Jonathan Charles Bixby (June 21, 1959 – April 29, 2001) was a costume designer and a founding member of Drama Dept., a New York-based theater company.

Background

Bixby was born June 21, 1959, in

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the fifth-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the third=smallest in area. Del ...

. He attended and graduated from Penncrest High School in 1977. He was a performer in Emanon, the theatrical group at Penncrest, mentored by Judy Roman. He left Mansfield College after his first year and moved to New York where he enrolled in the renowned Lester Polikoff School of Set and Costume Design to pursue his love of the stage. He was at that time the youngest person ever accepted at Polikoff. Jonathan Bixby died April 29, 2001, at

Cabrini Medical Center Cabrini Medical Center of New York City was created in 1973 by a merger of two Manhattan hospitals. It closed in 2008 due to financial difficulties cited by the Berger Commission, followed by a bankruptcy filing. In January 2010, the five build ...

Hospice in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

due to complications from colon cancer."Jonathan Bixby; Theatrical Costume Designer"
''Los Angeles Times'', May 3, 2001

Works

Bixby served as the costume designer on many of the Drama Dept's productions, including ''The Torch-Bearers''; ''Country Club'' (2000 Drama Desk nomination); ''As Bees In Honey Drown'' and ''June Moon''. Among Bixby's Broadway credits are ''Band In Berlin'', the revival of ''Hello Dolly'' and ''Street Corner Symphony''. Numerous other credits include ''Strike Up the Band'' and ''The Tenderloin'' directed by John Rando (City Centers Encores! series); ''The Coconuts'' (American Place Theater - 1996 Art Deco Society Award); ''Sheba'' (the Jewish Rep.); ''Advice From a Caterpillar'' (Lucille Lortell); ''The Skin of Our Teeth''; ''Man Is Man''; ''The Three Sisters''; ''Galileo''; ''Life is a Dream'' and ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (Jean Cocteau Repertory). Jonathan Bixby and his designing partner

Gregory Gale Gregory Gale is a New York-based costume designer. Career Gale is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology and is well known for his character-driven designs. In 2009 he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musica ...

designed the Broadway hit ''

Urinetown ''Urinetown: The Musical'' is a satirical comedy musical that premiered in 2001, with music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis. It satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bu ...

'' (Lucille Lortel Nomination). In 2002 Bixby and Gale received the Theater Development Fund Irene Sharaff Young Master Award. Among the Regional theater productions he created costumes for were ''Rhinoceros'' (New Jersey Shakespeare Festival); '' Merton of the Movies'' (

Geffen Playhouse The Geffen Playhouse (or the Geffen) is a not-for-profit theater company founded by Gilbert Cates in 1995. It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned by University of California Los Angeles. The Playhouse is located ...

); ''Lives of the Saints'' (Berkshire Theater Festival); ''Sayonara'' - LA Drama Critics Award (Theater of the Stars, Houston - Seattle 5th Ave. and Los Angeles); ''June Moon'' (McCarter Theater); ''Man of La Mancha'' and ''Oklahoma!'' (Birmingham Theater); ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (Bloomsberg Theater Ensemble). His unique imagination was expressed in the costumes he designed for the long touring international ''Cirque Ingenieux'', and designs for many international and U.S. touring companies, including ''The Sound of Music'', ''Brigadoon'', ''The Wiz'', ''Evita'', ''My Fair Lady'', ''West Side Story'', ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', ''Tango Passion'' (Europe), ''The King and I'' (West End, USA and Japan) and ''Hello Dolly'' (Paris Premiere). His film work includes ''Angel Passing'' with

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

and

Teresa Wright Muriel Teresa Wright (October 27, 1918 – March 6, 2005) was an American actress. She was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress: in 1941 for her debut work in '' The Little Foxes'', and in 1942 for '' Mrs. Miniver' ...

(Sundance Festival), ''Eventual Wife'' and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:Coming Out of Their Shells Tour Video''. Along with his Daytime Emmy award-winning TV work with Carol Luiken on '' All My Children'', Bixby also served as a costume designer on the ABC daytime series '' One Life to Live''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bixby, Jonathan 1959 births 2001 deaths American costume designers People from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in New York (state)