A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD

Invisible Theatre Celebrates Women’s History Month, The Academy Awards and the 20th Anniversary of Susan Claassen In

A CONVERSATION
WITH
EDITH HEAD
By Paddy Calistro and Susan Claassen

An Evening of Wit, Wisdom, and a Whisper of Gossip
With host, Stuart Moulton

A behind the scenes feast of great movie lore and delicious stories as
told by 8 time Academy Award® winning costume designer, Edith Head.

FIVE PERFORMANCES ONLY!

March 9 – 13, 2022

INVISIBLE THEATRE
1400 North First Avenue (at the corner of Drachman)
Tucson, Arizona 85719

Invisible Theatre celebrates Women’s History Month and the 20th anniversary of A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD touring production. Susan Claassen stars in her internationally acclaimed portrayal of legendary costume designer, Edith Head. Hollywood’s golden age comes to life in an evening of wit, wisdom, and a whisper of gossip! A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD, based on EDITH HEAD’S HOLLYWOOD by Edith Head & Paddy Calistro, is a feast of delicious behind-the-scenes stories about Hollywood’s greatest stars that provide an intimate portrait of Hollywood’s legendary costume designer. In her six decades of costume design, Edith Head worked on over eleven hundred films; dressed the greatest stars of Hollywood; received 35 Academy Award® nominations, and won an unprecedented eight Oscars®.

Hear Miss Head tell her own story, which is as fascinating as the history of the film industry itself. It is a story filled with humor, frustration and, above all, glamour. This diva of design helped to define glamour in the most glamorous place in the world — Hollywood! Edith Head spent more than sixty years as a motion picture costume designer. Of those, forty-four years were spent at Paramount Studios. There she worked with the most famous actors of the time, from Mae West and Clara Bow to Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Bette Davis. When Paramount failed to renew her contract in 1967, Alfred Hitchcock stepped in and Ms. Head was invited to join Universal Studios. At Universal she costumed Robert Redford and Paul Newman in The Sting and won the first-ever Oscar® for a film without a female lead.
Her eight Academy Awards® celebrated her artistry in The Heiress (1950), Samson & Delilah (1951), All About Eve (1951), A Place in the Sun (1952), Roman Holiday (1954), Sabrina (1955), The Facts of Life (1961) and The Sting (1974). Edith Head died in October 1981, still under contract to Universal Studios, having just completed working on the Carl Reiner film, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid starring Steve Martin. Susan Claassen was inspired to write and star in the show while watching a television biography of Ms. Head. The petite, dark-haired actress immediately imagined herself playing Edith Head, “…a perfect fit,” as Claassen describes it. “I discovered that not only do I bear a striking resemblance to Edith Head, but we share the same love for clothes and fashion,” Claassen notes.

Much of the dialogue in A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD comes directly from the famed designer. When she was asked to write the authorized posthumous autobiography, Edith Head’s Hollywood, Ms. Calistro acquired more than thirteen hours of recollections recorded by Edith Head, which she and Ms. Claassen painstakingly reviewed to gather the remarkable “Edithisms” – as Ms. Head referred to her own sayings – that abound in the show. In addition, Claassen and Calistro collected insights from Hollywood insiders who knew Ms. Head best: costume designer Bob Mackie, who once worked as Ms. Head’s sketch artist; her dear friend Edie Wasserman, wife of the late Universal Studio head Lew Wasserman; and Art Linkletter, award-winning host of “House Party”, the daytime television show of the 1950s that brought Edith Head into the homes of America.

ABOUT THE PEOPLE

Susan Claassen (Suz) is celebrating her 47th anniversary with Tucson’s Invisible Theatre, celebrating its 50th Anniversary. As Managing Artistic Director, she has produced and directed over 500 productions. Suz was nominated for the 2011 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award and BroadwayWorld LA Award as Best Actress and most recently nominated for The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle 43rd Annual Excellence in Theatre Awards for Best Solo Production and Best Production. for her portrayal of Edith Head.

A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD premiered at the Invisible Theatre in 2002 in Tucson, Arizona and has played coast to coast with more than 700 performances. The production has toured internationally to Tbilisi in the Republic of Georgia; a “Sold Out” engagement at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Toronto and an acclaimed five-week run at the Leicester Square Theatre in London’s West End. Suz has also been a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade since 2001. She dedicates her performance to the vibrant memory of her beloved mother, Goldie. (www.edithhead.biz, suz@edithhead.bix)

EDITH HEAD (1897-1981) was undoubtedly Hollywood’s most famous costume designer, or “magician,” as she liked to call herself. Her career spanned fifty eight years of movie making. In those years she dressed almost every major star who shone in the industry and, with her straight-cut bangs, dark glasses and tailored suits as her trademarks, became more famous than most of them. Edith Head died in 1981 of a progressive and rare blood disease, myeloid metaplasia, two weeks after completing work on her last film, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid. She left her estate to the Motion Picture and Television Fund and to other charitable organizations aiding Native American children and her beloved animals. Her funeral was attended by hundreds, including not only Hollywood’s stars, but also her devoted colleagues who worked with her behind the scenes. A Paramount security guard dressed in a uniform designed by Edith Head mused, “I remember her real well. At Christmas she took care of everyone on the lot. She was the greatest designer in the world. Edith Head was quite a girl.” And that she was.

A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD is presented in association with the Motion Picture and Television Fund. The prop Oscars® and photographic images and sketches are courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Margaret Herrick Library. It premiered at the Invisible Theatre in Tucson, Arizona and has played coast to coast with more than 375 performances. The production has toured internationally to Tbilisi in the Republic of Georgia; a “Sold Out” engagement at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (out of the 2,000 shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, only 200 were officially designated “Sold Out” engagements) and an acclaimed five-week run at the Leicester Square Theatre in London’s West End.

“Edith Head comes to life in a way that’s so perfectly accurate…”
– The New York Times

FACTS ABOUT A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD

WHO: Susan Claassen as Edith Head

WHERE:
Invisible Theatre
1400 N. First Ave (at Drachman) Tucson, AZ. 85719

PRODUCTION STAFF:
HOST: Stuart Moulton
VOICE AND MOVEMENT DIRECTOR: Dianne J. Winslow
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: James Blair
SET DESIGN: Susan Claassen and James Blair
LIGHT DESIGN: James Blair
COSTUME DESIGN: Maryann Trombino and Chris Brewer
WIG DESIGN: Renate Leuschner

RUNNING TIME:
90 minutes with no intermission

TICKETS:
$40
Discounts are available for groups, seniors, active military and students.

WHEN:
Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 7:30 PM
Thursday, March 10, 2022 at 7:30 PM
Friday, March 11, 2022 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 2:00 PM
Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 2:00 PM

TO PURCHASE TICKETS OR FOR INFORMATION:
Reservations are required – all seats are reserved.
There will be no sales at the Box Office before performances.
Since our Covid-19 protocols are strictly enforced, seating remains very limited!

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
The health and safety of our artists and staff continues to be our top priority. All patrons are required to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination (or a negative Covid-19 Test within 24 hours). All staff and patrons will be required to wear masks the entire time they are in the theatre.