William Ivey Long

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Bio

William Ivey Long is a native North Carolinian with deep theatrical roots. Both of his parents were theatre educators, and he spent his childhood summers in Manteo, North Carolina, where his family worked at Paul Green’s outdoor drama, The Lost Colony. William made his first costume at the age of 5, which was an Elizabethan Ruff for his dog. Each summer he returns to Manteo, where he has served as Production Designer since 1988. Summer 2012 marked his 42nd season with the production.

William received a BA in history from The College of William and Mary, was a Kress Fellow in Art History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and then received an MFA in stage design from Yale University School of Drama.

The Broadway production Don’t Dress For Dinner marked William's 63rd Broadway costume design. In addition, he has Chicago running on Broadway, now its 16th year, and North American tours of Young Frankenstein and Chicago. Other Broadway credits include Leap Of Faith; Hugh Jackman: Back On Broadway; Catch Me If You Can; 9 To 5; Pal Joey; Young Frankenstein; Grey Gardens (Tony Award); Sweet Charity; La Cage Aux Folles (Hewes Award); The Frogs; The Boy From Oz; John Water’s Hairspray (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards); The Producers (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards); The Music Man; Swing (Hewes Award); Contact (Hewes Award); Cabaret; Steel Pier; Smokey Joe’s Café; Madison Square Garden’s A Christmas Carol; Guys And Dolls (Drama Desk Award); Crazy For You (Tony, Outer Critics Circle Awards); Six Degrees Of Separation; Assassins; Lend Me A Tenor (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards); Nine (Tony, Drama Desk, Maharam Awards).
William has twelve Tony Award nominations for his work, and has won five times. He has received The North Carolina Award for Fine Arts (November 2004), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Legend of Fashion Award (2003), and is a member of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine. He holds honorary degrees from The College of William and Mary, The University of North Carolina at Asheville, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. William is also president of the Eastern Seaboard Trust, a 501 C-3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the economic revitalization and historic preservation of his hometown of Seaboard, North Carolina. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2005. He was elected the Chair of the American Theatre Wing in 2012.

Appearances on CUNY TV

Arts in the City

ATW's Working in the Theatre

Theater Talk