The Surprising Broadway Stories Behind the Best ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Costumes
In the third season of Hulu’s hit comedy murder mystery Only Murders in the Building, an eye-catching tie-dye hoodie has been replaced by a rattle print handkerchief as the most talked about item of clothing.
Everything centers on Oliver Putman’s (Martin Short) Broadway comeback, but the death of leading man Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) casts a long shadow on the opening night performance of Death Rattle. After surviving an on-stage collapse at the Goosebury Theater, Ben follows in Tim Kono and Bunny Folger’s bloody footsteps by dying in the pre-war luxury Arconia apartment building. Ben is clutching the opening night hanky gift in his hand, matching the ones he gave to the Death Rattle cast and crew. The custom-made token is now a vital clue that could identify the person who gave Ben a one-way trip down a temporarily broken elevator shaft.
Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), and Oliver all have different priorities this season. As the suspect list grows, there is a continuing push-pull between those who want to investigate Ben’s death and those with Broadway on their mind. While they can’t agree on the future of their podcast, they remain some of the best-dressed sleuths on television. As with previous seasons, the outerwear, knits, boots, and scarves make me wish it was fall already—I haven’t guessed who the killer is yet, but I am certain Mabel will influence my wardrobe for the third year in a row.
Another item I am coveting is the bespoke Death Rattle handkerchief. “It was a co-departmental effort between my department, props, and our graphic artists,” says costume designer Dana Covarrubias. While we couldn’t squeeze any additional clues about whose hanky is in Ben’s hand, the recently Emmy Award-nominated Covarrubias spoke to The Daily Beast’s Obsessed about the evolution of the podcast trio and new cast of characters, including how guest star Meryl Streep’s past informed the present wardrobe of her character Loretta, a struggling actress.
One recurring motif is how Oliver’s Broadway comeback and the decision to turn Death Rattle from a straight play to a musical influences the sartorial direction, which the designer relished: “I've been a theater nerd forever, and I was very excited that this season revolved around theater, Broadway, and musicals specifically. That was my main inspiration.”
Mabel’s Musical Wardrobe
In a voiceover, Mabel admits that she thinks “theater is kinda lame,” but that doesn’t stop Covarrubias from packing the character’s closet with references to famous shows. Last year, Covarrubias drew color palettes and silhouettes from Alfred Hitchcock's leading women, Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren, Grace Kelly, and Eva Marie Saint. Now she is taking a stylish trip through some of the biggest Broadway productions. “I think every costume—there might have been one that snuck by—is based on a specific musical theatre piece,” Covarrubias says.
As with the nods to Hitchcock, it isn’t a case of dressing Mabel in a replica of a recognizable look. After all, this is a contemporary setting, and Mabel has an established aesthetic. Instead, these style cues are woven into the garments by adapting elements to Mabel’s signature pieces: her slouchy knitwear, cozy coats, and eye-catching patterns. “You do have to keep a consistent throughline with their costumes so it's not jarringly different,” she says. However, Covarrubias keeps it fresh by utilizing character arcs and, in Mabel’s case, how she is taking charge of the podcast: “That's probably why her color palette was a little more muted and a little darker, because I wanted her to feel like our lead investigator.”
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Mabel isn’t part of the Goosebury Theater production, but she does have an emotional connection to Ben’s work from her childhood. Her presence at the table read four months before the murder isn’t entirely out of the blue, and Mabel’s trench coat mirrors what Ben will briefly wear on stage before his collapse. “The look that she wears to the table read with the cute little knit sweater vest was all inspired by Little Shop of Horrors,” Covarrubias says. Not only did Steve Martin star in the 1986 movie adaptation, but Loretta mentions she was cast in an early version of this musical.
Another addition to Mabel’s closet is a fuzzy green plaid Apparis teddy coat that she puts on for a late-night trip to the Pickle Diner, which is put on hold when Ben’s lifeless body crashes through the elevator ceiling. This pattern is incredibly versatile, and inspired by the loud plaid suits in the New York-set musical Guys & Dolls.
In the second episode, a different city provided the foundation of Mabel’s funeral-ready attire. “It was a black and white pinstripe shirt with a pinstripe suit and a white cap toe boot. The overcoat was pinstripe, too,” she says. “There's a beautiful costume in Chicago that's all sequined pinstripe that the women wear in the prison.”
Covarubbias is not restricting herself by decade in her musical inspiration, as demonstrated in the third episode with Mabel’s purple plaid button-down shirt taking inspiration from the 1920s musical Showboat. Earlier in the same episode, Mabel’s Wales Bonner jacket (that also appears on the Season 3 poster) mixes Mary from ’70s sensation Jesus Christ Superstar with another wink to Guys & Dolls—which debuted on Broadway in 1950.
