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THE ARTISAN SPRING 2025 • 33 work them into each shot. Long-winding camera setups became reveals of the entire cast sometimes. We were able to give him the cast he needed to keep moving. Most of the wigs were fabricated by Natascha Ladek and Rob Pickens. Twenty-eight of our main daily characters were in full wigs every day. We had 20 different secondary actors in wigs, as well and 15 additional hair stylists there to handle our reoccurring BG. Since the film takes place in 90 minutes, keeping our BG that played the crew/ stage workers consistent was a whole game in itself. In the film, our lead actor has to travel to a different floor to try to hire a new lighting director. In one shot, our camera travels down a hallway where variety acts are waiting to take the stage with Milton Berle, played by J.K. Simmons, on his long-running show, e Rumpus Room. We had jugglers, a snake lady, Gingham girls, a ballon lady with her knife-throwing partner, Tony Orlando & Dawn lookalikes, Miss America, and six sidekick dancing showgirls all in wigs. It was fun to do character looks within the 1970s guidelines. Two of our stand-out characters were "Jim Henson" and "Andy Kaufman." e amazing Nicholas Braun played both. As Jim, he HAIR Continued from page 31 Janine Thompson working on Jim Henson (Nicholas Braun) Marissa LaFayette working on Billy Preston (Jon Batiste) Kaylee Kehne-Swisher with Matt Wood Michaels (Gabrielle Labelle), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), Neil Levy (Andrew Barth Feldman), Tom Schiller (Parker Wierling), and Joan Carbunkle (Catherine Curtin). We aged Gabrielle using Skin Illustrator and kept a few day's growth on his facial hair. As the clock clicks closer to the 11:30 p.m. airtime, we allowed the stress to show on his face by reddening his undereye/darkening eye circles and allowing perspiration to show. Both Neil Levy and Tom Schilling had sideburns applied. For John Belushi (Matt Wood), my third, Kaylee Kehne Swisher, applied a bald pate and hand-laid facial hair. Matt also wore dark brown lenses. Kaylee also assisted with the bald cap on Paul Schaffer (Paul Rust). Our fourth, Sophie Ashworth, created some beautiful looks on our main cast, as well from beauty make-up, tattoo covers, applying facial hair and sideburns and laying facial hair to sparse patches to Michael O'Donaghue's (Tommy Dewey) beard. Watching the filming unfold, we knew we were creating something extraordinary, but filming this will also have a special place in my memory because Janine, Nicole, and I have been friends since we were teens. So, to be able to share this incredible experience with them has really been an unforgettable gi. • Tricia Sawyer with Nicholas Braun