Program: COSTUME DESIGN

Susan Tsu

BFA COSTUME DESIGN, 1972
MFA COSTUME DESIGN, 1974

A graduate of both the BFA (‘72) and MFA (‘74) Costume Design programs at CMU, Susan Tsu is an award-winning costume designer who headed the costume programs at Boston University and the University of Texas at Austin before joining the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon in 2003. Her costumes for theatre, opera and television have been seen everywhere from regional LORT theatre stages to international venues. 

Susan has worked from coast to coast at 44 theatres and opera companies, returning frequently to such companies as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Quantum Theatre and Pittsburgh’s own City Theatre. Memorable international productions include the award-winning hit musical “Godspell”, “The Joy Luck Club” – a benchmark collaboration between Chinese and American companies, and “The Balcony” – Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. Well-known as an international curator, Susan’s own designs have been exhibited at the Lincoln Center Library and McNay Art Museum. She has garnered some of the industry’s highest honors, including being named the 2017 Carol R. Brown Creative Achievement Established Artist, the Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award and Kennedy Center Medal of Achievement. 

Her work is represented in over a dozen books and countless publications. During a 6-year term on the Board of Directors for Theatre Communications Group, Susan was on the task force that reconfigured “American Theatre” magazine and was a strong advocate for the Free Night of Theatre initiative across America now reaching over 600 cities. At CMU, she has been on the Miller Gallery Programming Leadership Committee; and a wats:ON? Festival organizing partner.

Jen Caprio

MFA COSTUME DESIGN, 2003

Jen is a costume designer for theater, television, and corporate entertainment. She graduated from the MFA Costume Design program at CMU in 2003. 

Jen’s work has been seen in over 250 productions over 25 years on stages and screen both domestically and internationally. Her costume designs on Broadway include “The Heart of Rock and Roll” (starring fellow CMU alum Corey Cott), “Spamalot,” “Falsettos,” and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Beyond Broadway, her designs have graced stages from Opera Houses (including part of the founding team of the innovative Mill City Summer Opera), to intimate one person shows (Benjamin Scheuer’s “The Lion”)  to the small screen (“Sesame Street”). For her work onstage, she’s been nominated for various regional theater awards and the Lucille Lortel award in New York City for Off-Broadway design (“In Transit”). On the small screen, her work in collaboration with Brian C. Hemesath and the Muppet team has been recognized with 3 Daytime Creative Emmy Awards (TM) and one Daytime Creative Emmy Award Win for Sesame Street in 2020.

Matthew Hemesath

MFA COSTUME DESIGN, 2004

A two-time Emmy nominee, Matthew Hemesath’s career as a costume designer has encompassed a wide range of theatre, film and television productions since his graduation from CMU’s MFA Costume Design program in 2004. He received his first Emmy nomination for his work as a Co-Costume Designer on “Sesame Street” and was nominated for Excellence in Period Costume Design for his work on Showtime’s “The First Lady”, starring Viola Davis as Michelle Obama.

Matthew began his career designing for Paper Mill Playhouse, Off-Broadway, and assisting on Broadway shows and National Tours, including “Jersey Boys”. He toiled on the wardrobe crew of “Saturday Night Live” for eight years, making costumes, dressing actors, and working on The Lonely Island Digital Shorts.

Matthew served as Associate Costume Designer on the first three films of the “John Wick” action franchise, helping create the iconic look worn by lead actor Keanu Reeves. Some of his most recent designs include seasons 2 and 3 of the Tina Fey-produced comedy “Girls5Eva”, talk show “Busy This Week” starring Busy Philips and the Peacock medical drama “Dr. Death” starring Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater.

Daniel Orlandi

BFA COSTUME DESIGN, 1976

After graduating from CMU’s BFA Costume Design program in 1976, Daniel Orlandi initially moved to New York, where he helped design sets. After a chance meeting with famed fashion designer Bob Mackie, he became his assistant for several years. 

