Mad About Music

Johann Sebastian Bach Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971. Andante. Tatiana Nikolayeva, Piano. Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga MK 418013.

Igor Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms. Part I. CBC Symphony Orchestra. Igor Stravinsky. The Festival Singers of Toronto . CBS Masterworks 42434.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Così fan tutte, K588. “Come scoglio”. Vienna Chamber Orchestra. György Fischer. Cecilia Bartoli. London/Decca 443452.

Maurice Ravel Daphnis et Chloé. Danse générale. Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Choir. Charles Dutoit. Decca 289 458 605.

The Beach Boys Pet Sounds. Capitol 72435-26266.

Dmitri Shostakovich Concerto for Cello No. 1, Op. 107. Allegretto. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Yuri Temirkanov. Natalia Gutman, Cello. RCA Victor Read Seal 7918.

Benjamin Britten Peter Grimes. Interlude I. Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra and Chorus. Sir Colin Davis. Jon Vickers, et al. Philips 289 462 847.

Johann Sebastian Bach Mass in B minor BWV 232. “Dona nobis pacem”. Concentus Musicus Wien. Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Arnold Schoenberg Chor. Angela Maria Blasi, Delores Ziegler, Jadwiga Rappé, Kurt Equiluz, Robert Holl. Teldec 8573-81149. Kaplan Award-winning fashion designer and music lover, Isaac Mizrahi, on today's edition of “Mad About Music.”

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He has won the fashion industry's coveted Designer of the Year Award, equally happy dressing movie stars such as Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, and Sarah Jessica Parker, in those fancy one-of-a-kind gowns you've seen on the red carpet at the Academy Awards, as well as all those women strutting out of Target stores carrying away his $9.99 tank tops and bargain basement tweed skirts. His performance as a zany TV talk show host prompted one magazine to suggest that Leno and Letterman should take lessons from him. Along the way, he's performed in the theater, in a film starring as himself, in the highly acclaimed documentary, “Unzipped.” What has remained a secret, though, until today, is that this fashion revolutionary actually started out as a classical concert pianist. Isaac Mizrahi, welcome to “Mad About Music.”

Mizrahi Hello! How are you? So good to be here!

Kaplan Now, I suppose we should start with how you went wrong. You've done so much right in your life, but here you went wrong, abandoning a career of music, and you really join a club of other “Mad About Music” guests, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, architect Rafael Viñoly , even former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak, all of whom started out to be musicians, and then went wrong. So now, how serious was your early pursuit of music?

Mizrahi Well, you know, it was pretty serious. Of course when you say that I was going be this concert pianist, it makes it sound a little bit more serious. I had thought about it, I had lessons from a very, very, you know, young age. And there was a moment when I was preparing to go to Performing Arts High School, preparing for the auditions for that whole thing, when I thought, this is like a crossroads, I either have to decide to do this, or not.

Kaplan What did you play at the auditions?

Mizrahi Well actually, I remember, there was something that I performed, sort of an arrangement of my own of George Gershwin's “The Man I Love,” being the big drama queen that I am, I thought, here's my opportunity to sort of bowl these people over. And then, I remember it was something – I'm not exactly sure, it was one of those very fast sonatinas of one of those Bach sons, like C.P.E. Bach, or Carl Emmanuel, whatever it is, and it was very, very fast, and sort of like mechanical, and I kept getting to like the third measure or the fifth measure or something like that, and stopping. I had committed it to memory, of course, and I had this crazy mental block and finally, after the third, they said, OK, relax, breathe – they were encouraging me to finish. And finally, the third time this happened, I just burst into tears. And I remember, I thought, finally, after the tears and the whole sort of emotional whatever it was, torrent was finished, I was able to play the thing very successfully. But I thought, you can't do this. You can't be a concert pianist and burst into tears in front of an audience, that's just not going to work. So it was that moment, actually, in that audition room where I decided that I really should not be a serious, you know, concert pianist, or a musician, you know.

Kaplan Well, I see that Bach, in fact, the Bach family has obviously had its influence on you because your first selection today is not from the son, but from the father, Johann Sebastian Bach, and it's his Italian Concerto . Is that work something you just love, or you have some connection to that?

