Ghoulish & Gorgeous Makeup Effects for Dracula By - usitt td&t

Ghoulish & Gorgeous Makeup Effects for DraculaBy Heather FlemingPublished in TD&T, Vol. 46 No. 2 (Spring 2010)

Theatre Design & Technology, the journal for design and production professionals in the performing arts and entertainment industry, is published four times a year by United States Institute for Theatre Technology. For information about joining USITT or to purchase back issues of TD&T, please contact the USITT office:

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Dracula

gorgeousmakeup effects

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Figure 1. Hair designs for Dracula in 2009 included facial hair for the Count, played by Randolph Curtis Rand, and a toupee for Van Helsing, played by William McNulty.

by Heather Fleming

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ctors Theatre of Louisville has been presenting Dracula every fall for fifteen years. For the technical and design departments, this Halloween-related classic is on our minds for most of the regu-lar season. Either we are in the midst of it, striking it, or plan-ning for the next one. For me as the Wig/Makeup Designer at Actors Theatre, the annual production of Dracula gives me lots of opportunities to continue improving my skills and discover-ing new things about special effects makeup.

Dracula, as developed by William McNulty, a longtime resident actor and director with the company, is unique. “I am tired of stage and film versions of the story,” says McNulty, “which either romanticize the Count or make him into some campy buffoon. By placing believable, sympathetic characters in an environment of extreme danger we hope to have maxi-mum impact on our audience.”

To set the stage, the Bingham Theatre, the intimate arena venue at Actors Theatre which is noisy and bright as the audi-ence takes its seats, suddenly goes dark. Fog spills across the floor. The sounds of wailing apparitions and pounding drums fill our ears. We hear a single scream, then Mina dashes onto stage, slamming the iron crypt gate behind her. All is silent for the space of a breath, and then the ferocious, snarling Monster leaps out, grabbing and clawing at Mina. Audiences, young to old, are thrilled and terrified. While the entire two-hour show is, as you might expect, chock full of macabre sound cues, lighting effects, and characters both ghoulish and gorgeous, this opening sequence is essential to pull the audience into our Gothic nightmare. If even a single effect or cue fails to go off as

planned, then the whole opener could fail. As sound designer Benjamin Marcum puts it, “If the microphone cuts out or the strobes don’t go, suddenly it’s just a guy in a mask running around howling, and that’s not scary.”

Developing the Design n

The guy in a mask is where I come in. My first task was to fer-ret out information from Mr. McNulty, about the appearance of the people who inhabit his vision of Dracula. “When I initially began work on the show,” he told me, “I wanted to underscore the evil nature of [Count] Dracula, to continually remind peo-ple of the sinister presence beneath the suave, attractive exte-rior, so with my design team I developed the character of the Count’s alter ego, a raging bestial creature, part werewolf, part animated corpse, and utterly demonic.”

Figure 2. Contstuction of The Monster, from the initial latex prosthesis, to some minimal coloring with bits of hair punched into the top and brows, before the full wig was attached. More hair was punched in to cover the join. Danny Reyes played The Monster in 2008 production. Photos by the author except as noted.


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This description was full of good clues for creating a monster, as was the vision of costume designer Lorraine Venberg. Properties designer Will Griffin and I also worked closely together because the script calls for an ancient parchment featuring a likeness of The Monster to be revealed to certain characters in one scene. Of course, the audience, which is scant inches from the action, sees the parchment portrait too.

Another consideration any makeup artists needs to keep in mind when creating special effects pieces is that they be fully functional for the actor. In this case, the actor needed a piece that would transform him into a terrifying beast and fit precisely enough to allow him to see, speak, bite, and fight—oh, and did I mention that we do this show annually? The Monster prosthesis needs to be durable enough to hold up for at least a couple of seasons, versatile enough to be worn by a new actor each year, and simple enough that it can go on in under thirty minutes.

As the design took shape in my mind, I focused on both decaying flesh and a wolfish maw. Because this monster needs

to very emphatically bite a number of necks each performance, it seemed best to leave the actor’s mouth relatively free of pros-thetics so the audience could easily see his lethal fangs. I also decided for practical reasons that this prosthesis, both wig and facial features, needed to go on the actor as a single piece.

Creating The Monster n

To begin, I took a face casting of acting apprentice Danny Reyes who was playing The Monster my first year on the project. This casting gave me a general shape and scale which has been useful over several seasons even though the actor playing The Monster has changed. Each year I create a new nose and new cheeks. These are the features which must have a good custom fit on each new face. Also I realized it would be nearly impos-sible to build a nose and cheeks delicate enough to look natu-ral up close yet sturdy enough to survive more than one season of Dracula’s two-month run.

…cheek pieces were actually the primary

anchoring point for the prosthesis, since

gluing to the actor’s cheekbones allowed

flexibility in his lower face, as well as

clear peripheral vision.

Figure 3. The Monster (Danny Reyes) in full Monster Regalia, levitates Lucy (Kim Stauffer).

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Using Danny’s life cast, I sculpted a brutish, Neanderthal forehead that tapered into a snarling nose (fig. 2). Liquid latex, instead of foam latex, was used for this project. Then, addi-tional latex was layered on to create the look of waxy, putrid flesh, after which permanent markers were used to add color, texture, and dimension. The colors—greens, blues, and reds to play up the monster’s ghoulish pallor—were influenced by lighting designer Tony Penna’s use of deeply saturated blues.

At this point, I had a workable latex mask that covered the entire upper head, forehead, brows, and temples. Attached to this was a prosthetic nose and flexible cheek pieces that could be glued down quickly. These cheek pieces were actually the primary anchoring point for the prosthesis, since gluing to the actor’s cheekbones allowed flexibility in his lower face, as well as clear peripheral vision. All that was missing was the lupine mane and eyebrows.

