The last thing you want to see when you go to a Broadway show is a bunch of ragamuffins in mismatched outfits, unless that is part of the show. None the less, you need a costume designer to make the world of the show work. And Wicked has award winning costume designer Susan Hilferty. Ms. Hilferty has been in the theatre for more than twenty years. She has designed costumes for shows like, A Lesson From Aloes (1980), The Comedy of Errors (1987), Into the Woods (2002), Master Harold and the Boys (2003), and Assassins (2004). Ms. Hilferty won the Tony Award for best costuming in 2004 for her costumes in Wicked.
When creating costumes, Ms. Hilferty weaves together a cloth of characters. She likes to create her own world. She has surely succeeded in Wicked. Many of these costumes are asymmetrical. They are also in distinct color pallets. For example, “One Short Day” is a very green oriented set of costumes. “No One Mourns The Wicked” is done various hues of brown. “Dancing Through Life” has much of the ensemble in black and white. This helps keep everyone cohesive and also distinguish scenes.
This is a video from a show called Threadbangers. It is an interview with Susan Hilferty herself. She talks about her process and some of the costumes in the show.
One thing to keep in mind is that Wicked is an international show. People all over the world are interested in this show. So they had a costume exhibit in Melbourne, Australia. This exhibit has costumes and original sketches from Ms. Hilferty in NYC.
The thing to really pay attention to is the detail. So much time and effort go into these costumes. It is a shame that more people don’t get a chance to look at them up close and appreciate them.
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