Mizrahi Well, you know, I mean, when asked to make a list of your favorite music, it's very, very difficult, but of course any time I'm asked to do that, I start the list with Bach, because to me, it's like saying, you know, my favorite literature is the Bible or something? It is Biblical, it has that kind of proportion in my mind, Bach. And, you know, I grew up learning those two-part inventions, that's how I was taught to play the piano. I mean, it's just the greatest lessons. It's very hard stuff, those two-part inventions, so I obviously had to be at a certain level before I started that, and you know the reason that I picked the Italian Concerto is because it's something that I could have played at some point. I played it – I don't know, ten years ago. I sat down and sort of learned it. That's what happens now – every ten years, I have like a little romance with my piano for a year, and I learn something or three things, or five things. And then I just kind of turn my back on the piano again. It's very sad. It's like a sort of love thing, love-hate thing. You know, the Italian Concerto is something that I played, not obviously brilliantly, or even to tempo, but that middle part, the slow part, that is something so beautiful to me, just the whole approach to melody, you know, Bach's whole approach to melody there is so like – it's very much, it's very Bach-like, and it's so beautiful.

[Music]

Kaplan The Andante movement from Bach's Italian Concerto , with pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva, the first selection of my guest on today's edition of “Mad About Music,” award-winning fashion designer, Isaac Mizrahi. Now, let's turn to music and fashion, and I suppose the first question ought to be, do you ever use classical music for your music on the runway?

Mizrahi Well, yes, I do. And that is usually my last straw. You know, because it's inspired. Usually I'm very inspired by classical music. As a matter of fact, when I went to Parsons, even then, I'm also very, I'm sort of a big movie aficionado, I like going to the movies a lot. And I had just been to a revival of Visconti's “Death in Venice .” The point is that in that movie, he uses that Mahler, that Fifth Symphony, I think it is? As this very dramatic music that moves the thing along. That was my first time that I ever sort of used classical music to present fashion. And later, I made the mistake of using it a lot, and it doesn't really motivate fashion buyers and the fashion press to think like, oh, wow, this happy cheerful stuff that we're going to take pictures of and buy, you know what I mean? Usually, it sort of depresses them and puts them to sleep.

Kaplan What else have you used, then, on the runway, which is more upbeat?

Mizrahi Oh, you know, sometimes I use like arias from Handel, or something like that, because they have a pace to them, you know. I've used Purcell on the runway – it's funny, I don't really use that dramatic 19 th century stuff, like that opera that a lot of fashion designers use, somehow all of a sudden, you hear an aria from Norma , or something, watching I don't know what clothes come down there, but I never use that anyway.

Kaplan Well, you know, speaking of opera, you have not only designed clothes that women wear normally, but you've also designed costumes for opera and the ballet. And I'm wondering, how much less freedom do you have with those assignments than you do obviously in your own work -- you just do what you want. Here, you're engaged to do something that has to work.

Mizrahi Oh, no! Are you kidding? It's the exact opposite! I mean, when you're making clothes for a woman, there is, like, let's say, 10% fantasy and 90% reality and utile, workable, sort of design. And when you're designing clothes for the opera, it's mostly about the fantasy, it's about the character. I've been so lucky, and I've worked with some great, great people, directors, my best friend Mark Morris; you know, I've designed a lot of things that he's done. For instance, Platée , which is coming up at the City Opera, having a revival there, and you know, doing that is simply one of the most fun jobs you could think of as designer, because someone says, OK, you know, design a frog queen who lives in a swamp. That's a lot of fun. I can't explain to you why that's just much more engaging to me as a designer than thinking about what sweater a woman wants to wear to work.

Kaplan Well, maybe I'm not surprised, then, to see your connection to ballet show up in your music where I see your next selection comes from one of the great composers of ballet music, Stravinsky.

