Urinetown
For Clark Musical Theatre's 2023 Spring show, we did Urinetown! Hair and makeup was designed with a retro yet futuristic vision, combining fashions of the late 20th century, and modern Y2K fashion.
It was a challenge to be the designer for hair and makeup, assistant costume designer, and be in the show as an actor! A challenging project, but fun nonetheless.
THE CAPITALISTS
Caldwell B. Cladwell (Penny Amara)
Penelope Pennywise (Noah Payeur)
Dr. Billeaux (Eli Humphrey) and Hope Cladwell (Genevieve Duska)
Officer Barrel (Ayomide Ajala) and Officer Lockstock (Will Urquhart)
Mr. McQueen (Lily ten Berge)
Capitalist Ensemble (Brenna Gillotti)
Mrs. Millennium (Riley Johnson)
Senator Fipp (Isabel Sonnabend)
The vision for the show, fashion-wise, was to be set in the 2000s. With the plot of the show demanding a drought that has been going on for the previous two decades, the Capitalists' fashion is set in the 1980s, with a futuristic twist, given the dystopia of the show.
Each character had their own individual design, collecting aspects of their personality and the message they need to visually convey, such as Cladwell, the overlord, having crisp, angular lines in a powerful red, matching the blocks of colour the policemen have over their eyes.
THE REBELS
Little Sally (Melanie Berman) and Little Becky Two-Shoes (Caroline Dowdle)
Bobby Strong (Eva Sanchez-Navitsky)
Josephine "Old Ma" Strong (Brooke Fullerton)
Joseph "Old Man" Strong (Sirui Yu)
Hot Blades Harry (Savannah Devlin)
Soupy Sue (Ariana Pillitteri)
Robby the Stockfish (Elizabeth Forest)
Tiny Tom (Tori MacKay)
Billy Boy Bill (Elizabeth Zinno)
Rebel Ensemble (Imogen Jeffries)
Rebels
Continuing with the Y2K theme, combined with fashion more or less frozen in the 80s, there was a timeless blend of many components for the Rebels. Our director specifically said he did not want them to be dirty, so instead, we opted for messy, shown through smudged eyeshadow and neutral tones, compared to the bold precision of the Capitalists.
Everyone still had their individual designs, but the goal was a different kind of cohesion; countless safety pins, patches, similar shades of the same colours. Character-wise, they're individually ragtag, but come together as one to reach their goal.
BEHIND THE SCENES
When I was first tasked with designing hair and makeup for this show, I immediately went to my most trusted inspiration source; Pinterest. I made my own board for the show, with a section for each actor, as well as their corresponding groups. Along with that, I worked on making a document for the actors, detailing their individual looks and what they need. The document itself is very informal, so that the actors would not feel daunted by guidelines that could be seen as strict or overbearing. Included for some members of the cast are unique designs, such as the ones here. They changed significantly when made a reality, and even changed from show to show!
One of the first obstacles was the fact that none of the actors resembled the blank template I had used for the designs. This resulted in changes sucha s lines either crossing over the eyebrow, or being drawn above it entirely. Colour schemes changed as well; it looked nicer for Hope Cladwell to have more than just one colour on her face, and some initial colour designs simply looked better when changed to something we already had on hand.
Original design for Hope Cladwell
Original design for Mr. Cladwell
Original design for Mr. McQueen
Original design for the policemen
All photos were taken by Kat Morelli