Theoni V. Aldredge, the costume designer of the original stage version of "La Cage aux Folles" and "Annie" on Broadway, died Friday morning in Connecticut, according to the New York Times. She was 88.
The cause was cardiac arrest, her husband, the actor Tom Aldredge, said.
Considered one of the greatest costume designers of her era, Ms. Aldredge created the clothing for more than 300 stage and film productions, including "Gypsy," "A Chorus Line," "Dreamgirls" and "42nd Street." She won an Oscar in 1975 for "The Great Gatsby" with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, and three Tony awards for "Barnum," "Annie" and "La Cage." In 1984, five shows running at the same time (including "La Cage") put 1,000 of her creations on stage at once.
"She made people look beautiful, which is a lot harder than you might think," said the costume designer Martin Pakledinaz. "She also had the ability to see a production as a whole, the way one number grew out of the previous number and led into the one after that."
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Photo Caption: Ms. Aldredge's Tony Award-winning designs for "La Cage aux Folles," onstage in 1983.
Photo Credit: Martha Swope/New York Public Library for the Performing Art
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