Wig, Hair, and Make up Design
Abby Rose Backstage
When I was in high school, I was fortunate enough to have in our productions professional grade wigs designed by an employee of the Chicago Lyric Theatre. I was fascinated with these beautiful creations, and how much work it took to construct, design, and maintain these structures. Overtime I began asking questions and learning how to care for wigs, and in college I began designing my own for the theatre department, along with make up. My work is very character oriented, and I enjoy collaborating with actors on their character choices and motivations to customize my work to the world they build. Below are samples of my work in make up, hair, and wig design for Augustana College.
The Crucible
Set in a distant dystopian future rather than the original, this production of the crucible required outlandish looks. Judge Hawthorne was meant to look the most outlandish, due to his stature as outside of the community, and so I used a pale white base on his face, and grey contour and eyeshadow to darken his features and make him appear drawn. He then had black lipstick on, combined with his natural hair tied back created a very sinister and gender fluid look, which worked well with the setting.
The Crucible Witches
Creating a dynamic and dystopian look
Abigail of the crucible underwent a complete change in look throughout the show. In the first act, she is pale and drawn like other members of the village, with a white base and grey contouring. After the second act, when she fully embraces her powers, her hair is let down from it's strict bun and her lips are painted red. Throughout the show she has wide innocent babydoll eyes, accomplished with white eyeliner and false eyelashes, as she protests her innocence all the while.
Sweeney Todd
Joanna and the Beggar Woman
For this show I designed two wigs, Joanna and the Beggar woman. Joanna's blonde and innocent ringlets (synthetic hair)Â were hand curled by me using steam treatment The wig also had to be put into a pony tail for when Joanna plays her mother in the montage scene. The beggar woman's wig started as a plain grey synthetic wig. I spray colored it in spots with brown and black, and damaged the synthetic hair to make it look patchy and matted with filth.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Twiggy and The Beehive
This show design revolved entirely around 60s hair hopping and twiggy eye make up trends! The girls wore different shades of blue and green eyeshadows with cat eye eyeliner and the lid arch, iconic in that era. For Heddy Larue, my director insisted the beehive be done in her natural hair every night. Typically we reached a beehive at about 7 or 8 inches tall, with a french twist in the back.