Paul Tazewell is an American

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costume ...

for the theatre, dance, and opera and television. He received the 2016 Tony Award for Best Costume Design for ''

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

''. In 2016, he and his design team were awarded an Emmy for their work on ''

The Wiz Live! ''The Wiz Live!'' is an American television special that aired live on NBC on December 3, 2015. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, it is a performance of a new adaptation of the 1975 Broadway musical ''The Wiz'', a soul/ R&B reinterpretation ...

''. He is recipient of six total

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

nominations for Costume Design, four

Helen Hayes Awards The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

for Outstanding Costume Design, two

Lucille Lortel Awards The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...

(for '' On the Town'' and ''

''), 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 The Princess Grace Foundation – USA is a charity organization named after Princess Grace of Monaco, which supports emerging performers in theater, dance, and film in the form of awards, grants, scholarships, and fellowships. The Foundation hol ...

to artists of excellence in various disciplines.Warner, Lindsa
"Freelance costume designer Paul Tazewell speaks"
collegian.kenyon.edu, January 31, 2002 He is also the first African American male costume designer to be nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Costume Design The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for achievement in film costume design. The award was first given in 1949, for films made in 194 ...

, for his work on

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

's 2021 film version of ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

''.

Biography

Born in

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

, Ohio, Tazewell graduated from the

North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

and

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

. Tazewell was a resident artist and associate professor of costume design at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

(2003–2006).Tazewell official site
paultazewell.net Tazewell has designed costumes for over a dozen

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

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 ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'', and, in 2009, ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'' (Revival) and ''

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

''. Recent Broadway work includes '' Dr Zhivago'', ''

Side Show In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, traveling carnival, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. Types There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions: *The Ten-in-One offers ...

'', and ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of person ...

''. Plays on Broadway have included '' Lombardi'', ''

The Miracle Worker ''The Miracle Worker'' refers to a broadcast, a play and various other adaptations of Helen Keller's 1903 autobiography '' The Story of My Life''. The first of these works was a 1957 ''Playhouse 90'' broadcast written by William Gibson and st ...

'' (Revival), '' Magic/Bird'' and the Tony Award-winning revival of ''

A Raisin in the Sun ''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chi ...

''. His off-Broadway work as a costume designer includes ''

'', ''

Elaine Stritch at Liberty ''Elaine Stritch at Liberty'' is an autobiographical one-woman show written by Elaine Stritch and John Lahr, and produced by George C. Wolf, which is composed of anecdotes from Stritch's life, as well as showtunes and Broadway standards that mirr ...

'' (2001), ''

Boston Marriage A "Boston marriage" was, historically, the cohabitation of two wealthy women, independent of financial support from a man. The term is said to have been in use in New England in the late 19th/early 20th century. Some of these relationships were ...

'' (2002), ''

Ruined Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

'', ''

One Flea Spare ''One Flea Spare'', by Naomi Wallace, is a play set in plague-ravaged 17th Century London. Synopsis A wealthy couple is preparing to flee their home when a mysterious sailor and a young girl appear sneaking into their boarded up house. Now, qu ...

'', '' Flesh and Blood'', and ''Harlem Song'' (

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...

). In regional theatre he has designed costumes for, among many,

Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...

(''The Women'', 1999, and ''Polk County'', 2002), The

Guthrie Theatre The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...

, The

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the lan ...

, and

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...

. His work for ballet companies includes the

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. I ...

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dan ...

, and the Bolshoi Ballet. Opera credits at

Glimmerglass Opera The Glimmerglass Festival (formerly known as Glimmerglass Opera) is an American opera company. Founded in 1975 by Peter Macris, the Glimmerglass Festival presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight ...

, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Houston Grand Opera,

Washington National Opera The Washington National Opera (WNO) is an American opera company in Washington, D.C. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performa ...

, ENO, and

the Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

Selected work

*''

'',

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

(2021) (Academy Award Nomination) *''

Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert ''Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert'' is an American musical television special that was broadcast live on NBC on April 1, 2018 (Easter Sunday) and rebroadcast (from tape) on Easter Sunday 2020, April 12, 2020. Executively produced by Craig ...

'',

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

(2018) (Emmy Award Nomination) *'' Summer: The Donna Summer Musical'' (2017) *'' The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks'',

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

(2017) *''

Escape to Margaritaville '' Escape to Margaritaville'' is a 2017 American jukebox musical by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia and Mike O'Malley, based on the songs of Jimmy Buffett. The plot revolves around a part-time bartender and singer who falls for a career-minded ...

'' (2017) *'' Ain't Too Proud'' (2017) *''

'' (2015) (Emmy Award) *''

'' (2015) (Lucille Lortel Award, Tony Award) *''

'' (2012) (Tony Award nomination) *''

'' (2009) (Tony Award nomination) *''

In the Heights ''In the Heights'' is a musical theatre, musical with concept, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a Book (musical theatre), book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the larg ...

'' (2008) (Tony Award nomination) *''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'' (2005) (Tony Award nomination) *''

'' (2004) *''

Caroline, or Change ''Caroline, or Change'' is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and book by Tony Kushner. The score combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish klezmer and folk music. The show ran both Off-Broadway and on Broad ...

'' (2003) (Lucille Lortel Award nomination, Outstanding Costume Design) *''Boston Marriage'' (2002) (Lucille Lortel Award nomination, Outstanding Costume Design) *'' Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk'' (1996) (Tony Award nomination) *''

Before It Hits Home ''Before It Hits Home'' is a play by Cheryl West. Background The show was originally workshopped by the Seattle Group Theatre at the Multicultural Playwrights Festival in 1989, then later was given a reading at the Circle Repertory Company in 19 ...

'' (1992)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tazewell, Paul African-American people American costume designers Carnegie Mellon University faculty Living people Primetime Emmy Award winners Tony Award winners Tisch School of the Arts alumni University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people)