Wicked Makeup...
Wicked Makeup...
Wicked Makeup...#0
Posted: 12/3/03 at 10:18pm
I am bad! I stole this magazine (Stage Directions) from my Drama teacher because there is costume/makeup stuff (with pics!) on Wicked and an interview with Avenue Q's lighting designer Howell Binkley. There is even an article on the TMM tour. Well, I always wondered how they did Elphaba's makeup and I found out. I typed a whole page of the article for you, so PLEASE read it! I think you will find it interesting...
Part of Sinfully Good
By Evan Henerson
Hilferty, who outfitted a very different witch for the Broadway revival of Into The Woods in 2002, enlisted the help of her Woods' collaborators Tom Watson (hair and wigs) and Joseph Dulude II. A longtime freelance artist with MAC cosmetics, Dulude runs the makeup department for the show and is responsible for Menzel's makeup and the prosthetics (designed by Academy Award-winner Matthew Mungle).
Whether munchkin or monkey, each ensemble member needed a makeup guideline, according to Dulude. Chenoweth took naturally to Glinda's pink and glitter, and could handle her own makeup. The greening and witchification of Elphaba, however, required considerable experimentation as well as a trip to MAC's Pro location.
Among the questions to consider: to airbrush or not to airbrush? How much and how heavy? And how to make sure that the hardworking Menzel doesn't sweat it all off by intermission?
"It was quite a challenge just to get something that was easy to apply, that would last onstage and that would not rub off on things," explains Dulude. "We wanted it to be comfortable for her since she would be wearing it for eight performances a week. Now we've gotten to the point that she doesn't think twice about the fact that she had green makeup on."
The team settled on Chroma cake with a watercolor-like consistency that Menzel could apply to her face using a wide brush. Dulude does the actress' hands, neck and behind her ears.
The makeup itself is sheer enough that emotional reactions--like flushes--can still show through. A golden olive pigment powder combined with a yellow-green shimmery powder helps Elphaba's skin glow. A waterproof derma powder and Ben Nye fixative spray keeps everything in place. During Wicked's pre-Broadway run last June, Dulude and Menzel got the bewitching routine down to about half an hour.
After the final curtain, Menzel goes straight into the shower and the makeup is gone with no hard scrubbing required. During early rehearsal phases, Menzel occasionally wore the makeup out to walk home.
"And nary a head would turn," swears Hilferty.
Only in Oz.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
re: Wicked Makeup...#1
Posted: 12/3/03 at 10:26pmGotta say, I loved learning all of this. Thank you.
re: re: Wicked Makeup...#2
Posted: 12/3/03 at 10:35pm
Very interesting read 
Thank you.
re: re: re: Wicked Makeup...#3
Posted: 12/4/03 at 9:01amYou mean I actually posted something useful and interesting?! I thought a lot more people would be interested. If you are interested in Avenue Q lighting, let me know...
Joined: 12/31/69
re: re: re: re: Wicked Makeup...#4
Posted: 12/4/03 at 10:26amWow! That is totally cool info! I love to know stuff like that.
re: re: re: re: re: Wicked Makeup...#5
Posted: 12/4/03 at 5:39pmIt is! That's really interesting. I'm glad its not such a long hard process- Idina is put through enough. That's awesome. Thank you very much. That's cute that she wore it to go home. Haha.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/03
re: re: re: re: re: re: Wicked Makeup...#6
Posted: 12/4/03 at 6:17pmI remember when Idina raised her arms up at one point when she was wearing the sleeveless dress, I could see a seam, so it looked like she was wearing some sort of green body suit or something.
re: Wicked Makeup...#7
Posted: 12/4/03 at 6:29pmIdina does wear a green body suit, its like leg stocking material..she only gets her hands, and neck up airbrushed:) and she even has a green microphone, sometimes its on the side of her ear and sometimes clipped into her hair, the hair one is what Kristin always wears. Updated On: 12/4/03 at 06:29 PM
Stand-by Joined: 10/6/03
re: Wicked Makeup...#8
Posted: 12/4/03 at 6:59pmThanks for sharing! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
re: re: Wicked Makeup...#9
Posted: 12/4/03 at 10:44pmLOL I would so walk home in that stuff too once in a while...just for fun to see people's reactions.
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