Production designer Nathan Crowley had been waiting his entire career for a film in which he could build an entire fantasy world. He found that with “Punk.”
When director Jon M. Chu invited him to work on “Wicked,” an adaptation of the Broadway musical, Crowley’s dream came true. “John wanted it to be fairytale. He wanted it to be happy. He wanted it to be happy, and Emerald City had to be this magical legend of the place everyone wanted a ticket to.”
XYZ University is where a lot of the action takes place. The theory behind this was that XYZ – like Oxford, Cambridge, Ivy League universities and even Hogwarts – was that it was an ancient institution, one that only a few people were destined to attend. Crowley needed it to feel immortal and magical. “I had to find a new look that wasn’t just dark stone,” Crowley says.
Another challenge he faced was answering the question how does one access XYZ? “We can’t go by train; This is the processor’s technology and is its property. “We can’t go by balloon, we can’t go by car because cars don’t exist,” Crowley explains.
the solution? The ancient tradition of water. Water was also a factor in the story of the Wicked Witch of the West – remember, “I’m melting!” – So it was appropriate.
Crowley built the waterway using tanks and a large corridor leading to the Shiz. The boats were manufactured in Prague and brought to the United Kingdom where the film was filmed.
The construction of Azma Shiz was a combination of external designs such as a water tank, access piers and the university entrance. He used different materials such as stone and wood and mixed architectural languages, with the Shays courtyard in particular paying homage to American architecture. “The big arc exists because it’s an American fairy tale. I used ‘The White City of Chicago’ as inspiration.
XYZ University was built on back ground.
These exterior designs were seamlessly integrated with the interior sets created on the soundstages. The bedroom, for example, needs to feel intimate but large enough for a dance. The space should be interesting with the idea that Glenda doesn’t want to share her room.
The domes in the room are inspired by the Brighton Pavilion in southern England, a Georgian-inspired former royal residence with high windows. Crowley enhanced the room with wood varnish and murals that were excessive in detail. “You don’t feel it because you care about the character.”
Special effects and costume crews also came in to fill the room with open hat boxes and shoe boxes. “There’s a tremendous amount of mechanics underground,” Crowley says.
The only thing that wasn’t written was the hallway in which Glenda dances at the end of “Popular.” So, he built one. “Glinda comes running down the hall at the end, and that was a beautiful moment.”
Intimate bedroom.
Giles Kate
As simple as it sounds, Crowley knew it was still a big dance number with a lot of movement. So, he worked closely with the film’s choreographer, Christopher Scott, to put together the set. “We looked at space and movement and how we could tell the story within ‘Popular,’ and what would happen within that tight space.”
The Shays Library was another achievement for Crowley. It was a large space for students, with smoothly rotating revolving bookcases and giant wooden arches.
The group was pivotal to the entrance of Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey). “He’s supposed to be the coolest guy ever. Everyone’s in love with him. We’ll dance with him through life, and he’ll sweep people away, so we have to give him a place that’s architecturally in keeping with him.”
Crowley thought of the “Royal Wedding” and Fred Astaire dancing around a revolving room. “I want Fiyero to dance in that.”
So he built a scale model with the help of special effects to show everyone what he was imagining. “I thought they would never do it.” (But) John loved it. He added: “I said to John: ‘If they all spin individually, and he dances and jumps and spins, why aren’t Oz’s bookshelves round?’
“When the stairs line up because they rotate independently, you get O and Z,” Crowley points out.