Gabriella Slade is a British costume designer, best known for her work in musicals such as '' Six'', ''The Cher Show'' and '' In the Heights.'' For her work in the musical ''Six'', she has received the Tony Award for Best Costume Design in a Musical and the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

for Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical in 2022, as well as a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Costume Design in 2019.

Early life

Slade was born in Basingstoke, England and trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating with a First class degree in Theatre Design.

Career

Slade was the costume designer for the UK production of '' In the Heights'' in 2014. The show opened at the Southwark Playhouse to then transfer to the

Kings Cross Theatre The Kings Cross Theatre was located at the corner of Darlinghurst Road and Victoria Street, Sydney, between 1916 and 1966. History The Kings Cross Theatre and opened on Friday 14 April 1916. The Theatre was managed by Waddigton's and boasted 200 ...

. In 2017 Slade collaborated with Toby Marlow and

Lucy Moss Lucy Amelia Nancy Moss (born 13 January 1994) is a British writer, director, and composer best known for co-creating the hit musical ''Six'' with Toby Marlow. As director of most ''Six'' productions, Moss became the youngest ever female director ...

on the show '' Six'', when it was first launched at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has been part of the show since, receiving several nominations and awards for her work, both in the UK and US. The costumes for the musical are meant to be a mix between pop and Tudor, with each queen being inspired by a pop artist: Catherine of Aragon by

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, Anne Boleyn by Miley Cyrus, Jane Seymour by a mix of Adele and Sia, Anne of Cleves by a mix of Nicki Minaj and

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

, Catherine Howard by

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

and Catherine Parr by Alicia Keys. Each queen is also represented by a specific color, with, for example, Anne Boleyn being green, as a reference to the "green sleeves" she is often associated with. Slade also designed the costumes for the UK, US and Australian Tours of the show. She designed the costumes for the Spice World Arena tour in 2019. In 2021 Slade become the costume designer for the musical Bedknobs and Broomsticks which had a full UK tour run. In the same year she was nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award and Broadway World Award for Best Costume Design for her work on the show. Slade was part of the creative team for the 2023 UK transfer of ''

The Cher Show ''Cher'' was an American variety show that premiered on CBS in 1975, hosted by singer-actress Cher. The show had many famous musical guests. It followed a TV special featuring Elton John, Bette Midler, and Flip Wilson as guests. ''Cher'' pre ...

,'' with

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, talent scout, television judge and presenter, theatre director, and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment. For many years, she was most noted as the c ...

as director and

Oti Mabuse Otlile "Oti" Mabuse (born 8 August 1990) is a South African talent show judge, presenter, dancer and Latin dance champion currently based in the United Kingdom. She is best known for being a professional dancer on the British television series ' ...

as choreographer. In creating the costumes for the show Slade said to have been inspired by

Bob Mackie Robert Gordon "Bob" Mackie (born March 24, 1939) is an American fashion designer and costumier, best known for his dressing of entertainment icons such as Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Diahann Carroll, Carol Channing, Cher, Doris Day, Marlene D ...

's iconic looks for

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

, as well as some modern pop icons, like Lady Gaga and J-Lo The show presents Cher in three different eras and the role is divided between three actresses: Millie O’Connell plays Babe,

Danielle Steers Danielle Lauren Steers (born 20 June 1991) is an English stage actress and singer-songwriter. She is known for originating the role of Zahara in '' Bat Out of Hell: The Musical'' at the Manchester Opera House, as well as subsequently playing the ...

plays Lady and

Debbie Kurup Debbie Kurup (born 3 July 1979) is an English actress. Acting career Kurup's theatrical credits include: !Sweet Charity! (Donmar Warehouse), "Girl from the North Country" (Old Vic -original London cast) and "The Threepenny Opera" (National Theatr ...

plays Star''.'' Slade won the

WhatsOnStage Award The WhatsOnStage Awards (WOS Awards), formerly known as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com. The awards recognise performers and productions of British theatre with an emphasis on London's West ...

for Best Costume Design in 2023, for her work on the show.

Honors and awards

UK Awards

US Awards

References

External links

Gabriella Slade - website

The Cher Show - website
{{TonyAward CostumeDesignMusical British costume designers Living people 21st-century British women artists Musical theatre people People from Basingstoke Year of birth missing (living people) Tony Award winners Drama Desk Award winners Women costume designers Musical theatre in the United Kingdom