Paul Tazewell

Paul Tazewell ( , born September 15, 1964) is an American costume designer for the theatre, dance, film, opera and television industry. 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 two Tony Awards.

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) and Death Becomes Her (2025). 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), Suffs (2024), and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (2026).

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 said award 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).

Announced in November 2025, Paul Tazewell’s work is currently showcased in an exhibition at Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. The exhibition features artifacts from throughout his life and career including Wicked, West Side Story, and Hamilton.

Early life and education Tazewell was born on September 15, 1964 in Akron, Ohio, as one of four sons of Barbara (an artist and French teacher) and Joseph Tazewell Jr. (a research chemist at the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company who sang bass for his church choir). His mother, who enjoyed sewing and had a Singer sewing machine, taught him to sew when he was 9.

Following his graduation from Buchtel High School in 1982, 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.

His brother, Jonathan Tazewell, is also a writer and director.

Career At age 16, while a student at Buchtel High School in Akron, Tazewell designed and sewed the costumes for a school production of The Wiz (in which he also played The Wiz); his mother made the white suit and cape that he wore in the production.

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 two-part film adaptation of the Broadway musical. His work on Wicked won him the BAFTA and 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 to win overall after Ruth E. Carter.

Credits Film Harriet, Focus Features (2019) West Side Story, 20th Century Studios (2021) Wicked, Universal Pictures (2024) Wicked: For Good, Universal Pictures (2025) Disclosure Day, 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) Joe Turner's Come and Gone (2026)

Awards and nominations He is recipient of eleven 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 the Princess Grace Statue Award bestowed by the Princess Grace Foundation to artists of excellence in various disciplines.

Year Association Category Nominated work Result2022 Academy Awards Best Costume Design West Side Story 2025 Wicked 2025 American Cinematheque's Tribute to the Crafts Costume Design 2020 Black Reel Awards Outstanding Costume Design Harriet 2022 West Side Story 2025 Wicked 2026 Wicked: For Good 2025 British Academy Film Awards Best Costume Design Wicked 2026 Wicked: For Good 2021 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Costume Design West Side Story 2024 Wicked 2025 Wicked: For Good 2016 Costume Designers Guild Awards Excellence in Fantasy Television The Wiz Live! 2019 Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live Television Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! 2021 Hamilton 2022 Excellence in Period Film West Side Story 2025 Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film Wicked 2026 Wicked: For Good 2022 Critics' Choice Awards Best Costume Design West Side Story 2025 Wicked 2026 Wicked: For Good 2015 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Costume Design Hamilton 2024 Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical Suffs 2025 Death Becomes Her 2026Outstanding Costume Design of a PlayJoe Turner’s Come and Gone 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Costume Design Memphis 2018 Hamilton 1998 Lucille Lortel Awards Outstanding Costume Design On the Town 2015 Hamilton 2025 NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Costume Design Wicked 2026 Wicked: For Good 2025 Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding Costume Design Death Becomes Her 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Costumes for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Program The Wiz Live! 2018 Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival Variety Artisans Award Wicked 2025 Satellite Awards Best Costume Design 2026 Wicked: For Good 2026 Saturn Awards Best Costume Design 1996 Tony Awards Best Costume Design Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk 2006 Best Costume Design in a Musical The Color Purple 2008 In the Heights 2010 Memphis 2012 Best Costume Design in a Play A Streetcar Named Desire 2016 Best Costume Design in a Musical Hamilton 2019 Ain't Too Proud 2022 MJ the Musical 2024 Suffs 2025 Death Becomes Her 2026Best Costume Design in a PlayJoe Turner's Come and Gone