Both parts Wicked have already been released, but let's go back a little: one of the first projects you worked on was Wizard, so this feels like a full circle moment?
Culture The Wizard of Oz in fact, he has been in my life since I was four years old; our family watched this film every year. Then when Wizard came out when I knew it was a Broadway show, and then it came out as a movie with Diana Ross And Michael Jacksonit really is a full circle moment that is very moving.
As a designer, you've spent years working with black and brown voices on some huge productions, from Hamilton to West Side Story. So when Wicked came along and you found out that Elphaba was going to be played by a black woman, especially with your story, how did that make you feel?
I felt at home with this idea because this is how I have experienced this story before. Cynthia Erivo was cast. With each character, I work to find myself in the character so that I can make decisions about what they can wear and how their character changes and evolves over time, which will be poignant when I represent emotions through color and texture, and Elphaba's story in particular touched me because Elphaba, as a person of color, albeit with green skin, I understand what it is, what the struggle is, and the struggle to be seen for who you truly are in fact, and not based on how you look from the outside.
So making decisions that I really care about just created an intimacy for this character. Cynthia was then chosen for the role because I had worked with Cynthia on Harriet, it was much more beautiful because I knew her character, her sensitivity, and our conversation could be intimate about how we could create the best and most authentic Elphaba we could.
