Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542690
the nape and secured with bob pins. Then we dress the front pieces in an elegant sweep over the sides of the crows and pin them to blend into the postiche. At the end of the show, we remove and block the wigs, queues and postiches. Coming full circle, two hair crew and I start an hour ahead of the regular crew to restyle the wigs, queues, and postiches. It's an intense cycle that's also deeply satisfying through the shared energy of the dancers and audience. Lisa Ruth Zomer Deputy Head of Makeup and Wigs at San Francisco Ballet M y tour with San Francico Ballet's Frankenstein began back in 2017 when the creature designer Tim Santry called and asked if I would be his assistant on the new production of Frankenstein. Tim has been one of my mentors and a close friend from the beginning of my time working in San Francisco and we've helped each other out on many jobs over the years. I knew we would have a great time and good working chemistry from the start, so I enthusiastically agreed to come on board. Over the next two years, I assisted Tim in the casting and application of the creature make-up for the performance runs in 2017 and 2018, barely seeing the inside of the usual make-up room at our home base in the War Memorial Opera House. I had no idea that five years later, I would join the company as Deputy Head of Makeup and Wigs, taking on a completely new role within the company itself, and therefore, the new run of Frankenstein, but I am so grateful for that time as it prepared me for what was to come. Tim had been entrusted with the original make-up design of Frankenstein's creature and worked from the original costume concept to incorporate a make-up that would work for the dancers but also stay true to the design of the production. Each creature begins with casting the head and chest of the dancer with Smooth On silicone products and then making a bust out of Hydrocal. Tim then sculpts and manufactures the head pates and scars over the course of several days with each performance requiring a set of scars and a pate that is disposed of after the show. Initially, we had tried to clean them for reuse, but it quickly became apparent that doing so was a losing proposition. Because of the strenuous movement and the lack of touch-up time, the make-up had to last through more than 3½ hours of stretching and friction from costumes and partner dancing, not to mention a profuse amount of perspiration. By the time the Frankenstein production came around again, my role had shifted and I needed to look at our home performances in a completely new light. I was now leading our make-up team and turned over my assisting duties to Jordan Plath for the initial run of the show. However, for our encore run, I had to learn to create the creature on my own so that I could train whoever would be assisting me when we went on the road as it would only be Thomas and I traveling with the company for our department. Both Tim and Jordan were patient and generous teachers, giving me the time to think through the steps and work on my muscle memory. In the end, it worked beautifully because I was able to confidently recreate our creature on the road with my Costa Mesa team, Victor Del Castillo and Bruna Nogueira. Most of the make-ups in the show are fairly straightforward beauty make-ups. Joe Walsh—one of the dancers who portrays the character of Victor Frankenstein and also serves in the role of stage director— collaborated with me to help create an image of a man slowly falling into madness, San Francisco Ballet dancers. Photo: Lindsay Thomas Sasha De Sola Archie Sullivan