Theatre
This is a hard nut to crack as you will need experience for this one. The majority of actors will have trodden the boards and appeared in rep though out the country ,so are well used to doing their own makeup. A makeup artist is only required if it is specialist makeup, think of the Phantom's scar makeup in Phantom of the Opera or the extras at the Royal Opera House. Mostly you will be asked to look after and repair the wigs, so for this medium, you will have to brush up on your special effects and hair skills. These positions are usually advertised in The Stage newspaper.
Makeup for theatre is the heaviest form of makeup, it's horrendous up close but works well on stage as its seen from quite a distance. As for the hair, when you are not looking after the wigs, you are dressing them onto the artist (or working with there own hair) a lot of time will be spent back stage changing the hairstyle. Should quick changes be required, you will have to work fast and know where you need to be at any given moment. Mama Mia was the last West End show I worked on and much as I used to love Abba, after a while you zone it out and start chatting to your colleagues, but its amazing how your brain will click into gear the second a couple of bars are played and you rush to wherever you are supposed to be back stage. There's great comradery with the crew and cast and many a night was spent in late night member bars in Soho who catered to the theatre fraternity who wanted to drink themselves into a stupor until dawn, for a fraction of the price it costs for drinks in central London. Go home, sleep until early afternoon, turn up for work at 4pm, only to start the whole thing all over again!
So there you have it, all 3 mediums, hopefully it will be helpful to those of you starting out. Good luck!
This is a hard nut to crack as you will need experience for this one. The majority of actors will have trodden the boards and appeared in rep though out the country ,so are well used to doing their own makeup. A makeup artist is only required if it is specialist makeup, think of the Phantom's scar makeup in Phantom of the Opera or the extras at the Royal Opera House. Mostly you will be asked to look after and repair the wigs, so for this medium, you will have to brush up on your special effects and hair skills. These positions are usually advertised in The Stage newspaper.
Makeup for theatre is the heaviest form of makeup, it's horrendous up close but works well on stage as its seen from quite a distance. As for the hair, when you are not looking after the wigs, you are dressing them onto the artist (or working with there own hair) a lot of time will be spent back stage changing the hairstyle. Should quick changes be required, you will have to work fast and know where you need to be at any given moment. Mama Mia was the last West End show I worked on and much as I used to love Abba, after a while you zone it out and start chatting to your colleagues, but its amazing how your brain will click into gear the second a couple of bars are played and you rush to wherever you are supposed to be back stage. There's great comradery with the crew and cast and many a night was spent in late night member bars in Soho who catered to the theatre fraternity who wanted to drink themselves into a stupor until dawn, for a fraction of the price it costs for drinks in central London. Go home, sleep until early afternoon, turn up for work at 4pm, only to start the whole thing all over again!
So there you have it, all 3 mediums, hopefully it will be helpful to those of you starting out. Good luck!
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