Mizrahi Right. Well, you know, I have to say that my exposure to music has a lot to do with a) my piano lessons as a kid, but b) my attention to ballet as a young kid and a teenager and a young adult. Going to City ballet when I was a kid, and recognizing – it wasn't like I was picking through all this music at that time. Before I got to Performing Arts, and was exposed to the world of music, it was just George Balanchine's selection of music, so I loved Tchaikovsky as a kid and I loved Stravinsky as a kid, and don't ask me why, I mean, Stravinsky is not the most kid-friendly music in the world. And I think Petrouchka is one of the great things ever written. It just drives me crazy, and this thing, one of my selections, actually, that I gave you, the Symphony of Psalms , there's a little story involved with my friend Twyla Tharp, who's also a great musicologist. I mean, she knows a lot about music, Twyla, which is what I think makes her a great choreographer, you know. And we were talking about Stravinsky, talking about Balanchine, probably because we were all obsessed with Balanchine, and she said something about the greatest piece of music, to her, ever written is the Symphony of Psalms . And I said, “Oh, of course!”; you know, the Symphony of Psalms , never having heard it before in my life. I was so embarrassed, but there I was sort of lying on the spot, the next, we left lunch or wherever we were, and I ran to Tower Records and bought a copy of Symphony of Psalms , and since then, it's been one of my favorite pieces of music.

[Music]

Kaplan Part One of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms , the CBC Symphony Orchestra with the Toronto Festival Singers, under the baton of Stravinsky himself. A selection of my guest on “Mad About Music” today, fashion designer, and as we've learned, ballet and opera costume designer, Isaac Mizrahi. You can learn more about Isaac Mizrahi or listen to any of our prior shows by just logging on to our website at wnyc.org and then just click on “Mad About Music.” When we return, we'll talk about the role music plays in Isaac Mizrahi's life today.

[Station break]

Kaplan This is Gilbert Kaplan with my guest on “Mad About Music”, award-winning fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. Now, looking over your musical selections today, it's clear that you have very, very broad, almost eclectic taste. But, I see no Beethoven, no Brahms.

Mizrahi That's right. I love Brahms to death, I mean, you know there are things of Brahms I could have probably put on this list. But I feel that yet I have to go through a Brahms phase, or something? I haven't. I love it, and I think maybe when I'm older, I'll focus on Brahms – make sense?

Kaplan Beethoven?

Mizrahi Beethoven? That's like saying you love mayonnaise. It's so – everywhere, you know? It's hard to say that you love the Empire State Building . If there were twelve buildings in the world that you were supposed to pick that you loved, one of them would probably be the Empire State Building , but it sounds so trite to me. So maybe I'm just being a big sort of phony or something. Maybe this isn't really my favorite music. Maybe it's just my attempt at being “interesting.”

Kaplan Well, interesting is as interesting as your favorite!

Mizrahi Right, right, right, right…

Kaplan But there are some composers, I suspect, that you don't connect to though.

Mizrahi That I don't connect to?

Kaplan You do not connect to.

Mizrahi I don't really connect to, like, you know, those big operas that I loved. I loved as a kid, likeVerdi and Bellini. I don't really. I mean, I think they're beautiful, but I just for some reason they leave me cold. Maybe it's the drama or something, I prefer the kind of manners of Baroque music, or something, and the manner of, like, of contemporary music, I don't know. Maybe that's just that.

Kaplan So I suppose that would rule out Wagner, too, then.

Mizrahi Yes, Wagner, surely, it rules out Wagner. But, again, I have this feeling I'm going to go through a Wagner phase in my old age. I'm going to sort of, all of a sudden, it's going to dawn on me. Because so many of my friends adore it, people I respect so much. And, again, it leaves me cold, and I think, well, someday it's going to absolutely make me hot.

Kaplan All right ….

Mizrahi I look forward to that.

Kaplan All right, then, let's turn to music you do love. In this case, Mozart.

