Broadway Buzz | Broadway.com: Costume designer Susan Hilferty could measure Wicked’s life in the Broadway production’s she’s worked on since building the wardrobe of Oz—15. She could also measure it in the Tony nominations that followed her 2004 win for her Wicked artistry—four. Or, she could let the changing hues on her head tell their own story—“I was a brunette and now I have silver hair.”
6 comments:
Wicked was such an influential show in so many ways, and the costumes were absolutely gorgeous. I remember seeing the people of Oz’s green costumes and being amazed at the atmosphere they created. The overall futuristic/steampunk/but still historic while fantastical look of the show is so specific and magical. It was interesting to read Susan Hilferty’s quote, “Elphaba’s from the earth, and Glinda’s from the sky.” It does make so much sense looking back. Glenda literally flies on stage in a bubble. The inspiration for Fiyero’s look also makes complete sense. I definitely think of the princes (of Britain) in either military regalia or playing polo on horses, so the fact that she created Fiyero’s pants with the intent of portraying power and wealth worked perfectly. Wicked, as mentioned, became a sensation that the team didn’t expect. Although it’s the dream for many who work on a production, a show blowing up the way Wicked did is rare. I can’t imagine looking back on the work she did and realizing that millions of people have seen her designs come to life.
I really enjoyed this article because Wicked was one of the first shows that I have seen, and I am quite interested in exploring costume design as a potential career. It was great to learn about Susan Hilferty’s past and how she got into working on Wicked. Learning about how people get into their specific careers or jobs has always been something really interesting and helpful for me. It’s also nice to hear from designers’ perspectives on the shows that they have worked on. I never really noticed how detailed and actually colorful Elphaba’s “Wicked Witch” dress is in the show. The dress truly has so many nuances that would be fun to design or work on. It is crazy how many hand-sewn sequins are on Glinda’s blue dress. I wonder how long it took to make it, and how they were able to make it structurally stable. I also love the fact that Glinda’s dress is inspired by Dior. It truly shows how much thought and detail was put into making and designing these costumes.
I feel like I have written so many blog responses to “Wicked” articles, but for good reason. As I will say until the day I die, this show is genuinely so incredible and I love it with my whole being. As someone who wants to go into costume design or costume production, I was very excited to read this article. Especially because I love the costumes of “Wicked”. Last year I interned at a costume production studio in New York where I got to work on garments for the show! This mostly entailed sewing buttons and assisting during a fitting, however, I had the chance to watch my coworkers produce more complex costumes. I thought it was really cool to learn that Susan Hilferty also designed costumes for “Into the Woods”, my other favorite musical! She said that Elphaba and Glinda were inspired by the contrast of the Earth and the sky, which definitely shows through and makes so much sense for their characters.
I always love the articles that come out on the anniversaries of shows. I thoroughly enjoy looking into the mind of a successful designer. The only articles that explain the designer's choices tend to come out right when the show hits Broadway, and at that time, most people don't have access to go see it; thus it becomes irrelevant. I found it so interesting that Susan Hilferty had primarily only done contemporary plays, classic Shakespeare’s, and revivals before Wicked. Wicked is such a fantastical world, and to create a world from the ground up so successfully on the first try is incredible. I commented on the combination of earth, Elphaba, and sky, Glinda, on my previous Buzzfeed article post but I truly find it so wonderful. I found Hilferty’s comments on Fiero’s costume very inspiring, as well. I enjoyed how she highlighted the way that our subconscious associations have such power over us. It is an important reminder to remember when designing.
I always love behind the scenes articles of a show. Watching a show and absorbing all the design elements is always interesting, you make interpretations either consciously or unconsciously based on what you see and hear. So watching a show I would say I notice a lot of things and make quite a few connections as to why a design choice was made. But I love hearing from the designers to hear exactly what their intentions were behind something. Because I know that everything they created was very specific and intentional. I also believe that hearing from the designers gives one a better understanding of the show overall. Hearing her ideas for the costumes in wicked and talking about how she made the choices she did was fascinating to me. While I am not a costume designer I still appreciate all the design choices she made and the theories and intentions behind them. In the end I just love reading these articles.
I still can’t really comprehend how Wicked has been open for so long now! All of the news surrounding their anniversary has been so fun to watch. I especially liked reading this article, as I learned a lot about the costume design that I’d never thought about. The thought of Elphaba being earth-related and Glinda connecting with the sky seems like a transparent idea, but I’d never put two-and-two together before, and the idea that she looked into natural stones from the earth, and coal, in relation to Elphaba was so cool to think about. As well as that the challenge they had to make Glinda’s gown look weightless despite it’s dense and large size was great to learn about - it’s a good reminder that when designing you have to think of some of the complications that could come in the way of a cool thought, and how you might need to tackle them.
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