CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Oscars 2025: 'Wicked' costume designer Paul Tazewell could make history at the Academy Awards

ABC7 New York: The man behind the costumes of "Wicked" is poised to make Oscars history if he walks away with a win. He's someone who tells stories without saying a word -- and while you may not know his name, you've seen his work -- from "Hamilton" to "The Color Purple," "West Side Story," and now bringing his style to "Wicked."

1 comment:

Lilly Resnick said...

I'm reading this after the Oscars. Obviously, I know the outcome of the Academy Awards, and he did make it an incredible story, which is super impressive and joyous. But reading this article, I was very impressed with how deep they went into making these costumes. spending over 200 hours on just one costume is very impressive, and given this is a movie and has a long timeline, it makes sense, but reading about all the intention they put into these characters and working with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo to build these characters up from the ground along with all the characters of Oz is just really interesting. I also read that Paul Tazewell designed the Wiz when he was 16 that was sort of the first show he designed, and so to read that and then see him designing this incredible story of Wicked was very cool. This is kind of a full-circle moment and I'm very proud that Tazewell got to bring home an Oscar this year. Another cool thing is that I learned he was a faculty member at see me drama so that is just adding another layer of depth to this designer's background and work.