Freddy Wittop (1912-2001)
Dancing Ensemble Designs, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
American: c. 1965
Gouache on illustration board
Signed and inscribed lower right, and with pencil notations
20 x 15 inches
$550

Original costume design by the renowned Broadway costume designer Freddy Wittop, for three elegant women in white crepe summer outfits with beautiful hats.  The three women were members of the dancing ensemble in the original production of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.  Each outfit is numbered and identifies in pencil a member of the dancing ensemble:  Rita Agnese, Charlene Mehl and Bettye Jenkins.  The design on the left is marked “250, Agnese.”  The design in the middle is marked “251, Mehl.”  This is also marked “net over crepe skirt.”  The design on the right is marked “252, Bettye Jenkins.”  This is also marked “Chiffon over Crepe.”  The design is signed and inscribed by Wittop in the lower right lower right: "To Evelyn, Portrait, with admiration and grattitude (sic).”  This may have been Evelyn Page, who played the role of “Mrs. Hatch” in On a Clear Day.

Freddy Wittop was born Federico Rey in Holland and raised in Paris. When he was eleven years old, he began his career as a costume designer for the Brussels Opera. Later he worked for the Folies Bergere in Paris. He immigrated to the United States in 1942 and designed costumes for the French Casino in New York City, and was a professional dancer as well.  After World War II, he became one of the leading Broadway costume designers, his credits including George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House, Holiday on Ice, Carnival, Subways are for Sleeping, The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd, Bajour, and, most notably, Hello Dolly! for which he won the Tony Award for Costume Design.   He was nominated six times for the Tony for his designs.

The largest collection of Wittop’s works belongs to the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia, comprising a collection of 27 of his scrapbooks with sketches, photographs, and personal memorabilia from 1927 to 1988.

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever was Broadway hit musical, that opened in 1965, co-written by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane.  Its plot follows a young woman named Daisy, who travels back and forth in time under hypnosis to a past life in the 18th century.  In 1970, it was made into a movie starring Barbra Streisand and Yves Montand, and directed by Vincente Minelli.

Condition:  Generally very good, the colors bright, with minor overall toning, wear and handling.  Faint mat burn outer margins. Minor crease lower corner.  Irregular shading over hat of Jenkins costume, as issued.

References:

“Freddy Wittop.” Internet Broadway Database.  2001-2004.  http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=24874 (11 May 2005).

“Freddy Wittop and Dear World.”Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.  20 September 2001.  http://www.libs.uga.edu/hargrett/pexhibit/wittop.html (31 July 2003).

“On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.” Internet Broadway Database.  2001-2004.  http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3255 (28 March 2005).