Santo Loquasto

Santo Loquasto is a designer for dance, theatre and film.  He began designing costumes for legendary New York theatre producer Joseph Papp in the early 1970s.  He has collaborated with choreographer James Kudelka on various works, including Alliances for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, The Heart of the Matter for The Joffrey Ballet and The Comfort Zone and The End for San Francisco Ballet.  For the National Ballet of Canada they created Pastorale, The Actress, Spring Awakening, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Firebird and An Italian Straw Hat.

Loquasto also designed A Touch of the Poet, Three Days of Rain, Shining City, Twyla Tharp’s The Times They Are A-Changing and the 2017 revival of Carousel, all of which appeared on Broadway.  He received the Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration in 2002, was voted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2005, and received the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for the Arts in 2006 and the Robert L. B. Tobin Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2007.

Loquasto has won numerous awards for his designs, including Tony Awards in 1977 (The Cherry Orchard), 1989 (Café Crown) 1990 (Grand Hotel), 2017 (Hello, Dolly!) and the Drama Desk Award in 1989 (Café Crown) and 1990 (Grand Hotel).  Among his extensive list of nominations are Academy Award nominations for designs in Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, Radio Days and Zelig. Other film credits include Desperately Seeking Susan, Big, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Husbands and Wives.

Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove marked the beginning of his relationship with American Ballet Theatre.  For his work with ABT, he has also collaborated with choreographers Jerome Robbins, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Kenneth MacMillan, Agnes de Mille, Mark Morris and Alexei Ratmansky.  For the Paul Taylor Dance Company, he has designed such works as Speaking in Tongues, Spindrift, Company B and Funny Papers.

The scenery and costumes for Deuce Coupe are Loquasto’s latest designs to be added to American Ballet Theatre’s repertoire.