This will be an easy one.

I just joined the hair & makeup crew for Legally Blonde, working for someone whose work I've admired.  As it happens, this one will be easy - although they loaded in today, they won't need me again until Wednesday, two days before we open.  Only 4 wigs involved, as the cast are mostly wearing their own hair and the makeup is nothing out of the ordinary.  Given all that, I'll probably end up doing more to help w/ costume changes than with hair or makeup.  So far, all I've done was steam most of the curl out of a wig; that took all of about 10 or 15 minutes.  Because I'm not the one in charge, I don't have to schlep wigs, wig heads, hairpins, or any of the other styling paraphernalia, just my purse, water bottle and hoodie.  Yep, definitely light duty.

Lady Bracknell

 I designed a production of The Importance of Being Earnest back in October.  Our Lady Bracknell is a big wig wearer, has an Instagram account where she models and discusses the many wigs in her collection.  When she was cast as Lady B, she bought herself a gray wig for me to style and asked me to take pictures of the steps in the process.  She used those photos to do a little video for her account, showing the before, during, and after.  Here's the link:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DBwPRdQuifV/

That bonnet I was working on

 Here are some pics of the bonnet, all trimmed and ready to go.  I was pretty happy w/ how it turned out.  I'd do the ribbon ties differently in future, but otherwise it looked perfect on the wearer and on stage.

 

 

"Editorial" makeup

 I'm taking a Stage Makeup class this semester and this week's assignment, in preparation for our midterm, is "editorial makeup".  Apparently that refers to the really out-there kind of looks you see during, say, Fashion Week or other avant garde settings.  Here's what I came up with.

Getting crafty

 I decided to use my February show as an excuse to buy an undecorated bonnet, which I'm trimming and will lend to the production.  The lace and ribbon are all from my stash.  I wasn't too sure about this lace, but since I'm not worrying about historical accuracy (the bonnet shape is at least 10 years out of date for the production), I decided to use it, if only to save myself a trip.  Sewing on the lace through this tightly woven straw is slow going, but I'm really liking how it looks so far.

Getting caught up

I seem to be becoming more of a designer than a performer.  Two years ago I designed 5 productions (3 of them adaptations of Pride & Prejudice)  and garnered award nominations for 2 of them.  Last year I designed 5 more shows: Die Fledermaus, Tosca, Arsenic & Old Lace, The Importance of Being Earnest, and DOT.  Here it is barely February and I've already styled a wig for one show and am about to start styling 8 wigs (and possibly trimming a bonnet) for an operetta running in a couple of weeks.

As for getting on stage, there's been precious little being presented that a) I'm interested in, b) has at least one role for a woman older than 20 or 30, and c) fits my schedule.  Since doing Pirates 5 (!) years ago, the only time I've been onstage was for the 2023 Christmas Revels.  That wasn't as satisfying as I'd hoped - we rehearsed in an unheated ballroom, we only ran one weekend, and the cast was HUGE - close to 80!

The design work is coming along nicely - I keep getting the occasional award nomination (though that's probably a factor of far fewer designers than performers), I've gotten to do some really fun, rewarding projects, and worked with some lovely people.

But I wanna go back to swanning around a stage in a costume and singing choruses in public.  Not sure how to make that happen, with so few operettas and musicals having roles for older women.