0
of
Exclusive: A Hirschfeld Reflection of the 2015 Tony Nominees
Exclusive: A Hirschfeld Reflection of the 2015 Tony Nominees
In celebration of The New-York Historical Society's special exhibition "The Hirschfeld Century: The Art of Al Hirschfeld" and the new book "The Hirschfeld Century: Portrait of an Artist and His Age," Playbill presents a look back at some classic Al Hirschfeld drawings. The second set is Hirschfeld's reflection of the 2015 Tony Nominees. Click here here to view the first set, with drawings of Chita Rivera.
19 PHOTOS
An American in Paris
Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly, 1951
Just like his theater work, this drawing appeared before the classic film musical premiered in 1951. This art was published in magazines and newspapers across the country as promotion for the film.
Al Hirschfeld
The Elephant Man
Kevin Conway, Philip Anglim, and Carol Shelly, 1979
Thirty-six years ago, Hirschfeld captured the essential elements of this Tony nominated drama before it opened on Broadway. He also drew the only revival of the show in his lifetime.
Al Hirschfeld
Judy Kuhn in
Chess 1988
The first time Judy Kuhn was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical was in Chess in 1988. She was first nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in Les Miserables in 1987. This year she ads yet another nomination for her role in Fun Home .
Al Hirschfeld
On the Town
Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Chris Alexander, Nancy Walker, John Battles, and Sono Osato,1944
Hirschfeld drew this original production of the great Comden and Green and Leonard Bernstein musical, as well as the two other Broadway revivals in 1971 and 1998.
Al Hirschfeld
On the Twentieth Century
Kevin Kline, Madeline Kahn, John Cullum, Dean Dittmar, George Coe and Imogene Coca,1978
Hirschfeld not only drew this cast drawing of the Tony nominated musical in 1978, but when it went on the road in 1979, he did the poster art for the touring company.
Al Hirschfeld
The King and I
Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner, 1951
Hirschfeld showed Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Jerome Robbins films he had made of court dances in Siam when he heard they were working on a musical about the Asian country. He would draw every Broadway revival of the musical during his lifetime.
Al Hirschfeld
You Can’t Take it With You
Henry Travers, George Tobias, and Paula Trueman,
1937
Hirschfeld’s first editor at the New York Times was George S. kaufman. He would became good friends with Moss Hart and of course he drew the original Broadway production of the duo’s Pulitzer Prize winning comedy. He would later do promotional drawings for the 1938 Frank Capra film.
Al Hirschfeld
The Visit
John Wyse, Lynn Fontanne, and Alfred Lunt, 1958
Hirscheld opted not to go to the opening of the World’s Fair in Brussells in1958 in which his drawings were used for a mural in the American Pavilion probably in part because he would have missed the Lunts in this tragic comedy, the last time the famous couple appeared on Broadway together.
Al Hirschfeld
Kander and Ebb,1978
Hirschfeld drew every show that John Kander was involved with on Broadway from 1959 to 1996, and for Fred Ebb, he drew every show from 1960 to 1996. He drew the award winning composing team for the New York Times Theater column in the 1977-18 season when their musical, The Act was playing on Broadway.
Al Hirschfeld
The Who’s Tommy
Paul Kandel, Cheryl Freeman, Buddy Smith, Michael Cerveris, Marcia Mitzman, and Jonathan Dokuchitz,
1993
Hirschfeld’s drawing of this classic rock opera captured Michael Cerveris in his Broadway debut.
Al Hirschfeld
George and Ira Gershwin, c. 1955
Hirschfeld grew up with the Gershwins in Washington Heights and remained friends with them through their lives. This 1955 image, first drawn for a record cover, has become one of the brothers’ most identifiable portraits, and it feels as fresh as their score for American In Paris .
Al Hirschfeld
Tommy Tune in White Tie and Tails,
2002
Five weeks before Hirschfeld died, this drawing was published, his last for the New York Times, one month shy of seventy-five years after his first theatrical caricature for the newspaper. It not only captured Tune’s easy elegance but Hirschfeld’s as well.
