When Paul Tazewell was enlisted to be the costume designer for Wicked, he knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime. “The fantasy aspect and how our director, Jon Chu, wanted to tell the story opened up a broad possibility of creativity,” says the prolific Tony and Emmy-winning designer who was nominated for an Academy Award for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
Opportunity of a lifetime is one tall order for Tazewell who has designed costumes for three decades working in every medium from Broadway shows to movies to TV to opera. His credits include Hamilton, Suffs, Ain’t Too Proud, MJ, Death Becomes Her, The Wiz! Live, Jesus Christ Superstar Live! in concert with John Legend and on and on, and on.
The much anticipated film from Universal Pictures tells the back story of the witches of Oz. There’s Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) who forge a complex multi-layered connection before and after Dorothy comes in. And Tazewell was tasked with creating over 1000 costumes with the help of over 70 people with wide ranges of skill sets working in eight workshops at any given time.
Tazewell sees himself as a conduit of sorts between actor and character. The fittings, where the actors test drive their costumes, plays a key role to help them build who they are becoming. “The fitting room is a sacred space for me, where people can be vulnerable,” says Tazewell. “We’re figuring out how the actor sees themselves visually as the character that they are preparing to play. And I’m there to help them get to that place, offering visual options that will allow them to take on these roles.” He added that both Erivo and Grande were not only delightful to work with and devoted to the film, they came to fittings always wearing something fabulous.
The experience of working on Wicked, which will be released in two parts, the first part on November 22, 2024, and the second in November 2025, was transforming for Tazewell. “The sheer expansiveness of the world that we were creating provided an opportunity for me to expand creatively in a huge way,” says the designer who spent two years working on the project. “I am forever changed by all the amazing talent who were involved in creating this film from the superlative costume makers to the epic cast.”
From Elphaba’s asymmetrical power hat to Glinda’s dreamy bubble gown, Tazewell shared some of his favorite looks from the film and their back stories.
Elphaba’s power hat:
“Elphaba’s hat is one of the most iconic elements. It is based on our cultural icon of the witch hat and references the Wicked Witch of the West. I was able to refashion it into something that has a strong storytelling element.
When I launched into figuring out what it was going to be, some of the idea was inspired by John Chu saying that he wanted to start the film with a distance shot on the hat and he would move in on it. From far away it’s a triangular formation that could be a mountain or architecture. You don’t know exactly what you are seeing until you are right on top of it. That was some of the inspiration for texturizing the surface and some of the shape. It’s not a perfectly pointed symmetrical hat but was given more personality. Also, the hat carries power for Elphaba and her self-realization. When she puts on the hat, she transforms.”
Elphaba’s dress when she meets the Wizard:
“Elphaba’s Emerald City dress contains micro pleated chiffon applied in an undulating wave pattern. When you are far away from her it almost looks as if it’s velvet. Move closer and you see it’s a textural and sinuous wave pattern wrapping around her body, while the silhouette overall stays very pristine. It has strong shoulders, a pulled waist and opens up into the skirt that moves in space. I really love this piece and am so happy with how it came out.”
Glinda’s gown when she floats into Munchkinland:
“Glinda’s pink bubble dress is an engineering feat of dress making. I collaborated with our tailor in London to create a pink iridescent sculptural shape that would lay on iridescent and translucent fabrics that continues to float. It speaks to the bubble that she rides into Munchkinland at the very beginning of the film. All the elements going into it were very involved.
The original inspiration for the pink bubble dress harkens to the iconic Glinda of the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz, designed by Adrian and worn by Billie Burke. I adopted the same distinguishing pink, which I used throughout the rest of Glinda’s color story. It was also important to be reflective of the silhouette of that dress in the bubble, with the silhouette that I created for our own iconic Glinda.
I wanted to attain the sculptural quality with a clean silhouette which required a specific support from underneath without adding weight. A light as air crinoline petticoat was engineered underneath all that with the spiral shapes of layered starched net and silk organza added to create the translucent surface of the skirt and bodice. Each of the spirals has support within to make sure it retains its shape. Each of the shirt spirals is individually printed with a swirling bubble pattern that is then overfoiled with an irredescdent print, and embellished with crystal beads and iridescent sequins. The bodice is pavéd with swirls of beads and crystals and topped off with a butterfly shaped neckline to set off Ariana’s beautiful shoulders and neck.”
Glinda’s crown:
“The bubble dress is topped off with the bubble crown that I absolutely love. It’s silver covered with diamanté. The crown references the spiral and cluster of bubbles as it wraps around Glinda’s head.”
Nessarose’s slippers:
“Another one of my favorite pieces is Nessarose’s silver and diamond slippers that are gifted to her. It references the tornado from The Wizard of Oz. The heel swirls up, is crystallized and then wraps around the foot with spiral waves encased in Nessarose’s [Marissa Bode’s] feet It’s an iconic piece that is reflective of the ruby slipper and the importance that we give it. Then it changes into something directly referencing the original silver shoe in the novel. The shoes connect to the original story and film.”
Glinda’s peignoir:
“I had the opportunity to design all aspects for the Glinda and Elphaba characters, and one of them was nightwear. Thinking about what it would be for Glinda, I decided to look to the glamour of Hollywood, and then consider how I would evoke that within the world of Glinda’s sensibility. With that, I dipped into my spiral imagery as it’s reflected in the circular shapes that are on the shoulders and hem, and married that with the ruffling as a hint from the pink dress in the original Wicked Broadway production. We fully reimagined it as a dotted net peignoir and a custom embroidered silk charmeuse teddy. I finished that off with satin curled-toe slippers.”