'Wicked' film wins at 2025 Academy Awards

Broadway veteran Paul Tazewell notably made history as the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Costume Design for his work on the hit movie musical.

Wicked, the hit film adapted from the blockbuster Broadway musical, was well-represented at the 97th Academy Awards on March 2, 2025, where it took home two awards out of 10 nominations.

With his win for Best Costume Design, Paul Tazewell made history as the first Black man to receive the prize, and now also the first Black man to win an Oscar and a Tony. Tazewell is a veteran Broadway costume designer with nine Tony Award nominations under his belt, and he is currently represented in New York with Hamilton (for which he won the Tony), MJ The Musical, and Death Becomes Her.

Wicked also won Best Production Design, for production designer Nathan Crowley and set decorator Lee Sandales. The film's additional nominations include for Best Picture, Best Original Score (for John Powell and Stephen Schwartz), Best Actress (for Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba), and Best Supporting Actress (for Ariana Grande as Glinda).

Erivo and Grande kicked off the Oscars ceremony by singing a medley of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, "Home" from The Wiz, and "Defying Gravity" from Wicked.

Set before the events of The Wizard of Oz, Wicked centers on the friendship between Glinda and Elphaba, which gets tested when Oz deems one of them the "good witch" and the other a "wicked witch." The musical has been playing at the Gershwin Theatre since 2003, making it the fourth-longest-running show in Broadway history.

The 2024 Wicked film covers the first half of the musical, and the upcoming Wicked: For Good, slated for release on November 21, will cover the second half. Alongside Erivo and Grande, the films' stars include Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, and Peter Dinklage as Doctor Dillamond.

The current Wicked Broadway cast includes Lencia Kebede as Elphaba, Allie Trimm as Glinda, Brad Oscar as the Wizard, Jordan Litz as Fiyero, William Youmans as Doctor Dillamond, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Madame Morrible, Jenna Bainbridge as Nessarose, and Daniel Quadrino as Boq.

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Photo credit: Paul Tazewell. (Photo courtesy of AJM Public Relation)