IMPORTANT HATS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY's Carson Elrod, Fashioned After William Ivey Long

When cast as a flamboyant 1930s fashion industry tastemaker in Nick Jones' sci-fi fantasy IMPORTANT HATS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, Carson Elrod knew exactly which role model to emulate.

Manhattan Theatre Club audiences will recognize Elrod as the talented actor who delivered a hilarious turn as a body-painted tribesman who develops a knack for bartending in Nell Benjamin's THE EXPLORERS CLUB, but insiders may also recognize quite a few similarities between his new character and the theatre's madly elegant and creative costume designer, William Ivy Long.

"William Ivey Long and I were cut from the same cloth," Elrod explains in a New York Times feature. "Growing up in Topeka, Kan., I was always 25 miles an hour faster than the people around me. It wasn't until I moved to New York that I found 10 million other people moving at the same speed."

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Important Hats of the Twentieth Century spins the rip-roaring tale of Sam Greevy, the hottest fashion designer in 1930's New York... that is, until rival Paul Roms starts releasing strange but popular pieces like "sweatshirts," "tracksuits" and "skater pants." When Greevy's minions break into Roms's shady operation, they make a startling discovery that could explain from where - or should we say from when? - these avant-garde ensembles are coming. Soon, this rivalry turns into a battle for the very future of humankind, and more importantly, fashion!

Emmy nominated playwright Nick Jones ("Orange Is the New Black," The Coward, Trevor, Jollyship the Whiz-Bang) and acclaimed director Moritz Von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God, Verité) team up, for this whip-smart, epic, and utterly insane new comedy.

Important Hats of the Twentieth Century was part of MTC's Ernst C. Stifel Reading Series, a program dedicated to the support and development of innovative new work. Several plays developed in this reading series have gone on to full productions at MTC, including David Auburn's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning Proof, Joe Hortua's Between Us, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Based on a Totally True Story, and Molly Smith Metzler's Close Up Space (Susan Smith Blackburn finalist).

Photos: Walter McBride