Al Hirschfeld
The Secret Garden
Alison Fraser, Robert Westenberg, Rebecca Luker, Mandy Patinkin, Daisy Eagan, John Babcock, and John Cameron Mitchell, 1990
Long before he conquered the world as the writer and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell found himself in a Hirschfeld drawing for this musical inspired by the children’s story. He was nominated for a Drama Desk award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for this role.
Al Hirschfeld
Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane
1977
Hirschfeld had been drawing Alan Jay Lerner’s Broadway shows since his debut in 1943, and up until his final new musical, Dance a Little Closer in 1983. He drew the original Gigi when it first opened in 1973. He drew this portrait of Lerner and fellow songwriter Burton Lane when they were working on ill-fated Carmelina .
Al Hirschfeld
Heidi Chronicles
Joan Allen, Ellen Parker, Drew McVety, Boyd Gaines, Peter Friedman, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Anne Lange,
1988
Hirschfeld drew strong women throughout his career, and his 1988 drawing of the Broadway premiere of Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles , captured a generation of women. Elizabeth Moss, nominated for her role in this year’s revival, has played plenty of unique women herself
Al Hirschfeld
Shakespeare
1974
Hirschfeld first drew the Bard for the 1938 film of Pygmalion, illustrating Shaw’s quote that he stood on the shoulders of Shakespeare. He next drew the playwright as the most produced author on Broadway in 1939. He would draw him 17 more times, including this 1974 portrait drawn in conjunction with the publication of The Harvard Concordance to Shakespeare. Like Something Rotten , you have to go back to the 90s, the 1990s to find a portrait of Shakespeare surrounded by some of his leading interpreters on stage.
Al Hirschfeld
The Producers
Mel Brooks With Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Brad Oscar, Gary Beach, & Cady Huffman, 2001
Brad Oscar was “Hirschfelded” for the first time in a little musical called The Producers that had some success in 2001. He was nominated for his role in that production for his performance as the crazy playwright, Franz Liebkind. He continues his habit of garner Tony nominations in his latest role in Something Rotten .
Al Hirschfeld
Winners of the Playboy Music Poll, 1987
(clockwise from top left) Phil Collins, Alabama, the Judds, Randy Travis, Lisa Lisa, Whiney Houston, Al Jarreau, Chet Atkins, Bono of U2, Herbie Hancock, Prince, and Sting.
When Hirschfeld drew these musicians in 1987 who knew that it would include three Broadway composers? Bono and Phil Collins have had their shows, and now Sting is nominated for his score for The Last Ship .
Al Hirschfeld
You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Anthony Rapp, B.D. Wong, Ilana Levine, Kristin Chenoweth, Roger Bart, Stanley Wayne Mathis,
1999
The Hirschfeld Century was coming to a close just as Kristin Chenoweth was just getting started on Broadway when Hirschfeld drew her in this production, her second on Broadway. He had drawn Madeline Kahn in the role of Lily Garland in the premiere of On the Twentieth Century , which Chenoweth is nominated for this year.
Al Hirschfeld
"The Hirschfeld Century: The Art of Al Hirschfeld " is the first major retrospective of the acclaimed portraitist, who immortalized celebrities and Broadway productions with his iconic drawings for nine decades. On view at The New-York Historical Society through Oct. 12, the exhibition features over 100 original drawings from the artist's early work for Hollywood studios to his last drawings for the New York Times. Highlights include classic portraits of Charlie Chaplin, Carol Channing , Ella Fitzgerald , Jane Fonda , and Ringo Starr, as well as cast drawings from such landmark productions as Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story and The Glass Menagerie .
The book "The Hirschfeld Century: Portrait of an Artist and His Age," published by Alfred A. Knopf and featuring biographical text by David Leopold, is currently available exclusively at The New-York Historical Society exhibition, and will be available in bookstores around the country July 7. The artist's extraordinary career is revealed in more than 360 of his iconic black-and-white and color drawings, illustrations, and photographs. Hirschfeld's influences, his techniques, and his evolution from his earliest works to his last drawings, are all chronicled.