Akron native Paul Tazewell packed Cartwright Hall at Kent State University Sept. 18 with about 650 community members eager to hear about his celebrated costume design career and passion for working with students.
“Wicked” was one of the big topics of the evening, namely Tazewell’s Academy Award-winning costume designs for the first film as well as costumes that will soon be seen in “Wicked: For Good,” to be released Nov. 21.
“It was an amazing experience for me, unlike what I’ve ever experienced, to have access to the number of excellent makers, costume makers, and also to be able to collaborate with (director) John Chu and (actresses) Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, just on and on and on,” said Tazewell, who enjoys the collaborative process.
Tazewell, 61, was the first Black man to win an Academy Award for costume design.
“That experience, the story and the fact that I was acknowledged for my work, was just so very, very meaningful. Every time that I think about it, I have to pinch myself. It really speaks to everything and all the reasons that I do what I do,” he said.
With the “Wicked” premiere, his work was brought into the public eye like never before.
“I collaborated with major institutions, saw my face on marketing campaigns and, most importantly, saw my Black face aligned with the positive message of creativity and imagination at the scale of an epic motion picture,” he said. “It was an unprecedented year of affirmation, one that said, ‘yes, we see you.'”
Tazewell, whose work has spanned 35 years, also won a BAFTA Award, Critics Choice Award, Costume Designer Guild’s award, NAACP Image Award and Innovator Award from the African American Film Critcis Association for his work in “Wicked.”
So how has life changed for him after winning his first Oscar in March?
“If anything, it has changed me inside because of the approval. I think that it is an approval from the public and those people that saw my work and continue to see my work and enjoy what I’ve done,” Tazewell said. “The visibility has provided more inspiration for more people, and that definitely defines again why I’m here (at Kent State). I just hope to continue to inspire other people, especially young people, but people overall, in how to see story and how it affects people’s lives.”
In an extraordinary year for Tazewell, his Oscar win was followed by his second Tony Award, for “Death Becomes Her,” in June. He won his first Tony for “Hamilton” in 2016, which was his 21st Broadway show.
Moderated talk at Kent State
KSU fashion alumna Aleah Wright, a freelance fashion and beauty writer who interviewed Tazewell for Essence magazine, was the moderator for Tazewell’s evening talk, where he received a standing ovation as he entered.
Tazewell has now designed 28 Broadway shows, beginning with “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk” in 1996.
“Most of my shows early on were shows about people of color, or, more specifically, they were shows about people of color on the street,” Tazewell said. “It … kept me in a niche that was understandable for producers and that basically lasted until ‘Hamilton.'”
Tazewell stressed that both his interests and his ability to envision and design new worlds is vast. After “Hamilton,” he was asked to design for the film “West Side Story” with Steven Spielberg and, after that, “Wicked.”
“It has continued to open up,” Tazewell said of his variety of work. “I think it’s just the assumption of others that keeps you in a box.”
Digging into characters’ emotions through costuming
In designing costumes for Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda, Tazewell made conscious choices to reflect the 1939 “The Wizard of Oz” movie and incorporate some glimpses of the “Wicked” stage musical while creating a new, fantastical world for the “Wicked” films.
“My main intent was to provide a reality for these two young women that aligns with where they are emotionally and what creates that emotional arc. So their emotional arc doesn’t stop; really, in many ways it’s just begun” in the second film, Tazewell said.
When Tazewell designs, he focuses on the characters’ emotions that drive storytelling, with the goal of helping audiences find themselves in the story.
At the Kent State University Museum, which organized Tazewell’s visit, the original costumes that Elphaba and Glinda wear to visit the Emerald City are displayed behind glass in the museum lobby. On loan from NBCUniversal Archives & Collections through Nov. 9, they feature a highly textured black dress and peaked hat for Elphaba and a pink, ruffled suit for Glinda.
For Tazewell, making Elphaba’s black costumes beautiful was key. He drew upon nature — including the underside gills of mushrooms that looked like micro-pleating and fungi that look like ruffles — as inspiration to create texture for her costumes.
“I was always searching for, ‘how do I make this woman that is always dressed in black as beautiful as the woman who’s dressed in pink and is sparkling? How do you achieve that balance?'” he said.
For Elphaba, her long black dress, black hat and cape — which emerges like an extension of her body — create her “superhero silhouette” once she harnesses her powers to fly for the first time in “Defying Gravity.”
The designer shared a sneak peek at one of Glinda’s dresses in “Wicked: For Good” that combines pink with green trim in a Fibonacci spiral pattern from nature — a signature design element in many of Glinda’s costumes.
In the second film, Glinda is a fairy princess who has gained power: “She still has that element of pink but she’s also become a politician and propagandist within the world of Emerald City,” Tazewell said.
Paul Tazewell’s background, Akron roots
Tazewell was born and raised in Akron, one of four sons of Barbara and Joseph Tazewell Jr. His family was an artistic one that valued education, creativity, social progress and the dignity of self worth he said.
“I’ve come from hard-working Black folks, two generations removed from enslavement, who migrated from Florida, Missisippi, Virginia to Ohio for a more empowered life,” he said.
Tazewell’s mother was an artist and French language educator. His father was a bass for his church choir and his grandfather helped build the Akron Urban League.
With his mother as his first mentor, Tazewell learned to paint, draw and sew early in life. From Perkins Junior High through Buchtel High School, he grew up studying voice and dance and participating in choir, orchestra, plays and musicals.
At age 16, he starred as the title character in Buchtel’s production of “The Wiz,” a musical for which he later won an Emmy in 2015 for his costumes in “The Wiz! Live”on NBC.
The 1982 Buchtel grad was highly involved in Buchtel’s arts program and also worked with Goodyear Community Theater. With his high school program, he traveled to the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada, and to Broadway to see shows and take dance classes.
“It was a very rich existence,” Tazewell said. “There was just enough for a small-town boy, a small-town person, to engage with and to be a part of.
“This path led me to theater and eventually into costume design. But my true language is spoken through character,” he said.
Work with KSU students
Tazewell, who worked with fashion students in the design studio Sept. 18 and theater costume designers Sept. 19, said mentoring students “is everything that I’m about. It’s one of my highest priorities.”
“It was great to engage with students and it’s actually a huge priority for me to give back in that way and to nurture and inspire young artists,” Tazewell said in a press event before his public talk.
Tazewell, who studied costume design at North Carolina School of the Arts and New York University, advises students in fashion and costume design to accept that their career is going to be hard work, to hold on to their passion and be true to their talents.
“I spent seven years studying costume design before I felt like I was able to approach it as a professional costumer,” he said.
Tazewell also said that he hopes students find their joy in the daily act of designing: “I put everything into the work that I do from project to project and hope that I can serve as an example of that.”
Cool projects and what’s next for Tazewell
The demand for Tazewell’s work carries over into the fashion world. He designed several garments for the 2025 Met Gala, including singer Janelle Monae’s sculptural look in collaboration with Thom Browne; Chappell Roan’s upcycled, pink patchwork suit and cape and Debbie Allen’s custom-designed red gown and hat.
His upcoming projects include designing costumes for the play “Anna Christie” opening Off-Broadway in November, directed by Thomas Kail and starring his wife, Michelle Williams. Tazewell is also designing costumes for “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” opening on Broadway in the spring, directed by Allen.
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Paul Tazewell talks ‘Wicked,’ passion for mentoring students and Akron roots at Kent State
Reporting by Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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