Taking a Peek into Hair & Makeup
This past week we were lucky enough to chat with COT’s resident wig and makeup artist Rebecca A. Scott and ask her a few questions about her career in theatre.
Keep reading to learn more about this COT team member!
How did you start doing make-up and wigs for theatre?
By accident. I have a BFA in theatrical production design and was planning on working in costumes. After a couple of years, I got burned out on wardrobe and was looking to move up to a shop assistant type position. I had applied at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ for the shop assistant job and of course it had just been filled but there was an opening for the wig and hair supervisor gig. I had worked with a couple of wigs here and there and thought, "Well, it can't hurt to get more wig experience so I'll do this for a little bit and then move on." The wig designer, Steven Bryant, noticed that I was a quick study and encouraged me to go to Santa Fe Opera for a summer to work with Tom Watson. I did 2 years at McCarter with Steven and 2 summers at Santa Fe with Tom and that all started in 1999 and here I am all these years later!
Cyrano at the Indiana Repertory
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Lots of places- pinterest, movies, paintings. I have lots of books of old Hollywood glam pictures, museum catalogues, pictures saved to my phone from the internet. I'm a visual person and artist so if a costume designer or director can give me a piece of photo research of what they have in mind, I can recreate that.
Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice at the American Players Theatre
Elves from COT’s Becoming Santa Claus
Which show was the biggest challenge make-up or hair wise?
Becoming Santa Claus last year here at COT. When Brenda McCann Winstead, the Costume designer on that show, said "Queen Sophine's hair should be based on the Aurora borealis set against the snow" I knew I was in for a challenge. Her 2 wigs had 9 colors set against the snow white base and they were tough to build! Then there was the Prince with his wig and that was 5 colors of white, light Grey, light pink, light lavender, ice blue. And then the elves with their bright blue, pink, green and purple wigs- I still find the "elf blue" hair in my apartment all the time!
Makeup wise, Santa was fun to figure out. I've done prosthetic noses for a 3 person Cyrano that was being filmed at Indiana Repertory during the lockdowns and a series of zombie commercials I did makeup and wounds for for a coffee co-op in Madison called Just Coffee last year. Anytime wounds and prosthetics are involved, you up the challenge.
Zombie from Just Coffee coffee commercial
What has been your favorite look you've done on a production?
It was a for a production of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice at the American Players Theatre. It was a punky look for the leading lady and she was going to have bright red hair. So, I found 3 shades of bright red and magenta human hair and built her a wig. I've built lots of wigs for this actress but this style was out of my comfort zone. It was also in a small, intimate theater so it meant the audience was going to potentially be inches away from her face. It was such a success that this actresses mother overheard people chatting after the show convinced that she had dyed her hair that color because there's no way it was a wig.
Queen Sophine from COT’s Becoming Santa Claus
Prince Claus from COT’s Becoming Santa Claus
Just Coffee coffee commercial
What can we look forward to with King Roger?
I'm not actually sure yet because I haven't had a design meeting but I do know that, no matter what, it'll be a feast for the eyes!