Paul Tazewell

But when I read this script more closely, I realized Elphaba is intelligent.

She's compassionate.

She's misunderstood.

Glinda, on the other side, isn't always kind.

I wasn't designing stereotypes.

I was designing questions.

Who decides who is worthy of respect and who is shunned?

Who decides who is cherished and who is ostracized?

Who decides who belongs and who is cast out?

As a Black gay man entering into a field that wasn't always comfortable with my presence, I know what it feels like to be othered, to be misjudged at first glance.

Maybe that's why I'm drawn to stories about marginalized characters.

Wicked isn't just about a witch.

It's about anyone who has ever been judged without speaking a word.

Why put so much care into costumes?

Because clothing carries memory.

a dress, a chair, a lamp.

These things hold the fingerprints of their makers.

They capture a culture at a particular moment in time.

They embody our aspirations and our biases.

The clothes we wear, the furniture we sit on, the art we hang on our walls, these things are our costumes, too.