Divamensch

My brother Howard alerted me to the death of costume and fashion designer Bob Mackie (age 87). I cried a few tears at my desk! He's best known for his costume designs for Carol Burnett and Cher on their variety shows. He designed an average of 60 costumes a week for Burnett's show, and eventually he was doing the Sonny and Cher show at the same time! Yeesh. His most famous creation was the curtain rod dress in Burnett's GWTW parody, Went With the Wind. It was HIS idea to add

Joan Allen won the Best Actress in a Play Tony in 1988 for what I'm sure was a marvelous performance in Burn This. But I'm more interested in two other nominees in that category: Diva: Blythe Danner as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire Mensch: Frances McDormand as Stella in Streetcar I'm fascinated that the Tonys saw them both as leading performances! I see Stella as a supporting role but I can see how McDormand would turn her into Blanche's equal.