Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who originally brought Glinda and Elphaba to life in the 2003 Broadway production of the Wicked musical, returned to the witches’ world with surprise cameos. They were part of the Wizomania when Erivo’s and Grande’s Elphaba and Glinda arrived in the land of Oz. Sticking to the film’s magical and whimsical theme, they donned equally whimsical outfits.
Speaking to People magazine, costume designer Paul Tazewell revealed his intention behind those dresses. “The question was, how do you make something theatrical? How do I design something that’s going to be theatrical within the context of a fantasy world?” he said.
Product designer Nathan Crowley wanted the film to appear like a pop-up book come to life, which gave Tazewell the idea to dive back into the context of these characters. “They’re the goddesses of the Wizomania story and presenting the history of how Oz came to be,” he told the outlet.
The Oscar-winning costume designer, who’s also been part of Broadway productions like Hamilton and Death Becomes Her, shared his vision of creating those gowns using a Christmas tree made of folded pages as an inspiration. He envisioned the costumes to be something from the 19th century that was light, airy and had a whimsical vibe.
Tazewell wanted to put a contrast to Menzel and Chenoweth’s characters compared to their roles in the OG Wicked production. “We know Idina as Elphaba, but I wanted her to be the ‘light’ one and for Kristin to be the ‘dark’ one,” he said. So, by putting the former in a light pink attire and the latter in a bright purple, he flipped their color schemes.
“They’re both still pretty bright chromatically and sparkly, but I tried to give them opposites. And it was a mad dash to get everything because it all came together all at once very quickly,” he added.
He also recalled that the team had to put these outfits together in a short period, but after a lot of flying back and forth between London and New York, they pulled it off. “And it was really wonderful,” he said of the experience.
Wicked is now available in theaters.
