The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window is the first BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music)-produced production to transfer to Broadway in 35 years. Starring Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window takes place in 1960s Greenwich Village amidst a changing world. To help tell the story originally authored by playwright Loraine Hansberry, costume designer Brenda Abbandandolo designed costumes deeply rooted in research and her own experience living in Greenwich Village.
Spencer Williams: Hello Brenda! Thank you so much for talking with me. Congratulations on all of the success with The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window! I was so excited to learn that the Brooklyn Academy of Music production is heading to Broadway. How do you feel?
Brenda Abbandandolo: Hi Spencer! I’m beyond thrilled that this show gets another life where even more people get to see Loraine Hansberry’s brilliant last play. Working at the BAM Harvey was a personal dream for me, but getting to be part of the team that brought this show back to Broadway with such extraordinary artists and collaborators is a true honor.
Spencer: This production takes place in Greenwich Village in the 60s, telling a story about a diverse group of witty friends and Sidney and Iris Brustein. Lorraine Hansberry herself lived in Greenwich Village during the ’50s and ’60s. In terms of the costume design, what sort of research did you do in preparation for this project?
Brenda: Well, I live in Greenwich Village and walk through the heart of the play’s setting every day. The spirit and ghosts of these characters, who are likely parts of Lorraine Hansberry and her contemporaries, still feel very much alive to me in the architecture and culture that still exists here today. Being submerged in this place day in and day out helped me feel extremely grounded and connected to the world of the play.
Jazz, folk music, poetry, politics, writings, art, and photos were the basis of my research. We had an abundant amount of research to pull from, starting with a wealth of photographic documentation from photographers such as Weegee to Fred McDarrah and dozens in between. I was drawn to the most iconic beats, writers, and musicians of the time who wore the most ubiquitous clothing as we were trying to utilize familiar silhouettes for modern audiences to see themselves in these characters.
I turned to old copies of the Village Voice for articles and photos of plot points in the play, including those by Voice photographer Gin Briggs whose experience was Lorraine Hansberry’s main inspiration in writing the play. I was in contact with the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, who helped me track down diners of the time so I could authenticate Iris’s waitress uniform, among other things.
We utilized research from Lorraine Hansberry’s actual letters, writings, and photos generously shared with us by the Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust. They relayed information to us which provided a profoundly intimate account of her life and the people who inhabited it. I would refer to writers of the time (Baldwin, O’Hara, Ginsberg, Burroughs, etc.…) who describe in great detail the players on the village scene, often depicting their clothing and condition in great detail.
Spencer: The titular character is played by Oscar Isaac. Lately, we have really gotten to know Isaac in terms of fantasy and science fiction; Dune, Star Wars, and Moon Knight. This was more of an intimate moment for him, so I was curious to know more about your insight into the character and how that influenced the costumes?
Brenda: Lorraine Hansberry was so incredibly specific with every word she wrote that I paid close attention to her very detailed character descriptions without trying to feel overly tied to them. She strongly evoked in us the romantic images of the 1950s/60’s Greenwich Village bohemian thinker, activist, and lover of folk music. When we meet Sydney, he is past his younger days of discourse and activism and has found himself longing to escape the urban wasteland for a more natural world. Within his ailing world is a flawed marriage, a failed career path, and a lot of unanswered existentialism.
We had a bunch of ideas to help build Sidney’s look. The quintessential look of the GV thinker was important for us to evoke. Cords, chukkas, and a white dress shirt are where we began, and then we evolved from there. I had this feeling that despite his indifference, Sidney’s passion was still pumping in his veins. Therefore, his shirts progressively depict a reddish pattern (from tattersall to stripe) until his full insurgent energy is realized in the final act with a deep cabernet-colored shirt. It was a visual way of bringing Sidney back to a fully engaged citizen.
Spencer: Rachel Brosnahan is no stranger to beautiful period costumes. What was your experience like working with Brosnahan and designing these costumes?
Brenda: We had a great collaboration. The bar was pretty high for me since she is no stranger to period clothing, and we were inhabiting that very same period in our play. Since there is a time overlap with Maisel, I was very cautious that the silhouettes did not overlap. Not that they would, as the characters are so vastly different.
I really enjoyed bringing out the GV bohemian in her, finding the perfect jeans and tone-on-tone green leather jacket. She has a really compelling costume track since Lorraine Hansberry takes her character on quite a winding journey. It culminated in a pretty radical transformation which was an exciting challenge to design. We landed on a houndstooth coat dress over a mock neck sheath, which is definitely one of my most loved costumes ever to design. The black and white fabric became a metaphor for Sidney’s newspaper, and we used two types of houndstooth–both white-on-black and black-on-white–to allude back to an earlier idea Sidney had about the printing of the ink on paper.
Spencer: Costume design and storytelling really go hand in hand. You have worked across multiple mediums; film, television, and theater – what would you say to those who might not understand the essential nature of a costume designer?
Brenda: I’d say costume designers can really be on the front lines of the story with the actors to help uncover the essence of who the characters are. There was actually SO much research available to us that it became overwhelming to figure out how to pare it down and help shape these people, but really working closely with the script, the actors, and the director and listening to what each one of them is bringing forth, you clearly hone in on who they are.
And then there is the whole aesthetic element of it. Finding the right textures, patterns, colors, and sometimes that rare, obscure garment that says everything about someone to make choices that help support the storyline and overall concept of the piece. For example, in our play, I found this tone-on-tone green leather trench for Rachel to enter over her waitress uniform, and all of a sudden, it lifted her in the most subtle way to someone who wasn’t stuck as a waitress and who had aspirations beyond it.
I’d also say costume designers support the audience by directing their attention to certain crucial elements at critical moments in the story. In summary, we are contributors to the tone of the overall piece, as well as managers of both character and the aesthetic balance moving across the stage or screen.
Spencer: What do you hope audiences will take away from this production and the costumes you designed?
Brenda: I hope audiences will feel they are seeing something familiar, recognizing how timely these issues are within our current culture, and can connect parts of themselves to aspects of these characters. I also hope people will be introduced to or reminded of Lorraine Hansberry’s brilliance as an American thinker and writer who had the capacity to give voice to such a wide swath of individuals.
Spencer: Brenda, thank you so much for talking with me—tickets to see The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window are on sale through July 2nd. I am currently trying to figure out how to teleport over there and see this as soon as possible!
Brenda: Thank you, Spencer, for your interest and for supporting the play by bringing attention to the design. I do hope you get to see it!
