Martin “Marty” Pakledinaz, one of Broadway’s best costume designers, passed away on Sunday night at the all too early age of 58.
How good was he? Well, in the last 15 years, Marty was nominated for an even 10 Tonys, and he took home two of them, including one for Thoroughly Modern Millie, which is where I first met him. (I was the very lucky Company Manager of that Best Musical.)
So, yeah, he obviously made the actors and actresses he designed for look Tony-tastic.
But the thing about Marty is that he was such a wonderful human being who cared so much . . . not only for every dress and every suit he built, but also for every person inside those dresses and suits . . . that he made our Broadway a better place to be.
His designs will be missed. But he will be missed so, so much more.
To see a terrific costume retrospective of Marty’s work, check out this Playbill article here.
(Got a comment? I love ‘em, so comment below! Email subscribers, click here then scroll down, to say what’s on your mind!)
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6 Responses to He made us all look so good.
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Thank you so much for this post. I had the privilege of getting to work with Marty when I was just starting my professional career, and this week a few conversations have taken place sharing stories of my time with him. He was the best costume designer I ever worked with. Not just because his costumes were brilliant and gorgeous, but because Marty seemingly loved us all and was always pleased to see you when you came in for a fitting. The brief period of time I got to work with him in DC will stick with me forever. When we reconnected through Facebook a few years later, it was as if no time had passed and although we weren’t close by any means, he still remembered me and was interested in what I was up to. It’s rare you find that anymore, and he will be missed by anyone that ever put on one of his costumes or came in contact with him.
Good, Lord, 58. So young. All those creative years still to come lost now. Dim the lights before the opening curtain.
Is there any effort to preserve & display some of the most impressive examples of his work — and the work of other greats?
So Sorry for your Loss, Ken. May your friend Rest in Peace.
Blessings,
Pheralyn
Ken,
Thank you for showing us examples of his work. I’ve seen a number of those shows. I didn’t know you were involved with Thoroughly Modern Millie, which I liked
very much. You both did a great job with that show.
The costumes were outstanding, and it was my first
acquaintance with Sutton Foster, Mark Kudish, and other talented actors. I’m very sorry for Broadway’s
loss of another great talent.
This is not so much a comment as an observation on another matter. Yahoo headlines, in announcing that Nina Arianda has been cast as the star of a new film about Janis Joplin, refers to her, Arianda, as an “unknown.” I jumped in my seat when I saw that. Is her spectacular success not enough to make her famous? A Tony at her age?