Mackie To Help “Pigs” Fly Again

Bob Mackie, who was the design genius behind the TV variety shows of Carol Burnett and of Cher, among many others, is going off-Broadway. He will design new costumes for Howard Crabtree’s “When Pigs Fly,” the 1996 musical created by late costume designer-playwright Crabtree and Mark Waldrop. Those “Pigs” will fly again beginning October 6 at Stage 42. The revue, which features music by the late Dick Gallagher, was praised for its wit and irreverent humor as it skewered gay culture and American politics in the late 1990s—including references to Newt Gingrich and legislation that proposed curtailing gay rights. The humor carried over into Crabtree’s outlandish and dazzling costume designs, who was called a “mad genius” in a rave review in the New York Times. Crabtree died of AIDS days after completing work on the original designs for When Pigs Fly. Mackie will create the all-new designs for the Off-Broadway revival that will officially open October 30.

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