Zipprodt, Patricia, 1925-1999

Patricia Zipprodt won three Tony Awards (she was nominated for eleven) as a Costume Designer for her work on Fiddler on the Roof (1964), Cabaret (1966), and Sweet Charity (1987). She is remembered for her technique of painting fabrics, her extraordinarily thorough research, her exuberant personality and her most famous productions: Fiddler on the Roof (1964), Cabaret (1966), Zorba (1968), Chicago (1975), Sweet Charity (1987), and the film The Graduate (1967).

Zipprodt was born on February 24, 1925 and raised in suburban Illinois. As a child, she used to draw paper dolls and costumes for them. Though she had always been interested in art, attending classes at the Art Institute of Chicago throughout her childhood and adolescence, she studied Sociology at Wellesley. After graduation she soon moved to New York City to live the bohemian lifestyle. She wore black turtlenecks and studied painting at the New School University, but it was a trip to the ballet that pointed her towards her destiny as a designer. The ballet was Ballanchine’s La Valse and Zipprodt was enraptured by the layers of silk, net, and beads that Barbara Karinska had draped on the dancers. In her own career Zipprodt would often design for ballets, operas, and musicals.

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