Soooooo, I should have probably updated this at the beginning of this production and not at the end of it, but what a busy theatre-filled summer I’ve had. Due to this WGA/SAG strike making all things film super slow, I decided that I was going to do a summer production……and in came Magnolia Musical Theatre’s rendition of Beauty & the Beast. I was hired to wig, makeup, and mask design the show. I ended up styling almost 40 wigs, including a Lumiere caged wig that was almost a foot tall, and a fully adjustable custom made Beast mask. All of my college skills came into play, lol.
I had so. much. fun…..like I always have a lot of fun with what I do, but I could build Beast masks every day and still be psyched to do it. I pulled out my dusty sculpting tools, got to work with an old friend, Jason Vines, who helped me mold and cast my sculpt, and I got to paint my little heart out. My assistants and I also set four wigs for it, then I sewed and manipulated them on the base of the mask to emulate his thicker neck and shoulders. It turned out pretty rad.
I also haven’t ever designed any Disney productions, which unlike a lot of historical theatre where everything is very specifically researched for very specific locations and dates, the main priority is to just make everything perfect and pretty…..so, I basically got to choose all of the beautiful styles that I’ve been wanting to do between 1730-1830. It was awesome. I had a Beidermier in there, a few powdered wigs, some sculptural Regency and Rococo pieces - it was just such a cool opportunity. I also got to take a shot at doing some cool Bridgerton and The Great wig styles that I’ve been wanting to do.
It just made for a really great summer. It felt really good to stretch other creative muscles and work outside of my Mary Moody Northen Theatre……but now, and hopefully soon, it will be time to get back to my film and commercial work.
Enjoy the some of these pictures from our production, and there’s a how-to on how I made the mask well (and pardon Belle’s lace - those quick changes some under 30 seconds wouldn’t allow for us to glue her edges down)!