Brian Hemesath graduated from St. Ambrose University in 1994 and Carnegie Mellon University in 1997 with a Master of Fine Arts degree. He is currently the costume designer for Sesame Street on HBO, for which he has received two Daytime Emmy Awards, and has been nominated for five total! His most recent nomination was last month for Sesame Street again (Holy cow!) in the Outstanding Costume Design/Styling category for the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. Hemesath lives in New York City with his husband, Drew Krake.
Hemesath took a costume design class right here at St. Ambrose University and was taught by our very own Cory Johnson, PhD. He helped design costumes for many St. Ambrose productions as a student and even came back to help with productions after he graduated. Some of his winning costumes have been showcased in the SAU Morrissey Gallery.
He was a former designer on NBC's Saturday Night Live, helping create costumes for classic digital shorts featuring Andy Samberg, such as "Mother Lover," "The Golden Rule," "Threw it on the Ground," "Boom box," " Like a Boss," "Laser Cats," and many more.
He has also designed for plays off-Broadway like Disaster! The Musical and Unbroken Circle. He recently made his Broadway costume debut with Honeymoon in Vegas, starring Tony Danza. It received great reviews, and the costumes were gloriously wonderful and elaborate as only a show about Las Vegas can be.
Hemesath's hard work and success goes to show that no matter how small a town you come from, you can accomplish your dreams if you work hard enough. He is a continual inspiration to St. Ambrose students to this very day and will continue to be for years and years to come. Way to go Brian, and keep up the hard work!
Share This Story