After relocating to Los Angeles, Daniel worked regularly as a costume designer for film and television, collaborating regularly with directors such as Joel Schumacher, Ron Howard and John Lee Hancock. 

In 1989, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Programming for his work on a television special for the illusionist David Copperfield. 

He has designed costumes for over 50 films. Some of his most notable credits include the 1960s-set comedy pastiche “Down With Love”, “The Normal Heart”, which got him his second Emmy nomination, “Trumbo” and “Saving Mr. Banks”, which garnered him his first BAFTA Award nomination for Best Costume Design. 

Oona Natesan

MFA COSTUME DESIGN, 2021

A multidisciplinary designer with experience in costume and digital design, Oona Natesan has worked steadily since graduating from CMU with an MFA in Costume Design in 2021. Before coming to CMU, Oona was based in India where she worked as an Assistant designer to Mr. Manish Malhotra, the eclectic designer associated with international couture and high street fashion and the Mumbai film industry, popularly called Bollywood.

Since graduation, Oona has worked on several theatre and film productions, including doing associate design work on “Monsoon Wedding: The Musical” at St. Ann’s Warehouse in NYC, assistant costume design at the Old Globe Theatre, and costume design work at St. Louis Rep, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Chester Theatre Company in Massachusetts and more.

Michelle J. Li

BFA COSTUME DESIGN, 2019

Michelle has been busy since graduating from the School of Drama’s BFA Costume Design program in 2019. Her most recent design work can be seen in the Broadway production “JOB,” which premiered at the SoHo Playhouse in September 2023, and then played an encore Off-Broadway engagement at the Connelly Theater from January to March 2024. It opened on Broadway in July 2024.

She also designed costumes for the third season of Comedy Central’s “Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens,” Peacock’s “Meet Cute” with Kaley Cuoco and Pete Davidson, the Sundance Film Festival award-winning mockumentary “Theater Camp,” and the 2020 film “Shiva Baby,” which won an Independent Spirit Award.

Michelle was selected by CMU as a 2024 Tartan on the Rise, which celebrates recent alumni who are making an impact in their organizations and in their communities, across the nation and around the world through leadership, innovation and career achievements. 

Damian Dominguez

MFA COSTUME DESIGN, 2020

Damian E. Dominguez is a costume designer and stylist who received his MFA in Costume Design from CMU in 2020. He has worked extensively in the Greater Pittsburgh area since graduation, working for companies such as the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, New Hazlett, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Quantum Theatre, and more. 

Damian was one of the five selected artists for “Flowers Meet Fashion: Inspired by Billy Porter at the Phipps Conservatory.” In April, he won the Kennedy Center Arts College Theater Festival award for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for his work on ≈ [Almost Equal To].

Damian’s recent and upcoming projects include “A Moon for The Misbegotten” (Quantum Theatre), “Steel Pier” (Pittsburgh Playhouse), “The Little Prince” (Resonance Works), and “Birthday Candles” (City Theatre).

Carolyn Mazuca

BFA COSTUME DESIGN, 2017

A graduate of CMU’s BFA costume design program, Carolyn Mazuca has worked on several stage and screen productions. Carolyn’s designs most recently were featured in the theatrical productions of “The Winter’s Tale” at Antaeus Theatre Co and “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” at Greenway Court Theatre. She has worked extensively as a costume designer at theaters around the country including South Coast Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Interact Theatre Company and A Noise Within, amongst others. Her film work includes the upcoming “Body Language” as well as several short films. 

A Featured Showcase Costume Designer at Latinx Theatre Commons, Carolyn is an active member of the IATSE Costume Designers Guild 892. She worked as an Assistant Costume Designer on union productions “Perry Mason” Season 2 and “The L Word: Generation Q” Season 2. She is a Co-Chair of the Guild’s New Members Committee. 

While at CMU, she designed costumes for both “Gruesome Playground Injuries” (John Wells Video Studio) and “The Playboy of the Western World” (Philip Chosky Theater).