including “wonderful!” beside Williams’ lighting suggestions. This script predates rewrites and was issued before rehearsals began in late November 1944. Their first collaboration, Menagerie became a theatrical milestone, with Mielziner’s visionary designs playing a crucial role in its success and in later Williams-Meilziner productions, A Streetcar Named Desire and Summer and Smoke.
The Entertainment Community Fund
Recognizing the importance of the performing arts to the fabric of New York, Doyle is proud to collaborate on this auction with the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Lots 501 through 519 were auctioned to directly benefit the Fund, and Doyle will donate 100% of our Buyer's Premium on these lots. Featured are stylish costumes from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. For further information on the Entertainment Community Fund, visit EntertainmentCommunity.org
Property of Technical Production Manager Jake Bell
Jake Bell has had a legendary career in the theater as Technical Production Manager for Sir Cameron Mackintosh's iconic musicals. Bell managed some of the most dazzling and technologically advanced stage elements in theater history: the famous falling chandelier in The Phantom of the Opera, the flying helicopter in Miss Saigon, the barricade of Les Misérables and so much more. Among the collection's highlights are annotated production books, scripts, props and memorabilia from Cats, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, A Chorus Line and Phantom of the Opera, including a stage-worn Phantom mask presented to Bell at the April 2023 closing performance. View Lots
The Estate of Tony Roberts
New York native Tony Roberts (1939–2025) was a prolific stage and screen actor with a career spanning over six decades. A two-time Tony award nominee, he appeared in 23 Broadway productions, among them David Merrick’s Barefoot in the Park, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Promises, Promises, for which he won the London Critics Poll Award for the West End production. Among his numerous screen credits are six Woody Allen films, including Annie Hall, Play It Again, Sam and Star-Spangled Girl. He performed in New York City Opera's Brigadoon and South Pacific, and played Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. Collection highlights feature original illustrations by Al Hirschfeld depicting Roberts in Arsenic and Old Lace and Doubles, his script from Star Spangled Girl, and a large group of awards and memorabilia. View Lots
“Costume Bibles” of Barbara Matera
Barbara Matera (1929-2001) was one of the foremost costume designers and creators of costumes on Broadway, working on more than 100 shows between the 1970s to the early 2000s. It was her invariable practice to create a costume bible for every show, with copies of the original designs, specimens of the fabrics used, and notes on the sources of those fabrics. This enabled repairs and new copies of costumes to be consistently assembled over the course of a show. Featured in the sale are costume bibles for Angels in America, Evita, La Cage aux Folles, Phantom of the Opera, RENT and even the Rolling Stones 1994 Voodoo Lounge Tour. View Lots