Mizrahi I can't help loving Mozart. That's another like sort of Empire State Building moment. But again, I grew up playing Mozart very easily. Like if the piano teacher would sort of give a lesson of Mozart, like falling off a log. I would just play it, you know? And I'm not proud of that. I probably play it so badly that I don't notice, or something. But actually, I have this really funny story about a psychic, once, in L.A. I was having this psychic reading. And he said, “Oh you play the piano. Is that right?” And I said, “Yes.” He said, “Who taught you to play the piano?” I said, “Well, I had a teacher, Miss Rivlin, I had Mr. Small, then I had this other guy, blah, blah.” “No, no, no,” he said, “Who taught you how to play the piano? You knew how to play the piano before you had lessons, right?” And I said, “Yeah, you know, I had an ear, and I could play the piano.” He said, “No, no, here's who taught you how to play the piano. Mozart taught you how to play. If anyone asks you, you tell them that you were a lady in that time, that he taught her to play the piano. He was in love with you.” And it was this whole reading about how Mozart was in love with me. And I thought, well, that's right. And maybe I was Marie Antoinette, too, in my former life, you know. So I have this strange affinity with Mozart. Well, when I saw, the first performance I ever saw of Così fan tutte was very late in my life, in the 80s, and I saw Cecilia Bartoli, and I think she sort of nailed it. And I loved it because her voice is not gigantic, you know, and it didn't really fill up the Met in that way that you normally associate the Met, but it did sort of make it into this little chamberie-feeling thing, you know. It was so delicate what she did with it. I just loved it.

[Music]

Kaplan The aria “Come scoglio” from Act I of Mozart's Così fan tutte , sung by mezzo soprano Cecilia Bartoli, with the Vienna Chamber Ensemble, led by György Fischer. A work chosen by my guest today on “Mad About Music,” fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. Let's talk about how music intersects with your work. In the film “Unzipped,” you reveal that old movies are often a source of inspiration for you when it comes to creating designs. Now, early in the show, you said music inspires you. Can you give an example of how music has influenced your design? I'm just thinking of the movie “Fantasia” where …

Mizrahi Right. For instance, “Fantasia,” but there's a sort of a thing in this world whereby you hear music and you see color. And that happens to me. And, you know, of all the collaborations I've had in the theatre, people have said they've come to work with me, they've asked to work with me because of that sense of music as it relates to color. Like I don't think I get that wrong. I get other things wrong, but I don't get that wrong. Like, I listen to Schubert and I hear like all different shades of purple and black and brown, for some reason, you know.

Kaplan And if one were to take Bach?

Mizrahi Oh, that's a whole other thing. I once made costumes for Bach, for Mark, again. He made this thing called “Falling Down Stairs,” which was one of the beautiful, beautiful cello concertos, and it was played on the cello by Mr. Yo-Yo Ma. And, you know, the sadness of that music just, you know, kind of inspired me to do these beautiful kind of painterly dark colors of all different kinds. They were all warm colors. And they were very, very related; it was all this dark, dark red.

Kaplan Well, that's fascinating. I'll give you a chance to comment on one other composer because I see that Ravel is on your list – it is ballet music, so first Ravel, and color.

Mizrahi OK. Well, I mean, that's one word. You can say color and Ravel, right? It's the same exact thing. I can't even tell you what it is of Ravel that I love so much. I mean, I think I chose – what did I choose? Daphnis and Chloé or something like that? Because it's beautiful. Or it could be La valse , it could be anything that Ravel wrote. Because I feel that more than a specific piece of music, he influenced music now, or music since Ravel, in such a profound way. It's like saying, you know, like Mondrian, how did he influence painting? Or something? Or Manet? You can't really tell. In every single painting after Manet, you see Manet in the painting, or in Mondrian's case, for instance. And that's how I feel about Ravel.

[Music]

Kaplan The conclusion of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloé suite, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Chorus led by Charles Dutoit. Music selected by my guest today on “Mad About Music,” fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. You know, earlier in the show, I mentioned how you combine expensive couture design side by side with bargain basement clothes, also well designed. An approach that led one observer to say it was equivalent to a champagne lifestyle and baseball park hotdogs. Which, in a way, is not a bad transition to the next part of our show, which we call the “Wildcard,” where you can pick music from any genre. It can be rock, it can be pop, we've had some wonderful selections. So, what “Wildcard” did you bring us today?

Mizrahi Well, I brought the Beach Boys, actually “Pet Sounds,” which is one of my favorite records. And I have to say, it just happens, when asked to make this list of my favorite music; I don't even see this as a “Wildcard”. This is like something I would include on any list. And it happens that the music that I picked is all sort of classical music; do you know what I mean? Just because I love that most. But this would definitely make it on my list of top 12 things, anytime; you call it the “Wildcard”, I call it gorgeous, fabulous, you know, earth-shattering music.

