 Paul Tazewell
By Jody Blake
Tony Award nominated designer and upcoming McNay Art Museum distinguished lecturer Paul Tazewell, relished the opportunity to design The Color Purple on Broadway. Adapted from Alice Walker’s novel and Steven Spielberg’s film, this musical spans four decades and three continents from the American South to Africa. “There is such great joy in doing a piece like this, where there is such variety in body types and so many different time periods,” Tazewell explains. “The show covers 1909–1945. And because of how the production is designed, the costumes have to give some of the information that subtitles might in a film, like when the day changes or when we're in a new time period.”
Jody Blake, Curator of the Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts, adds that Tazewell’s The Color Purple costumes communicate not just time and place but also character. “Whether it is Celie, awkward in her modest cloche hat, or Shug, confident in her slinky gold dress, Paul’s costumes are an invaluable tool for actors.”
Tazewell will explore the marrying of classic theatrical works with contemporary urban life for the McNay Art Museum’s Tobin Distinguished Lecture, The Hip-Hop of Shakespeare, on February 8 at 7:00pm.Tazewell, who has designed for dance, drama, and opera in the United States and internationally, is no stranger to either Hip-Hop or Shakespeare. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk in 1996. Choreographed by Savion Glover, this long-running Broadway musical portrayed the history of African Americans through dance, from slavery and the “The Circle Stomp” to the present and “Hip Hop Rant.” Tazewell also received a Helen Hayes Award for The African Company Presents Richard III in Washington, DC in 1993. This drama was inspired by a 19th century black stage troupe that created an uproar when it competed with the Booth family and staged Shakespeare, complete with “a black king in a king’s robe and crown.”
 On the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama, Tazewell has designed extensively for regional theaters, including Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, the Guthrie Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater, Long and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Recent productions of note include two contemporary operas, Mark Adamo’s Little Women at Glimmerglass Opera (2002), adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s novel, and Richard Danielpour’s Margaret Garner at Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit (2005), based on historical events that also inspired its librettist Tony Morrison’s novel Beloved.
Costume designs by Paul Tazewell are included in Harlem to Broadway: Black History on the Musical Stage at the McNay from January 19 – March 25, 2007. The Tobin Distinguished Lecture is free to McNay members, as well as educators and students with a valid I. D. A suggested donation of $5 is requested from nonmembers and members’ guests.
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