MY BROTHER’S TONY

An insider’s account of Clint Ramos’ Tony win for Best Costume Design

“What will you wear?”

Clint asks me that less than an hour after I’d arrived at New York’s JFK International Airport. This has been our lives’ recurring question, at least between me and my eldest brother Clint Ramos, now a Tony Awardwinning costume designer.

I pretended to gloss over the question, like I always do when I am unsure of his reception and eventual judgment. As usual, I asked him instead what he was wearing. He told me that female nominees would be styled by Vogue’s Anna Wintour and the male nominees were offered to wear tuxedos by big shot designers; Zegna had sent over his. My little redirection worked: we no longer belabored over my dress sense.

On the day I learned Clint got nominated for a Tony, the third of May, I was literally jumping for joy. I could not be happier for him. I have been witness to how Clint fought for his dreams, and this is the confirmation that it has finally paid off. Sure, he has won many awards before, but the Tony’s is a whole new league altogether. Anyone who has ever seen a Broadway play or musical would know that a Tony Award defines careers and shows.

The night before the awards, I asked Clint how he was feeling. He said simply that he was ready for whatever the outcome. I knew better, of course: I told him he was going to win. Once the words left my lips, he asked me not to say them again as they made him even more nervous. Of course, I said them again and again. That night, the Internet was flooded with predictions of who will or should win the Tony’s, and I combed through each one—in secret, of course.