Video: Meet the 2023 Tony Nominees for Costume Design

Oh, Richie, can I just talk

It's so special to get nominated for K-pop on API Heritage Month, you know

It just means that all of these things collide, and it really means, you know

for one of the earlier shows that opened this season, it means that we made a dent into Zeitgeist, you know

The clothes were stunning in that show. Thank you. Absolutely stunning. Thank you. Sophia Choi and I, my co-designer, really worked very very

very hard to capture so many cultures, K-pop, Korea, and Broadway, all of it

What made it so special for you with working on K-pop? I think for me it was the sense of community, you know

and that we were doing something that was an original story, and that was something that had never been seen on Broadway

You know, I think it's, you know, for me it was really the possibilities of what that could open up

And it's cool to be here today, is it with all your peers? It's amazing to be here. It's really amazing to be here. It is a blessing, yeah

For me, it's so special because I feel our community has worked so hard over these last three years just to survive and to move forward

So for me to watch the artisans who make all of the costumes and the scenery and work together the company of actors that I working with right now on parade an unbelievably gorgeous group of actors many of them made their Broadway debut on this show So I feel like what so special for me is that we feel this new life coming forward lifting up and taking us forward

And just being here with a lot of your, you know, peers and everything else today

what it means to you. Oh, well, to be here, it's always so funny because I keep running into people

Kevin Cahoon, I worked with in 1996 with Kristen Chenoweth before Wicked

I mean, it's wild. But to go, oh, Jessica Chastain, we did a show together with Richard Nelson many years ago

So I actually see in many ways my life coming forward. Sarah Kruvich of The New York Times

I can't believe how many shows I've done with her. So it's been such a joy today to celebrate with the community

I mean, it's super, super special. But I had one of the most amazing seasons to date

You know, I was able to do five shows this season. And to be recognized for two out of the five, it's not bad

Talk about the two you're nominated for. The first one is Good Night Oscar with Sean Hayes

which is like a project that we did at the Goodman a year ago and we brought in this year

And it's one of those things. It's a beautiful period piece, 1958, Hollywood

the golden age of TV. So it's very specific. But there's some beautiful things in it

And then my heart goes out to Ain't No Mo. You know, and I think that show did so many different things

without it knowing what it was doing in a sense. Because it opened I think the trajectory of what happened It opened the eyes to many of the inequities of the industry and how we support different voices and different audiences

And I think that show was one of the catalyst and the mirror to that we need to do something that really to make it more inclusive

for everyone to come and enjoy this process. What's made Anjoliet so special for you

And Juliet is, I've been with it for many years, and it has grown and evolved until here it is landed on Broadway

and I think it will continue to evolve. And that is one way that it is actually special

is that the show is about individuals rewriting a story, so it suits their own personality and life

and then coming together and collaborating with other individuals, and that strife of that

And so as costumes, we try and adapt the costumes, especially for the players, the ensemble, to fit the personalities and the body shapes and the way that they move as each new cast member comes in

So I think that this nomination is a celebration of my work and my team's work, but it is also a celebration of the entire cast who very much inspired

what has ended up on their bodies It a Camelot like you haven seen before right I don think there been one where Guinevere comes running in in leather pants and so it was great to take a fresh look at it

It's just unbelievable, to be honest. I mean, you know, I work in puppetry, so that's a really

an outsider industry. And so when we were nominated for the Olivier's, I was blown away

But to come here and be at the Tony Awards, it's just like a dream for me, you know. It's extraordinary

It's something I've thought about and dreamt of since I was making theatre in my early 20s, you know

and now to be here with a big puppetry show with a show like Life of Pie, is just extraordinary, mind-blowing

Take me back to your younger self. Like, what was the first puppet you designed when you were really, really young

and what would your older self tell your younger self? Wow, that's a great question

One of the first puppets I designed was a life-size model of the elephant man, John Merrick

that really deformed body. It's a really interesting and strange thing to take on

I think the advice I give to my younger self was less complicated

I had like four joints in the elbow, and I could have just had a strap of fabric

What's made this show so special for you to work on? It's just bringing the puppetry to people around the world

that we've been working on so hard in our small little rooms in England and being able to share that with people

and seeing their responses to it and seeing it change people's lives. That for me is extraordinary