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38 • THE ARTISAN SPRING 2020 hours of I Love Lucy episodes to incorporate all they could from the 1950s into the styling of the wigs and hairpieces. It was such a challenge for the hair department because not only were they under a strict budget, but they had to have three wigs for each character. Burke and his team had to custom design three Lucy Poodle wigs, three Ethels, and three Fred's and make them each unique to their respective Will & Grace characters. Of course, Karen's iconic updo was to be created and designed to fi t the episode where it was dyed the Lucy red and matched Grace's exquisite true Lucy look. One thing is for sure in our trade, know your limits and applying bald caps was one of ours. Sure, I knew how and have applied many bald caps, but times have certainly changed. The technique is so different and fi ne-tuned by our masters that it's absolutely mind-blowing what these artists can do, and they blend everything so seamlessly that to the naked eye you can't see where the bald cap starts or fi nishes. We asked Bruce Fuller and Mark Garbarino to join us to help with the bald caps and applying hairpieces for the Fred looks. "When you work with bald caps, they take time to apply, sometimes two to three hours, that was time we did not have," said Bruce. "We had one wig that had to work for both male and female. Mark handled most of the hand-laid hair to make one wig fi t three different head sizes, then we applied subtle bits of character creams and age spotting with each actor's input as to how far they wanted to take their interpretation." Mark and Bruce got their bald cap application down to an hour and a half; they co-applied caps and basically chased each other with the varying PAX and alcohol-based colors which turned into a well-choreographed whirligig of beat-the-clock applications. To fully complete each Fred, took an amazing 2½ hours. Needless to say, this team saved the day! The episode from start to fi nish was very emotional for everyone, especially when Lucie Arnaz, Lucille Ball's daughter, was on set. When Arnaz fi rst saw Debra in her completed look in the hallway backstage, it was such an emotional moment between them, as it was an honor of a lifetime for Debra to portray such an icon. We were all teary eyed when Arnaz said it was like seeing her mom again. Arnaz also came to set to hug Debra again after the fi rst take of Vitameatavegamin in front of a standing ovation. To bring this episode to life was truly an unforgettable experience that we will cherish forever. It says a lot that even after a 12-year break, our entire crew came back, and the set still felt like one big family. After many laughs and fond memories established over our years together, such as when Harry Connick Jr. sang Christmas carols to the crew on a cold, early-morning shoot, or J.Lo singing "Waiting for Tonight" while Sean Hayes and Will Arnett performed as her backup dancers, or hearing Alec Baldwin, the ultimate storyteller, share a tale from his career, these and countless other experiences on Will & Grace will forever be etched into our minds for years to come. We all know that we've worked with some of this industry's best and I'm proud to say I was part of the Will & Grace team. • OUR MAKE-UP AND HAIR DEPARTMENT TEAM: Patty Bunch, Tim Burke, Luke O'Connor and Farah Bunch, Nicole Venables, Elaine Offers Woulard and Darlene Brumfi eld. Amazing. Will & Grace. You could go a lifetime and never get the opportunity to work on an iconic show such as this one. We were making television history in a time like never before. Riding on the coattails of Ellen, this show broke through all barriers. A show that so many people would watch and remember for years to come. Twelve years after our 8-year run, we got a mysterious call from our producers asking all departments to help in a W&G REBOOT