[Music]

Kaplan “Pet Sounds” by the Beach Boys, the “Wildcard” selection by my guest on “Mad About Music” today, award-winning fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. I mean, a corollary of whether music influences you, I suppose is, do you keep music on in the background when you're designing?

Mizrahi Well, I used to obsessively. There was this recording I had as a kid of Threepenny Opera . I saw a performance of it very, very young. It was actually Joseph Papp, and it was fantastic, starring Raoul Julia as Mack the Knife, and I got the record and I just had that thing on like until it was just worn away completely. Now, I find music a bit distracting. You know, I can't have music on while I'm working, which is, I guess, a function of aging.

Kaplan But also, maybe even more sensitivity to music that you actually want to listen to it, rather than let it become background music.

Mizrahi Right! Or perhaps more sensitivity to my work! I guess I want to actually do what I'm doing now, but, so.

Kaplan Let's then jump to the 20 th century, which we haven't lingered in too much, and I see your next selection is Shostakovich.

Mizrahi Yes it is. I love Shostakovich. I think I was drawn to the piece I gave you, this cello concert. I've always been so fascinated with those little piano etudes that he wrote that are just like the two-part inventions of Bach, they're sort of written after them, I think. And you know I've loved those forever. And I was in Edinburgh once, designing something and I was there alone, and you know how there's a show every two hours, and there was this big show that night of a Russian symphony – I don't know exactly which one it was, but they were playing something of Shostakovich, and I said it's a go, because I had nothing to do, I'll go, and I couldn't get anyone to go with me, I was alone, right? I had such a revelation in that hall, listening to that beautiful thing. It was this crazy old Russian lady playing the cello, I don't remember her name, but she could have exploded off that stage, it was so beautiful. And it was just like, for me, a watershed, because that became one of my favorite pieces of music that moment.

[Music]

KaplanThe opening movement of Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto , the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and soloist Natalia Gutman, with conductor Yuri Temirkanov. A selection of my guest on today's edition of “Mad About Music,” award-winning designer, Isaac Mizrahi. When we return, we'll explore Isaac Mizrahi's emotional response to music.

[Station break]

Kaplan This is Gilbert Kaplan with my guest on today's edition of “Mad About Music,” fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. You know, I'm struck by the emotional response that seems to drive your description of the music you have chosen. Does music often bring you to tears, especially when you're feeling down?

Mizrahi What's funny about me is when I feel down, I don't cry. And when I feel fine, is when I cry. And usually, it's a response to music. Isn't that funny? It's a response to music and a response to baseball, I have no idea why. Like, if Bernie Williams hits a home run, I just bawl! I start crying. It makes me cry. Or, if like, I hear in the shower, I'm listening to a recording of I don't know what, you know, some beautiful aria, sung by some beautiful soprano, I just start to cry. If I ever had to cry on cue, like on camera, for instance, I would definitely turn to music to make me cry, because it's foolproof. That's one foolproof way of making me cry. That's two, baseball and music.

KaplanAll right, well, I see your next selection is a composer who I don't think too many people have accused of making them cry, but a fascinating composer, Benjamin Britten.

Mizrahi Oh, Benjamin Britten! Are you kidding? That makes me cry like crazy! It's written to make you cry, it's built like an orgasm, that thing! It's – he keeps all this tension, all this tension up, and finally you get the release, you know. And it's usually of tears, for me. I picked Peter Grimes , because I think it's the perfect example of that. I could have picked one of his other operas, like Midsummer Night's Dream , which is my other favorite thing. But I love Peter Grimes because it is an example of that thing where you just think you're going to die of delight because of the way it's presented. The structure of it. You know? Peter Grimes .

[Music]

KaplanThe first “Sea Interlude” from Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes . The Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra led by Sir Colin Davis, a selection of my guest on “Mad About Music,” fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. Now, I'd like to go directly to your final selection, which interestingly, is Bach. We open with Bach, now we close with Bach. The only composer to merit two spots on your list. In this case, though, it's the massive B minor Mass .

Mizrahi That's right. That's some piece of music, boy. It just makes all other non-religious music seem so vulgar to me, you know. This isn't about this Mass , but it sort of expresses exactly how I feel about this Mass . I was with my mother once in Paris and we were at Notre Dame, at mass, one Sunday morning, and they were singing this fabulous thing, and there we were, in this amazing building with this music going, I don't even think it was this Mass , but it was a beautiful mass, and she turned to me and she said, “This is enough to make you want to convert.”

