# Paul Tazewell

Paul Tazewell (born September 15, 1964) is an American costume designer for the theatre, dance, film, opera and television. After training at New York University Tisch School of the Arts he started his career on Broadway. He has since won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award.
Tazewell made his Broadway debut as a costume designer with Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk in 1996. He went on to receive the Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical for Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton (2016). His other Tony-nominated works include The Color Purple (2006), In the Heights (2008), Memphis (2010), A Streetcar Named Desire (2012), Ain't Too Proud (2019), MJ (2022), and Suffs (2024).
For his work on Steven Spielberg's West Side Story (2021), Tazewell became the first African American male costume designer to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. He eventually won the award as well for his work on Wicked (2024) at the 97th Academy Awards. He has also received a Primetime Emmy Award for his work on The Wiz Live! (2016).

## Early life and education

Tazewell was born on September 15, 1964 in Akron, Ohio. He enrolled at Pratt Institute then transferred and graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Tazewell was a resident artist and associate professor of costume design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2003–2006).
His brother, Jonathan Tazewell, is also an award winning writer and director of the feature film "Gotta Get Down To It" and other short films, including his film, "Breezewood". Jonathan Tazewell is the Thomas S. Turgeon Professor of Drama and Film at Kenyon College in Ohio, and founded the college's film major.

## Career

Tazewell has designed costumes for over a dozen Broadway productions, starting with Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk in 1996 (receiving a Tony Award nomination). Over Tazewell's career, he has costumed numerous plays that are predominantly African American and Latino. Other musicals include On the Town (Revival), The Color Purple, and, in 2009, Guys and Dolls (Revival) and Memphis. Recent Broadway work includes Dr Zhivago, Side Show, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Plays on Broadway have included Lombardi, The Miracle Worker (Revival), Magic/Bird and the Tony Award-winning revival of A Raisin in the Sun. His off-Broadway work as a costume designer includes Hamilton, Elaine Stritch at Liberty (2001), Boston Marriage (2002), Ruined, One Flea Spare, Flesh and Blood, and Harlem Song (Apollo Theater).
In regional theatre he has designed costumes for, among many, Alley Theatre (Camp David, 2020), Arena Stage (The Women, 1999, and Polk County, 2002), The Guthrie Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, and La Jolla Playhouse. His work for ballet companies includes the Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet. Opera credits at Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, ENO, and the Metropolitan Opera.
Tazewell served as costume designer on Wicked and Wicked: For Good, the film adaptations of the Broadway musical. His work on Wicked won him the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design and the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Tazewell is the first Black man to win an Oscar for costume design and the second Black costume designer overall after Ruth E. Carter.

## Personal life

Tazewell is openly gay. This makes him the first openly gay Black man to win an Oscar for best costume design.

## Credits
### Film

* Harriet, Focus Features (2019)
* West Side Story, 20th Century Studios (2021)
* Wicked, Universal Pictures (2024)
* Wicked: For Good, Universal Pictures (2025)
* Untitled Steven Spielberg film, Universal Pictures (2026)

### Television

* The Wiz Live!, NBC (2015)
* The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, HBO (2017)
* Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, NBC (2018)

### Theatre

* Before It Hits Home (1992)
* Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk (1996)
* On the Town (1998)
* Fascinating Rhythm (1999)
* Boston Marriage (2002)
* Elaine Stritch At Liberty (2002)
* Caroline, or Change (2003)
* A Raisin in the Sun (2004)
* The Color Purple (2005)
* In the Heights (2008)
* Guys and Dolls (2009)
* Memphis (2009)
* Fetch Clay, Make Man (2010)
* Lombardi (2010)
* The Miracle Worker (2010)
* Jesus Christ Superstar (2012)
* A Streetcar Named Desire (2012)
* Magic/Bird (2012)
* Side Show (2014)
* Hamilton (2015)
* Doctor Zhivago (2015)
* Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (2018)
* Escape to Margaritaville (2018)
* Ain't Too Proud (2019)
* MJ (2022)
* Mr. Saturday Night (2022)
* Suffs (2024)
* Death Becomes Her (2024)

## Awards and nominations

He is recipient of nine total Tony Award nominations for Costume Design, four Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Costume Design, two Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Costume Design, the Henry Hewes Award, and the Theater Development Fund's Irene Sharaff Award in 1997. He received Princess the Grace Statue Award bestowed by the Princess Grace Foundation to artists of excellence in various disciplines.
| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2022 | Academy Awards | Best Costume Design | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2025 | Academy Awards | Best Costume Design | Wicked | Won |
| 2025 | American Cinematheque's Tribute to the Crafts | Costume Design | Wicked | Won |
| 2020 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Harriet | Nominated |
| 2022 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2025 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Wicked | Won |
| 2025 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Costume Design | Wicked | Won |
| 2021 | Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Costume Design | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2024 | Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Costume Design | Wicked | Nominated |
| 2016 | Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Fantasy Television | The Wiz Live! | Nominated |
| 2019 | Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live Television | Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! | Nominated |
| 2021 | Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live Television | Hamilton | Won |
| 2022 | Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Period Film | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2025 | Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film | Wicked | Won |
| 2022 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Costume Design | West Side Story | Nominated |
| 2025 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Costume Design | Wicked | Won |
| 2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Hamilton | Nominated |
| 2024 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical | Suffs | Won |
| 2015 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Costume Design | Memphis | Nominated |
| 2018 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Costume Design | Hamilton | Nominated |
| 1998 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | On the Town | Won |
| 2015 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Costume Design | Hamilton | Won |
| 2016 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Costumes for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Program | The Wiz Live! | Won |
| 2018 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Costumes for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Program | Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! | Nominated |
| 2025 | Santa Barbara International Film Festival | Variety Artisans Award (costume design) | Wicked | Won |
| 2025 | Satellite Awards | Best Costume Design | Wicked | Won |
| 1996 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design | Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk | Nominated |
| 2006 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design in a Musical | The Color Purple | Nominated |
| 2008 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design in a Musical | In the Heights | Nominated |
| 2010 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design in a Musical | Memphis | Nominated |
| 2012 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design in a Play | A Streetcar Named Desire | Nominated |
| 2016 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design in a Musical | Hamilton | Won |
| 2019 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design in a Musical | Ain't Too Proud | Nominated |
| 2022 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design in a Musical | MJ the Musical | Nominated |
| 2024 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design in a Musical | Suffs | Nominated |