Isaac Mizrahi is well-known as a clothing designer, actor and reality show participant. On March 23, Bucks County Playhouse will host a display of one of Mizrahi’s many other talents: cabaret performer.
Mizrahi is currently touring the latest incarnation of his show, which features him performing cabaret standards and pop classics. He has been taking his musical performance on the road annually since 2016, reworking the show with fresh material every year.
For those who are only familiar with Mizrahi as a designer or his appearances as an actor on dozens of TV shows, this musical side of him may come as a surprise. It may come as more of a surprise that Mizrahi has been performing musically almost his entire life, even from long before he made a name for himself as a designer of high-end fashion.
“From an early age, I was performing,” Mizrahi recounts. “As a kid, I would put on musical performances for my family.”
However, from an early age, Mizrahi’s restless creativity was drawn along multiple lines. He bought his first sewing machine at 10, launching his first label at 15. Even as his multiple fashion enterprises grew into a multi-million dollar operation, Mizrahi entered the world of acting, appearing on such shows as “Sex and the City,” “Spin City” and “Ugly Betty,” as well as in films, such as “Small Time Crooks.”
In the meantime, Mizrahi appeared on a number of fashion based reality shows, such as “Project Runway All-Stars” and “The Fashion Show.” He also did set designs for opera and Broadway.
Despite the hectic pace of his many other creative endeavors, Mizrahi’s love of musical performance was always present, and never ignored. A frequent performer at the Carlyle in New York, Mizrahi admits, “The best review I ever got in my life — the one that meant the most to me — was by the New York Times’ Stephen Holden back in 2017 of one of my shows at the Carlyle. He showed a real understanding of the work.”
On top of all this, Mizrahi somehow finds the time to have a home life. In 2011, Mizrahi married his partner of six years, Arnold Gerber. One would think that such a hectic schedule as Mizrahi’s would stress the relationship. That is not so.
“We don’t need each other for domestic roles like cleaning the house or cooking dinner,” he said. “We need each other to talk to, to be heard, to share thoughts.”
For all his love of music performance, Mizrahi continues to be a force in the fashion world, but his attitude about that has evolved over the years.
“I make clothes more than fashion,” he says, though he is still willing to whip up a piece of haute couture occasionally if a friend needs something to wear on the red carpet.
Mizrahi admits that sometimes the breadth of his creative endeavors gets daunting. “Literally, all I have is work,” he says.
But when asked if he ever feels spread thin, he responds, “Not so much — though sometimes I do feel exhausted. But then I’m energized by the act of creating, and the more creative I am, the more creative I can be.
Isaac Mizrahi will perform at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on March 23 at the Bucks County Playhouse, 70 South Main St., New Hope PA. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit bcptheater.org.