小优视频

Behind the curtain, on the far side of the stage, around some discarded pieces of sets and up some narrow, metal stairs, there鈥檚 a cramped dressing room in Falk Theatre. Inside is where a half-dozen or so musical theatre majors and minors met once a week last semester to transform themselves into supernatural creatures, old people and animals, and create illusions of scars and bullet holes on their bodies (good for Gasparilla), all as part of a course about stage makeup.

鈥淲hen I was registering, a friend asked me if I was taking this class,鈥� said junior Liv Mollica. 鈥淚 was, like, 鈥�Now I am!鈥櫬�

鈥淚鈥檝e always loved doing makeup designs for theater and for special effects. I would do it at my house with, like, toilet paper and water and a dream,鈥� she continued. 鈥淏ut this class has really taught me how special-effects makeup works.鈥�

The 鈥渟pecial topics鈥� theatre course was taught by Rosemary Orlando, an adjunct at 小优视频ampa with a long performance and backstage r茅sum茅. She鈥檚 an equity actress who has directed large-scale productions, and she鈥檚 been teaching the stage makeup course at 小优视频ampa, off-and-on, for 20 years.

She says that many actors do their own makeup, so the skills learned in the class are crucial to the students鈥� future careers. During one meeting last semester, the students learned how to make a plaster face mask that, in practical use, could be the mold for a custom-fit costume piece 鈥� or serve as the base for designing perfect-fit prosthetic fairy ears, character-defining noses or other features.聽

That day, Mollica served as Orlando鈥檚 model, sitting聽stone-cold still as Orlando demonstrated the mask-making聽techniques, which students then practiced with partners.

They slathered on Vaseline to start, removing nose rings and other piercings and slicking up all the creases and crannies to keep them from being stuck and pulled later, when the mask-cast would be removed. Hair was held back in hats and bands, and as for eyebrows 鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to lose any eyebrows鈥� 鈥� Orlando advised a good layer of grease.

Then, they went to work, soaking plaster strips that Orlando had cut the night before and pressing them to their partners鈥� faces in crisscross patterns.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 giving spa,鈥� one student said. Said another: 鈥淭his looks like a horror film.鈥�

鈥淜eep the chatter down,鈥� Orlando warned, as movement would threaten the integrity of the hardening masks. But the jokes kept coming, and she admitted, 鈥淭hese are theatre students. They can鈥檛 help themselves.鈥�

Within 15 minutes, the students鈥� skin started to feel warm, the signal that the mask was ready. 鈥淚t feels like it鈥檚 cooking,鈥� a student said, risking her mask鈥檚 structure and her partner鈥檚 handiwork.

Orlando was there to provide some relief.

鈥淜iss the mask,鈥� she told them. The push from the smooch released the plaster molds from their faces, and students admired each other鈥檚 results. Before long, plans for the next class were announced.

Bring your makeup kits, students were told. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing mythical creatures, and, no, you鈥檙e not going to look pretty.鈥