[Music]

Kaplan“Dona nobis pacem”, the concluding moments of Bach's B minor Mass , Concentus Musicus Wien, led by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, with the Arnold Schoenberg Chorus. The final selection of my guest on “Mad About Music,” fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi. As we close, I want to come back to one point you mentioned earlier. You said that every ten years you go back to romancing the piano. I mean, are we in one of those periods now?

Mizrahi No, sadly, we're not. And it's so funny because I am working on a renovation of my little place in Bridgehampton, and there's going to be a room, an extra room, for a piano, which is crazy, because I don't really play – and by the way, the more pianos I have in my life, the less I play them. You know? So, I don't know what this is all about.

KaplanWell, what would be some of the pieces you've always wanted to play? Maybe you didn't think you were up to them, then, but if you worked on it, you could play them. The ones that have gotten away that would be just great.

Mizrahi Well, I would have to say they would be all the things that aren't as obvious. Like Bartók, I've always wanted to play some Bartók. I had to play it as a kid. It was sort of, you know, those crazy, micro cosmos or whatever that stuff was, and it drove me mad, and I sort of hated it, but now I just love it so much, and wish I could devour it. I probably actually love to play Brahms, you know, speaking of Brahms, because I really didn't play too much of that as a kid. That's the other thing about my old age. I see myself as an old man playing bridge and playing the piano. That's going to be my old age. I'm not going to work anymore, I'm just going to play the piano and play bridge.

KaplanWell, then, I guess I would be remiss if I didn't ask you this last question. Namely, do you ever regret that you did not pursue that career in music?

Mizrahi Well, no, actually I never regretted it because I have a career in fashion, and you know, I used to really have this kind of magical love for fashion, and I still do in many ways, but it has been very demystified for me. A lot of the glamour has been stripped away because I work so hard in it. Even the entertainment business, you know, I've made costumes, and I've hosted my own television show, and I did my own one-man on Off-Broadway – even that has lost some of its mystery and glamour because I work so hard in that field. You know? Thank goodness I didn't pursue the music thing because I don't want anything to take away that magical sort of spell that it casts over me.

Kaplan Well, there may not have been this music career for you, but from the perspective of this show, “Mad About Music,” I'd like to believe that somehow all that music early in your life has influenced and has shown up in some of those wonderful creations you've made. Isaac Mizrahi, you've been a wonderful guest today on “Mad About Music.”

Mizrahi Well, thank you. You've been a wonderful host.

Kaplan Thank you for joining us. This is Gilbert Kaplan, for “Mad About Music.”

[Credits]

About Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended the High School of Performing Arts as an acting major and studied fashion at Parsons School of Design.

In 1987, Mizrahi opened his own clothing business and is a three time CFDA Designer of the Year award winner. In 1998 he closed the ready to wear company and most recently he announced his partnership with Target Stores to create an exclusive collection of women's sportswear and accessories.

Mizrahi has designed costumes for movies, theatre, dance and opera in collaboration with Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Bill T. Jones and Mikhail Baryshnikov.  In 2002 he received the Drama Desk Award for his costume design of THE WOMEN.

In 1995, Mizrahi was the subject of the highly acclaimed documentary UNZIPPED, directed by Douglas Keeve which won the 1995 Audience Award for Documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival.  Distributed by Miramax Films, the film was screened internationally at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals and opened nationally on August 4, 1995.  In 1996, Isaac Mizrahi and Douglas Keeve received a special CFDA Award for bringing the fashion world to cinema.

In 1997, Mizrahi wrote a series of comic books entitled THE ADVENTURES OF SANDEE THE SUPERMODEL (published by Simon & Schuster,) now in development as a major motion picture.  He is also developing a script from Jonathan Ames' THE EXTRA MAN in association with Killer Films.  He just appeared off-Broadway in his one man show entitled LES MIZRAHI, which was produced by the Drama Department. Currently, he is the host of his own talk show on the Oxygen Network.

Mr. Mizrahi's interests lie in the entertainment industry as well as in fashion and he dreams one day of merging the two fields, functioning as the first entertainer/designer.