Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542690
LOCAL706.ORG • 19 Thomas Richards-Keyes Head of Hair and Makeup at San Francisco Ballet I 'm excited to be involved in San Francisco Ballet's telling of Frankenstein through dance, from the 2017 creation to our tour to Costa Mesa. Our San Francisco Regional Local 706 hairs stylists and make-up artists have been incredible over the years and made it all possible to get such a large production well prepared and able to tour. A co-production with the London Royal Ballet, it became one of the largest productions the company has ever taken on the road. The team at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, headed by Kimberly Robinson, was a pleasure to work with, even better knowing the crew were all Local 706 sisters and brothers. A ballet co-production means sets/ costumes/etc., are shared between the two companies to split the creation costs. In this case, hair and make-up were kept in-house with wigs and hairpieces built by Campbell and Associates specifically for our dancers back in 2017, while the SFX make-ups in turn are locally created fresh for every run. I'm Head of Hair and Makeup with Lisa Zomer as Deputy Head. With my background in wigs and hair, and Lisa's in make-up, we run the department as specialists leading each of our craft's crew. This is one of the largest crews we hire for the ballet, bringing together a total of 15 Local 706 artists. I manage the core team of seven hair stylists and four make-up artists, leaving Lisa free to focus on the effects team, including herself and two SFX artists. Choreographer Liam Scarlett and costume designer John Macfarlane set the show in a general 18th-century look. Acts 1 and 2 take place in the real world with natural period hair styles, and Act 3 shifts into a dreamlike fantasy of shadow and rich colors with more fanciful and colorful period hair. Men wear their natural hair with a hand- tied human hair back-flap piece tied back into a queue. We make mini-ponytails with small elastics, applying SexyHair Big Powder Play to get their short hair as grabby as possible. The back flaps have toupee clips sewn-in, we attach those to the ponytails and add bob pins for extra hold. Their hair is styled with Kenra Volume Mousse 12 to bring out any natural curl without looking too crisp. I've found the Kenra is stickier than other brands and it holds up well to heavy sweating through a full dance performance. On especially sweaty dancers, we finish the look with a spray of Got2B Glued or TRESemme Non-Aerosol Extra Hold. One hair stylist is stationed on each side of the stage for the entire show in case any pieces slip mid-performance. A group of five named characters wear tie-back wigs. The wigs are hand-tied yak hair with side-rolls and minimal lift on top, making them more mundane in appearance. We use a prep of elastic headband, mesh wig cap, pop-clips, and wig pins. If the dancer requests it, we use W.M. Creations Spirit Gum. One woman wears a wig, the mother of Victor Frankenstein's childhood friend, Justine, a salt-and-pepper hand-tied human hair wig in an elegant up-do. Joshua Jack Price. Photo: Lindsey Rallo Frances Chung and Joseph Walsh. Photo: Lindsey Rallo