A Designer of Dreams: Pieces of Tony Walton's Legacy Seek New Homes

Tony Walton believed in the power of theater.

For the award-winning production designer and longtime Sag Harbor resident, it was his mistress. It was his great love. It was his religion — and, according to his daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, he gave himself wholly to it.

Until the very end — Walton died in 2022 at age 87 — he refused to let any of it go.

That has resulted in an exhaustive, enormous archive of art and materials, once stored in spaces across the Northeast, from Long Island and New York City to Connecticut and New Hampshire. They were all packed to the brim, Hamilton said, with her father’s stunningly imaginative costume and set designs, clay models and maquettes from hundreds of productions and films.

“After his passing, when we were faced with the question of what to do with it all, it felt criminal to keep it all hidden away in storage where it was collecting dust and mildew,” she said. “These designs were meant to be seen and enjoyed.”

Through May 16, that is precisely the goal of “Tony Walton: Designer of Dreams,” an auction hosted by Heritage Auctions that seeks to rehome nearly 120 pieces of art and memorabilia from a treasure trove that details his creative process.

Outside of supporting his family, including his widow, Genevieve LeRoy-Walton, a portion of the proceeds will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

“We wanted to give something back to the community that was his life,” Hamilton said, “and that so nourished him and so inspired him.”

Before moving to New York, the British-born Walton studied art and design at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. Though his stage career began in 1957 — with Noël Coward’s off-Broadway production of “Conversation Piece” — he was soon after hired as a costume designer, set designer and visual consultant for Walt Disney’s “Mary Poppins.”

His first wife, Julie Andrews, had already secured the leading role — and the auction includes original costume sketches of not only her, but most of the cast.

“That was his debut on film and his first foray into film,” Hamilton said. “So that’s pretty exciting.”

Nearly 20 subsequent films would follow, including “The Boy Friend,” starring Twiggy, and “The Wiz” — the latter earning him Oscar nods for best costume design and art direction in 1978.

His stepdaughter, Bridget LeRoy, remembers Walton hand-painting the clay maquettes of Michael Jackson’s Scarecrow — down to the chocolate wrapper for a nose — Nipsey Russell’s Tin Man and Ted Ross’s Cowardly Lion, which are included in the auction alongside Yellow Brick Road concept art.

“He worked out of the home and I watched all of this stuff,” she said. “It’s beautiful and very emotional, and I just hope that these all find incredible homes and become part of a legacy that will be passed down and appreciated for generations.”

Walton’s early Broadway triumphs shine through in the auction, too, with sketches and ephemera from “The Apple Tree,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Pippin,” earning him his first Tony Award for scenic design.

“Not only did he make these costume maquettes, these statuettes, but he made models for every show he ever did,” Hamilton said, “scale models that were like little doll houses, where you could see all the details in three dimensions, in such a way that designers seldom do today.”

There’s the “Chicago” Roxie fan, which was later repurposed as wall art for Studio 54 — where Walton helped shape the club’s iconic look with neon dancer sketches and other designs and artworks — the intricate house from “The Sea Gull” and the Dickensian model of “A Christmas Carol,” which ran seasonally for a decade at Madison Square Garden.

There’s even a portfolio bursting with Walton’s costume and scenic design artwork for the 1975 Bette Midler revue, “Clams on the Half Shell.”

“At a certain point, he realized that he could quite easily develop a style gimmick that was popular and successful and that he could just keep repeating,” Hamilton said. “Instead, he would only ever take jobs that would stretch him and invite him to try something new or different, or allow him to explore something he hadn’t tried before.

“And so seeing everything together, it really came home how successful he had been in that endeavor,” she continued, “because the breadth of the work, in terms of the variety of styles and approaches and materials, it’s extraordinary.”

From project to project, those who worked with Walton came to know him as kind and giving — of his time, spirit and energy.

The same is true for his stepdaughter.

“He’s still — oh, I’m going to get emotional,” LeRoy said, her voice cracking. “He’s still giving gifts. He’s still being generous. Even being gone, he’s still being generous. And this is the final generosity. It’s like when the sun goes down, you see that little green light just before it sets. This is Tony’s little green light to all of us.”

When Hamilton thinks of her father, she misses his hugs, his affection, his lovableness, she said. “People likened him to Winnie the Pooh, he was that loveable and cuddly,” she said.

But she also misses his eye, his brilliance and his astuteness. It lives on through his legacy — on stage, screen, in those he left behind, and through his art.

“There’s nothing I would love more than to know that these pieces went to homes and institutions where they will be loved and enjoyed for future generations,” Hamilton said. “That’s my hope, that they’ll continue to bring pleasure and remind people of the magic of theater, because I think that’s very important, and I think that’s what they had the capacity to do.”

“Tony Walton: Designer of Dreams” auction, featuring sketches, models and more by the Oscar-winning scenic and costume designer, will close on Friday, May 16. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. To view the auction, visit ha.com/7400.