William Ivey Long Succeeds Ted Chapin As Chair of the American Theatre Wing

Five-time Tony-winning costume designer William Ivey Long has been elected Chair of the American Theatre Wing. Long, who joined the board of the Wing last year, succeeds current chair Ted Chapin, who has held the position for four years. Chapin will now serve as Co-Vice Chair with Peter Schneider. In addition to the new Chair, the Wing welcomes three new appointees to the board: Pamela Zilly, Pamela Bell, and Mark Abrahams.

Long won five Tony Awards for designing the costumes for Grey Gardens, Hairspray, The Producers, Crazy for You and Nine. He began his Broadway career in 1978 with a revival of The Inspector General and has since designed 63 Main Stem productions, including Chicago, The Boy From Oz, The Music Man, Contact, Catch Me If You Can, Cabaret, Steel Pier, Smokey Joe’s Café, Guys And Dolls and Six Degrees Of Separation. He received a 2012 Tony nomination for  Don't Dress for Dinner. Long was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in January 2006.

The American Theatre Wing is a not-for-profit organization originally set up as part of the World War II Allied Relief Fund. The Wing is dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre through programs such as the long-running televised seminar Working in Theatre, the weekly radio show Downstage Center, a college to career bootcamp for actors, scholarships and the Theatre Intern Group. The Wing is best known as the creator of the Tony Awards.