Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1504732
Iraina Crenshaw working on Bemi Ikumelo It was unanimously decided that Maybelle should be a blonde with short, waved hair. Molly's hair was naturally very dark so bleaching was not an option as that would damage her hair and the maintenance would be time-consuming while filming, so I went with a wig, a pretty platinum blonde. I designed the wig to come forward slightly to cover her dark hair. Iraina also applied blonde hair powder to diminish the darkness of her hairline. ere were so many wigs used on our guest actors, day players, and background actors, too numerous to mention them all. Every female African American cast member wore a wig. Most of the time, due to delayed casting and actor availability, we decided which wig to use and created their look when they arrived. ere are a couple of cast members who required special design attention. First: Lea Robinson as Berti also referred to as Bert. Lea had a headful of dreadlocks we needed to cut but leave enough length to create a proper 1943 wavy men's hair style. My barber/hair stylist Maaliq did a wonderful job delicately cutting the dreds and leaving two inches in length, then clipper cutting the sides and back leaving the top with a little length to have a side part and waved top. Second: Marquise Vilson as Red Wright. Marquise came to us with a shaved head which was not the norm for a man in 1943. All the short-textured wigs we had in stock where too big, so again Maaliq came to the rescue and hand-laid Afro- Tech on the whole head and created a full head of textured hair which he then proceeded to cut into a proper 1943 hair style. e biggest challenge had to be the large crowd scenes. e background artists supply the texture to the show. We made every effort to be as authentic and accurate as possible. is took place during COVID, the looming strike and very hot Pittsburgh summer temperatures. It was such a thrill to meet some of the original women ball players from that era, most in their 90s at this time. All in all, I was very happy with the way everyone looked, and how Gbemisola Ikumelo (Bemi) as Clance Morgan; Chanté Adams their appearance related to the period of time they lived in and the lives they led. is was an exciting project from start to finish. My hair team, especially my team in the trailer, went above and beyond creating an escape into 1943 history, when the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed. ey really knocked it out of the park! (No pun intended, well, maybe a little.) • L-R: Adams and Ikumelo