The success of the workshop resulted in two guiding principles: First, period from the neck down and modern from the neck up and second, strip away all the embroidered detail of the 18th century so the audience could move past the distraction of artifice to the story itself.Īctors of color inhabiting the costumes of their ancestors’ oppressors provided a powerful and paradoxical subtext. To show the first audiences how the two eras would meet in the look of the show, Tazewell started with a simple parchment-toned silhouette of vest, breeches and boots that then gave way to the blue coats, red trim and brass buttons of Washington’s Continental Army. The first eureka came through the budget limitations imposed by the Public Theater readings. To that end, he researched the 18th century paintings of John Trumbull as well as the mash-up fashions of Alexander McQueen, John Galliano and Jean Paul Gaultier and the satiric portraits of Kehinde Wiley, who depicted men and women of color in re-creations of classic portraits. “In order for it to resonate as strongly as possible, I thought it was important to get beyond our preconceived notions of these iconic figures while honoring how Lin had brought the story to light,” he said, referring to “Hamilton” in all its multicultural, hip-hop glory. The ski cap was just one detail in myriad images that Tazewell said he “mixed into the pot” upon teaming up with Miranda and director Tommy Kail, with whom he’d previously worked for the Tony-winning musical “In the Heights.” Having designed period (“Doctor Zhivago”) and contemporary (“Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk”) costumes, Tazewell approached the assignment with one primary goal. So I thought it was a smart choice to incorporate that kind of thing in order to bridge the gap between their world and ours.” “It gave him, as a tailor interested in clothes, a youthful, playful and more theatrical up-to-the-minute quality. “It seemed so connected to who Oak was as an actor, and I also thought that it connected him to Mulligan because it could live both in the 18th century and in the contemporary world,” recalled Tazewell, who earned one of the 16 record-breaking Tony nominations for the show.
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