Oliver’s Bob Fosse Influence
An overt homage to this genre comes courtesy of Oliver and his Bob Fosse-fueled epiphany to transform Death Rattle into the all-singing Death Rattle Dazzle, featuring Mabel, Charles, and Oliver’s son Will (Ryan Broussard). “It's a dream sequence, which allows us to get away with a lot, to imagine what Oliver would picture them wearing,” Covarrubias says. Taking a page from All That Jazz, it is a sequins extravaganza that offers a playful tip of the bowler hat to the season's themes.
“We've established such a specific look for Mabel that it is a little jarring when we tried something different on in fittings. And there's also Selena's pop music personality that she's had,” says the designer. “It's interesting finding a mix of this performance look, but that still is Mabel. I think she [Gomez] had a lot of fun with it.”
This fantasy also includes a nod to Season 2 guest star Shirley MacLaine and the “cool dance sequence” from the 1969 Fosse-directed and choreographed Sweet Charity movie adaptation, which features sequined black and white costumes designed by eight-time Oscar winner Edith Head.
While Oliver isn’t ditching his favored mustards and purples (and paisleys) for his return to the stage, Covarrubias does amp up his theatricality in other ways. “We used Bob Fosse as a little bit of an inspiration for some of his directorial looks,” she explains. “He has to be able to roll up his sleeves and demonstrate how he wants the scene to be.”
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Meanwhile, Charles is not only torn between the podcast and the play, but he is also stepping out of his comfort zone with the musical: “We tried to show that with the costume by putting a little more color and pattern in all of his costumes than he's ever worn in previous seasons for Charles. It’s not crazy.”
Meryl Streep’s Sliding Doors
Another significant Oliver development this season is his crackling romance with Streep’s previously undiscovered Loretta. Both characters share a fondness for a certain accessory: “That was definitely on purpose that we wanted them to be scarf lovers,” Covarrubias says.
Loretta's shawls also connect to her lifelong dream to become an actor and that act of playing dress-up: “When you’re a kid, you take a little scarf, and it’s your turban one second, then it’s your shawl the next second, and then you can tie it around your waist, and it’s your skirt.” In adulthood, it can still be used in multiple ways to help create character. “Loretta’s this transformative actress. She would have a piece like that, that she can throw on her body in a certain way and transform into whoever she’s being in that moment,” says Covarubbias.
Covarrubias explains that Streep will often either wear clothes that act as a blank slate, such as a black button-down with a crisp collar paired with simple black pants, or statement items like a paisley shawl “that she took from a Chekhov production she was in.” The pair collaborated on backstories for the productions that Loretta might have acquired garments from with “a little bit of a design aspect to it.”
In real life, Streep got her big break on Broadway in the 1970s. Covarrubias says that Only Murders showrunner John Hoffman wanted to take a sliding doors version of Streep's life with this character: “What if she’d never gotten famous, and she would have just kept pounding the pavement in New York?” Covarrubias looked at how Streep dressed in the ’70s to influence the color and silhouette choices in Loretta’s present: “It was great that there's a wealth of research images to find pictures of how she dressed.”
Producer Donna and Cliff’s Fabulousness
Loretta’s journey is a figurative wealth of riches that allows Covarrubias to do something different. However, there is still room for a character “who represented a fabulosity that exists on the Upper West Side that is moneyed.” Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell) and MacLaine masquerading as Bunny’s mother, have previously fulfilled this role. Enter three-time Tony-nominee actress Linda Emond as producer Donna Demeo to fill that extravagant gap — this woman “loves to dress but still means business.”
Making bolder choices for characters is a daunting experience, and Covarrubias says, “I'm glad that the directors and showrunners were happy to go in that direction.” Donna’s statement jewelry, luxurious rotation of coats, and exquisite fabric choices are matched by her adult son Cliff (Wesley Taylor), who is also producing Death Rattle. He is equally “theatrical and fabulous,” whether in a patchwork Acne Studios jacket or sporting a Pal Zileri floral brocade evening jacket for opening night.
Not only do these larger-than-life characters fit into the Arconia world, but they are based on real-life mother/son Broadway producing team Daryl and Jordan Roth. Covarrubias mentions Jordan Roth has “amazing style,” which includes wearing something that appears this season.
In the premiere, Donna sports a stunning black and white Sergio Hudson dramatic draped coat, and about two months after they shot the episode, Covarrubias opened Instagram to see this exact high-end designer piece: “I saw Jordan Roth, who was our inspiration for Cliff, wearing that same coat. Isn't that insane?” (RHONY’s Brynn Whitfield also wore the same statement coat on a visit to the hair salon in a recent episode)
Across three seasons of Only Murders, Covarrubias has cracked the costume case. With Broadway as the backdrop, the costume designer ensures these garments sing.
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