Recently, I decided to follow my own yellow brick road and through many twists and turns it led me to moderate a thrillifying discussion with Wicked and Wicked For Good’s Oscar-winning costume designer, Paul Tazewell, for my alma mater, Kent State University. You see my journey started almost a year ago, when I pitched and interviewed Paul for a feature for ESSENCE. We spent an hour chatting in-depth about the costume details, his design process, and the symbolism behind the different looks. After our interview, I left feeling inspired by his work ethic and spellbinding creativity. After publishing my article for ESSENCE, the most daring thought came to my head “I have to bring Paul to Kent State University someway, somehow to speak with students, faculty, and the community“.
As an alumna, I feel that it’s crucial to give back to the institution that helped shape my education and experience, not just monetarily but also with impactful programming. I wasn’t sure where to start but with hard work and the faith of a mustard seed, I knew that what I once dreamed about could become a reality. So I began by cold messaging the new Kent State Museum Director, Sarah Spinner Liska via LinkedIn and later proposed a public talk with Paul and I. She was elated at the idea and eager to see how we could make this happen. I then spoke with his publicist at the time and she loved the article write-up I did on Paul and was open to him visiting.
Just Follow The Yellow Brick Road
After much discussion and coordination, the Kent State Museum in collaboration with The Fashion School and School of Theatre successfully secured a grant from the Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series to fund Paul’s visit and showcase costumes from the film. Thanks to generous donors, the museum was also able to offer me an honorarium and cover travel and accommodations. Over the next eight months, we worked closely with NBCUniversal to secure two of Paul Tazewell’s costumes, provide Wicked mini posters to guests, display his sketches in vitrines in The Fashion School, and show exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at the costumes for Wicked and the upcoming film Wicked For Good.
We’re Off To See The Wizard In Emerald City
The NBCU Archives and Collections team was able to install and display Elphaba’s Defying Gravity costume and Glinda’s Emerald City costume. Custom mannequins that were specific to Cynthia Erivo’s and Ariana Grande’s measurements were used to achieve the precise fit of the costumes. It was amazing to see the intricate embellishment details on Glinda’s heels as well as the felting technique used on Elphaba’s dress to show texture. I adored seeing the Wicked Witch hat because it has so much character to it with all the crooks and angles. The experience of viewing these whimsical looks up close was truly magical.
After months of preparation, the week for the three-day programming had finally arrived. I flew in Wednesday to dine at Laziza with Paul, faculty, students, and donors. The dinner was delicious and I had the opportunity to connect in person to discuss the arts and fashion. Thursday morning came, and it was time for me to teach media students the art of pitching national publications. I showed them examples of my successful pitches, discussed some of the hard truths in media, and learned how the younger generation is viewing the industry. Later that afternoon, I observed Paul advising and listening to junior fashion design students, where he looked over their research, touched their fabrications, and saw their work on mannequins.
Three Clicks Of The Heels and We’re Back Home
Finally, the evening of the public talk arrived and we were met with a packed audience of students, faculty, donors, patrons, and community members. Sarah Spinner Liska began with a heartfelt introduction and celebrated Paul Tazewell returning “home”. Paul then took to the stage to share a few words about his upbringing and the vital role the arts have played throughout his life. I then him joined him on stage wearing the Wicked sweater from his Target collection and greeted the audience. For the next 50 minutes, Paul and I dove into an engaging conversation about the lessons he learned from his education in costume design, his creative process for Wicked, his Oscar-winning speech, and his latest work on Wicked For Good.
As a costume designer, Paul Tazewell is a man of great detail and thought. He looks at the source material and injects his own creativity into his designs to tell a story through clothes. For his Oscar moment he felt seen because it was a celebration of more than 35 years of work. Throughout his career, Paul has designed for groundbreaking productions such as The Wiz Live!, Hamilton, Bring in ‘Da Noise Bring in ‘Da Funk, Harriet, and The Color Purple. Each of these experiences shaped and prepared him for his work on Wicked and Wicked For Good. For the upcoming film Wicked For Good, he talked about the characters evolving with Glinda becoming a public figure and wearing the lavender bubble dress as well as Elphaba wearing pants and her cape growing longer to signify her hero look.
Costumes, Culture, and Impact
After my final question, we showed The Wicked For Good trailer and rose to thank the audience. We were met with a standing ovation and looking at Paul I felt we had made a real impact. Soon a crowd formed of Paul’s former classmates, teachers, friends, students, and patrons all to meet and speak with him. Students brought books and posters for him to sign as well as gifting him Wicked shirts. His Former Buchtel High School classmates reminisced about their days together, while his teachers proudly reflected on his growth and his remarkable career.
For the final day, Friday, I spent the afternoon observing Paul lecture a class of costume design and art students. He walked them through his design process for the Carabosse Fairy for the Broadway production of “The Sleeping Beauty”. He also listened to some of the projects students were working on in the theatre shop. We ended the session by thanking everyone, as Paul signed posters and shared words of encouragement with the students. Reflecting on this experience brings me to tears because so many donors, teachers, and students thanked me for this idea of bringing the super talented Paul Tazewell to campus. Looking at the social media posts and reading the uplifting comments about how well I interviewed him truly moved me.
The arts are vital to our culture, and in a time when DEI initiatives are being challenged especially on college campuses bringing two Black artists together to share our stories and showcase creative excellence felt deeply meaningful. For fellow Ozians, creatives, and lovers of the arts, this opportunity was truly once-in-a-lifetime and one that was manifested. I can’t wait to continue down the yellow brick road to accomplish more of the goals and dreams that lie ahead.
