USITT Executive Director David Grindle hosts designer Paul Tazewell for a conversation on his life and illustrious career.
Bio: Tazewell has designed Broadway shows, theatre, film and television, dance, and opera for over 25 years. Starting his Broadway career with Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk directed by George C. Wolfe, he has since designed the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning Hamilton; Escape to Margaritaville; Summer; In the Heights; The Color Purple (2005); Dr. Zhivago; Memphis; Caroline, or Change; Elaine Stritch at Liberty; Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam; Lombardi; Magic/Bird; Side Show; A Streetcar Named Desire; Jesus Christ Superstar; Guys and Dolls; A Raisin in the Sun; and On the Town. In 2016, he received both a Tony Award®, for Hamilton, and an Emmy Award, for "The Wiz Live!" (NBC). Recent television work: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" (HBO) starring Oprah Winfrey and "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert" (NBC) featuring John Legend for which he received an Emmy nomination. He has been nominated for the Tony Award® six times, has received the Princess Grace Statue Award, Henry Hewes Design Award, two Lucille Lortel Awards, four Helen Hayes Awards, and the TDF Irene Sharaff Young Master Award. His costume work has been photographed for Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, and The Bloomberg Design Issue, and he is a featured artist in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's web series The Artist Project and the companion book by Phaidon. He currently lives in New York City with his husband and their dog, Harpo.