November 15, 2021
BLOOMINGTON, Sick. — Frank Vlastnik ’87 is a co-creator of the initially-at any time detailed
and approved showcase of manner designer Bob Mackie’s lifetime and get the job done, The Art of Bob Mackie.
For approximately six decades, Bob Mackie has built clothes and dressing for some of
the world’s greatest stars, which include: Cher, Carol Burnett, Bette Midler, P!nk, Tina
Turner, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Angela Lansbury, Diana Ross, Beyoncé, RuPaul and
Madonna. The Art of Bob Mackie features a foreword by Carol Burnett and an afterword by Cher.
From layouts these kinds of as Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” robe, to Carol
Burnett’s “Went with the Wind” curtain-rod dress, to Cher’s show-stopping 1986 Oscar
glance, Mackie’s models keep relevance.
“I layout for folks who dare to be seen,” Mackie claims.
His distinctive creations have appeared on Broadway phases, Tv set screens, runways and crimson
carpets globally. Through his vocation, Mackie’s genius has been identified in numerous
varieties, together with a Tony Award, nine Emmy Awards, a few Academy Award nominations,
and the Geoffrey Beene Life span Accomplishment Award from the Council of Trend Designers
of The usa.
The two-and-a-fifty percent calendar year venture started in a jazz club in New York. Vlastnik’s co-writer,
Laura Ross, was seated upcoming to Mackie when she pitched the concept. During their discussion,
it was unveiled that Mackie was a admirer of Vlastnik’s book Broadway Musicals, which kick-started off their romance in advance of they achieved in Los Angeles in February
2019.
As the 1st-ever entirely approved exploration of Mackie’s get the job done, the reserve options
hundreds of photos and sketches, together with some that have by no means been observed by
the community.
“The 1st time I walked into Bob’s studio, I felt like minor Charlie Bucket winning
the Golden Ticket to tour Willy Wonka’s factory,” Vlastnik claimed. “There isn’t a solitary
inch of wall area that isn’t covered, and each and every time Bob opened a single of the numerous
drawers where he retains actually countless numbers of sketches, something dazzling would emerge.
So the visible stimulation was nonstop.”
Even just after wondering he experienced found it all, Vlastnik explained Mackie would suddenly stumble
on or mention patterns he had carried out, and Vlastnik would beg his editor to insert far more
webpages to the showcase. The Art of Bob Mackie celebrates these never ever-found-in advance of performs and shares Mackie’s individual recollections and
muses. The standpoint from Mackie will make it a must-study for any individual fascinated in
the lavish globe of manner and style, Vlastnik reported.
In his time at Illinois Wesleyan, Vlastnik studied drama at the School of Theatre Arts. His senior yr, then head of the Drama Department Clair Myers, advised Vlastnik, “Don’t
pin oneself down to just performing. I also suspect you could be a writer or a director.”
After graduation, Vlastnik was honored with the Larry Shue Memorial Award.
“Larry was a excellent playwright and actor, and it planted a seed again then that,
even though I supposed to make my dwelling as a performer, the doorway was usually open up
to discover other avenues, like creating,” Vlastnik said
The Art of Bob Mackie, out Nov. 16, 2021, is now offered for pre-purchase on the web.
By Kailee Galloway ’23