‘Wicked’ Costume Designer Paul Tazewell
1 December 2025 - 44 minsTazewell made history as the first Black man to win the Oscar for costume design for the first installment of Wicked. He talks with Tonya Mosley about Wicked: For Good, the movies that inspired him, and learning to sew as a child. “I made the decision that I would devote myself to costume design and live vicariously through other characters,” he says. “Where I might not be cast in certain roles because of how I looked, as a designer, I could be anyone.Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoice...
Series Episodes
Jamilah Lemieux on the complicated beauty of being a ‘Black. Single. Mother.’
44 mins
10 March Finished
