“Halston” Is Back in the Hamptons

They were so familiar, they needed just one name: Liza! Bianca! Andy! Mick! Dee-ahn! (von Furstenberg), Steve! (Rubell), and of course Halston! It was Halston and Warhol who were at the center of it all, a little catty, oh so judgmental, such arbiters of taste. Warhol owned a Stanford White mansion in Montauk. Halston rented the guest cottage for $40,000 a summer.

Bianca Jagger, Halston,, Liza Minelli

Halston famously owned a Paul Rudolph brutalist townhouse on East 63rd Street in Manhattan. It squeezed a lot of parties into its 7,000 square feet. It was known for its high ceilings, treacherous staircase (no railing) and glass wall facing the street. Halston’s full-time chef would serve dinner to a huge number of friends there, then all of them, well stoked, would head out late to dance at Studio 54. It was disco, baby.

In a little over an hour, the one-man play “Mister Halston” brings that time back to life. The actor Matt McGrath, a familiar face around Bay Street, was the last factor to fall into place after Donna Karan signed on as executive producer of the play. The performance will run at the Bay Street Theater through June 21, with two shows on Sundays.

Matt McGrath in “Mister Halston” (photo credit: Phillip Merritt)

McGrath, who began his acting career at the age of 9 in a stage production of “Peter Pan,” has done television, film and stage (regional, Off-Broadway, Broadway). In this play he carries the entire show, responding to an invisible person (a reporter from The New York Times) and lots of phone calls (Liza, Andy) as he narrates his career and dictates his thoughts: “That’s good. Write it down.”

Halston became famous for designing hats: Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox became all the rage. Then it was the 60’s, not the 50’s, and women stopped wearing hats.

Halston had a signature look: suit and tie or scarf; dark Tom Ford sunglasses, even indoors; cigarette.

Still, people dressed up to go out. So Halston switched to designing clothing. Miniimalist clothing. He took off decorations: buttons, trim, pattens. And he discovered ultrasuede. He upholster his house with it.

In the play the year is 1987. Halston is still imperious, but Studio 54 is long gone. He had lost control of his own name in a sale that made him rich but powerless. And there was a new disease stalking gay men. Three years later he would die from it. He was 57.

“Mister Halston” at the Bay Street Theater through June 21

But here, on stage at the Bay Street Theater, we see Halston, in black, looking elegant, white orchid by his side. Still swanning around his townhouse. Then aging. Proud, angry, bitter. Tickets are for sale online   or at the box office in Sag Harbor.

Linda Lee