Laura Osnes "SP" wig

[Elphie3]

Posted: 3/15/09 at 11:46pm

Um... how does she "wash that man out of her hair" with a wig?

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/15/09 at 11:51pm

The same way Kelli O'Hara and Mary Martin did. You change wigs.

[Tag]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 12:01am

I'm more interested in the mic situation. Anyone know how that works?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 12:11am

Um, Mary Martin didn't wear a wig... that was her own hair. She deliberately cut it shorter than usual so it would be dry in virtually minutes. She shampooed her hair on stage at every performance.



An inventive showwoman, she had the idea of actually shampooing her hair onstage every night while singing SOUTH PACIFIC's, "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out-a My Hair." And so she did—more than 1,000 times.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 12:21am

Why did Kelli O'Hara cut her hair for South Pacific if she was wearing a wig in it?

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 12:29am

1. The producers could film her getting her haircut to share with us at BWW

2. She wanted to get the feel of the character

3. Short hair is easier to put under a wig

4. She felt like it

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 12:59am

I'm pretty sure she didn't use a wig. At least when I asked her about it early in previews, she said that she hadn't been using a wig. Did they add one later?

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 1:10am

Kelli definitely had a wig.

[i*heart*fame]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 1:18am

I believe they started previews without a wig, there were some difficulties, and then she got one. It was all over the boards(must have been a slow news week...) last year when it happened.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 1:40am

I'm very interested in the mic situation as well. Is the song pre-recorded like the fountain scene in Bombay Dreams?

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 1:48am

Definitely not prerecorded. I think she just has a waterproof mic.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 3/16/09 at 1:52am

I don't have the energy to dig it out now, but Stage Directions did an article about the South Pacific sound design a while back and this was dicussed. I am sure it is archived on their website.

They discuss that most of the cast wears DPA body mics, but Kelli wears Countryman miniature mics because they are very water resistant. As with most leads, she wears two mics at all times. They are, indeed, under the wig. Since it is a close cropped wig, there is not room to hide the battery packs under there as well, so they are hidden in her costume. For the shower scene, the battery packs are hidden in her bra / upper part of the bikini. Apparently, during tech, the battery packs were put to the ultimate test when O'Hara dropped them in a toilet.

Yes, she is miked. Yes, she sings it live. Yes, she wears a wig.