Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/987074
58 • THE ARTISAN SPRING 2018 structure was a zoo with audience participants checking in. If you did not know to check in on the second floor and went to the gate … back across the street, you went to stand in line with 60 people, schlepping your gear all the way. Once we were all together, the team consisted of Laurel Van Dyke, Michele Payne, Diana Acrey, JoJo Gerard, Monica DiVenti, Nani Velez Casillas, Josee Normand, Mary Jo Fortin, Tammy Kusian, Gail Ryan, Valerie Nelson, Leigh Ann Pitchon and Nanci Cascio. These ladies were so professional and looked it. Characters were assigned to each of them, gave them as much background information as I knew and what I had for continuity. It was critical that they exactly matched their characters in the film. At some point, I had to go wig Keala, who played "Lettie Lutz" the bearded lady. Magic happened. Laurel laid wefts of hair on the Three- legged Man to recreate a very specific hair style that he buzz- cut days before this call, Gail assisted. Nani jumped in with her air brushing technique to blend the edges to recreate his fade. Leigh Ann was working with the Albino, an elegant, bald black man. The Albino wig had a hard tortoise shell-like base and he was bald! The long, dreadlock wig was heavy and cumber- some. She wrapped self-stick ACE bandage the circumference of his head and laid toupee tape on his pate. Michele moved in to assist with anchoring the beast. JoJo recreated the Snake Woman, who had her own dreads during filming but now had, at most, a half-inch tight "fro." She laboriously built her look from packaged dreads, one dread by one dread. Brilliantly, JoJo rigged it to come off as one piece! Gail was unassum- ingly tweaking wigs, quietly getting her girls flat-wrapped and wigged. Michele, Mary Jo, Valerie and Monica were working with the Oddities, for which there was no continuity, and headpieces that we didn't know which one belonged to whom. Adept communication and gorgeous hair artistry, they so nailed it upon seeing video playback. Tammy was working with the Pagoda Girl and a ridiculously high headdress that was not an easy read as to how to attach. Once we figured the front, Tammy expertly anchored it into her beautiful coif. Josee had the Albino twins, another pair of cumbersome wigs that weren't labeled with actor names, so it was a roll of the dice. Nanci took over Gold Boy, while JoJo was creating Snake Woman. Gold Boy was a blowout of his curly Afro, then flat iron, then styling into two vertical rolls with a flat center. Diana also had two look-a-like wigs that were built on a helmet-like founda- tion and unlabeled for which actor, which to this day, I have no clue how she secured them. All of these characters were singing, dancing, running and jumping! The first rehearsal was exhilarating and so gratifying because these women nailed it. The second rehearsal was even better and show day was pure gold. The magic was how blind we were to the final product and nailing it the first time. The magic of complete participation, of being right there, right now and the enjoyment of each other's company. It just wasn't us, it was the whole cast, the whole atmo- sphere exuded high energy and joy. That started at the top, and we had Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman! The live feed promo of The Greatest Showman ran on Sunday, December 18, at 4:34 p.m. for 3.5 minutes, in the midst of the live broadcast of A Christmas Story Live!•