Desmond Heeley, David Toser and More Named 2013 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awardees

Three-time Tony Award winning costume and scenic designer Desmond Heeley, and costume designer David Toser are among the 2013 TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards recipients. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Friday, May 3, at 6:30pm, at the Hudson Theatre (145 West 44th Street). Mr. Heeley will receive the Robert L.B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design and Mr. Toser was selected to receive the 2013 TDF/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award for costume design.

Additionally, costume designer Daniel Lawson will receive the TDF/Irene Sharaff Young Master Award, and famed theatrical jewelry designer LAWRENCE VRBA will receive the TDF/Irene Sharaff Artisan Award.

During the ceremony, as a special memorial tribute to two-time Tony Award winner Martin Pakledinaz (who passed away last summer), there will be a screening of an original 15-minute film on his life, created by designer Suzy Benzinger.

TDF/Irene Sharaff Award honorees are selected by the TDF Costume Collection's Advisory Committee and are presented through Theatre Development Fund's Costume Collection.

Throughout her long and distinguished career, elegance and an attention to detail were the trademarks of costume designer Irene Sharaff. Miss Sharaff was revered as a designer of enormous depth and intelligence, equally secure with both contemporary and period costumes. Her work exemplified the best of costume design. Such excellence is demonstrated by the winners of the 2013 TDF/Irene Sharaff awardees.