Skip to main content

Hear it Again: Oscar winning costumer Paul Tazewell

On Sunday, comedian Bowen Yang joined other actors onstage at the Academy Awards, dressed in his costume from the movie 'Wicked' -- to praise the artist who dreamed it up.

It’s hard to list all the projects the award-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell has been responsible for on Broadway, but here’s a sample: 

Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk, The Color Purple musical, In The Heights, and Hamilton - for which he won a Tony. 

On screen, he won an Emmy for his work on The Wiz! Live. 

And now, Tazewell has an Oscar to add to his list of accolades.

Sponsored

Soundside host Libby Denkmann sat down with Tazewell when he was in town back in February, and in light of his win, we thought we would revisit that conversation.

He was here for a new production at the Pacific Northwest Ballet.... an organization he has a long history with. His costumes for Kent Stowell's Swan Lake, which debuted in 2003, are still in use.

This time around, Paul Tazewell created the lavish costumes for the company's re-imagined Sleeping Beauty -- from ball gowns and dinner jackets to tutus.

Guest:

Sponsored

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

Why you can trust KUOW