The hair was relatively simple. A three-quarter cap wig was built using long, crinkly black hair, leaving the front edge empty so it could be bonded to the face piece with liquid latex. Once the latex had cured, hair was punched through the seam to cover the joint. The Monster now had a natural, albeit gro-tesquely receded, hair line as seen in figure 2. The same hair was used in the brow area.

The final steps were to fit the prosthesis on the actor and figure out what makeup to use to conceal the edge of the mask. In order for the makeup to read, given the lighting design, the makeup colors needed to be high-contrast and cool pigmented. The goal was twofold—to obscure the edges of the prosthesis and to add grisly texture to the actor’s otherwise smooth and healthy skin. After several experiments, the best results were achieved with a heavy stippling of greens and blues with ad-ditional contour stippling in a neutral grey to hollow out the cheeks and enhance the wolfish shape of the nasal area.

Figure 4. Adaptations of the prosthesis for the 2009 production. The color was changed, more hair was added to the top and face, and the nose was reshaped. Below, The Monster (York Walker) prepares to bite Mina (Natalie Allen). Note Mina’s wig, one of the few non-gruesome pieces.

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Alterations n

The design for the 2008 incarnation of The Monster (figs. 2 and 3) emphasizes the ghoulish, rotting skin. Figure 4 is from the 2009 production in which I tried to nudge The Monster closer to his man/animal nature and farther from the “undead” look by using heavier brows, more hair on the face and cheeks, and a slimmer nose. The colors of the prosthesis in 2009 also changed to match the dark skin tones of the actor, York Walker. The makeup colors changed accordingly with a heavy stippling of red and green, with yellow for highlights. The 2010 monster will undoubtedly have a few modifications, but probably will not undergo significant redesign.

Devilish Crones n

Though The Monster is a significant piece to create, it is not the only work in the show. The Count has a harem of devilish crones in addition to his monstrous alter ego. These three vampiresses, the so-called brides of Dracula, needed to have grotesque fea-tures as well, but also be sensual and feminine. And, because the three brides were played by actors in other roles, their special effects makeup needed to be pieces that could be put on and removed quickly. This limited the options to a mask.

Figure 5. Preliminary sketch for redesign of vampiress mask and wig for 2010 production.

The quick changes prevented the use of any makeup for these characters, so the masks were matched to the actor’s skin tones and color was used to create accents, shading, and features such as veins.


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Why do you think Dracula has remained so popular with audiences at Actors Theatre of Louisville?

I think people are enthralled by the style and concept of the show. Audiences are accustomed to the horror genre in other media, but we bring it to the stage, and, since we are in a relatively small arena venue, we bring it up close and personal. We do not shy away from the graphic violence and the genuine terror that a story such as this demands. It was never conceived as “family entertainment,” and yet parents and children show up every year and seem to enjoy clinging together in the dark while heroines scream, monsters leap about, and blood gushes. Go figure!

How long have you been involved in Dracula at Actors, and in what capacities?

I have been directing the show for fourteen years. I started out playing Renfield as well as directing, but more recently I have been casting myself as Van Helsing. This may seem egotistical, but I can honestly say that I have never been in a better actor-director relationship. Also, we now are doing my adaptation of the story, which has recently been published by Playscripts (www.playscripts.com).

What is at the top of your wish list for future productions?

A bat! What is a production of Dracula without a bat? I want a big mechanical one that flies about the theatre and swoops down over the audience and sends people screaming into the lobby. I ask for it every year, and every year I’m told it’s unaffordable. But I know that someday the economy will recover, budgets will burgeon and I shall have my bat.

Do you have a favorite moment or element from the show?

I don’t think I favor any particular element over all others. I have never tired of working on this piece, and that’s because every year I get to collaborate with such a remarkable collection of artists and technicians. I think we all know that we’re producing a piece of popular entertainment, but we all work hard to give it an artistic integrity we can be proud of. Everyone seems to thoroughly enjoy the process and take pride in the result, and that is enormously gratifying for me.

A brief interview with William McNulty


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Face casts of the three actors playing the brides were taken, and simple prostheses were sculpted that would cover the top of the head, the forehead and the temples. Some of the features of The Monster were echoed in the masks but the lines were kept feminine. The quick changes prevented the use of any makeup for these characters, so the masks were matched to the actor’s skin tones and color was used to create accents, shading, and features such as veins.

A redesign of the vampiress masks has begun for the 2010 produc-tion featuring a full-head piece that will give the brides long scraggly hair, feral brows, and twisted noses. Figure 5 is a sketch made in preparation for sculpting one of the new vampiress.

More Gore n

Other effects in Dracula include death wounds suffered by various char-acters. These need to go on easily, be reusable, and, most importantly, look gory all the way in the back row (fig. 6). Less gory, but still necessary, are the period hairstyles for the more human members of the cast, which can be as basic as a good nineteenth century haircut for Dr. Seweard, or as complex as building a believable toupee for Van Helsing, a wig for Mina, or facial hair for the Count (figs. 1 and 4).

Endless Opportunities n

One of my favorite opportunities in Dracula is also one of the biggest challenges—giving patrons the familiar show they know and love each year, while exploring new makeup and hair ideas to help the actors tell a story that is always fresh. It is very satisfying to know that no matter how good or scary (or both) something looks this year, there will be an opportunity to improve and expand my work next year, and beyond. v

Heather Fleming is responsible for all wigs and makeup at Actors Theatre of Louisville which includes up to fifteen shows a season. She also teaches workshops and has given presentations at USITT conferences. Her Web site is www.wigsforstage.com.

Figure 6. Marc Bovino with oozing wound on top of his head.

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Ghoulish & Gorgeous Makeup Effects for Dracula By - usitt td&t