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Gillette — Nathaniel Evan’s face was covered in bruises.
Just 20 minutes ago, the senior from Douglas was sitting in a hard chair in the hallway of Campbell County High School with no blemish on his skin. But for the next half hour, he sat quietly, watching the black bruise spread and change.
“I guess you could say I threw him a few punches,” Ellie Miller, who was standing next to him, said with a laugh. “But the good news is, they weren’t even injured.”
Miller stood with a makeup sponge in his hand and a bruised makeup kit in his left. She dabs the wedges onto the palette, gently transferring the myriad of colors onto Evan’s face, at odds with the painful reality she’s created in front of her.
As she worked, she explained the colors she had to use to match the storyline the two were about to present to the judges. Some colors create a bruised look from days or a week ago, while others show new marks.
For their story, Evans and Miller needed fresh bruises, consistent with Evans’ “fight” with an elementary school student earlier in the day.
As Miller continues to work, so do those around her, using their time to create a reality that is consistent with the fictional story, as artists must do every time they perform or produce. Students who participated in the Wyoming Theater Festival makeup competition last week had the option to choose from three different types of productions — die-cast, fantasy or reality.
Fantastic characters reminiscent of childhood nightmares, horrific injuries and realistic twirls of models all graced the judges’ bench over the three days.
But in addition to the art of creating real-life versions of images, students across the state showcased portfolios and careful research on how they created their own images, while also considering theater lighting, safety and real-world conditions.
Although the make-up contest was part of the National Day, many students also participated in multiple activities, either in the theatrical performance section or learning techniques and staging at the Cam-plex.
Ayla Huff, a senior at Campbell County High School, runs around Fridays, trying to fit in every one of her activities. Wearing a black cape and applying makeup, the senior transformed into Broadway’s version of Bernadette Peters, the witch in “Into the Woods.”
Huff’s love for makeup began when she was 11 years old, and since then she’s learned to consider many factors when designing a craft.
She also learned that when working with other models on set, connecting with them is the most important thing.
“I almost prefer makeup to other people because I don’t have to tell myself, ‘Open your mouth, open your eyes, close your eyes.’ You have to be more gentle, and you have to get used to working with a lot of faces,” she says .
The flexibility of makeup also intrigued her.
“The fact that there’s almost no limit to what you can do is amazing. You can make yourself look so different. You can make yourself look really ugly, really beautiful or totally different,” she says. “It’s very fun and entertaining for me and stimulates my brain.”
Brigette McClintock has volunteered with the National Theater Program for the past 12 years, helped others across the state turn the program into a national competition, and helped develop standards for a teaching style that differs from previous rankings Compared.
Students are now judged on the interpretation, design, execution and research of their work, moving from where it wins to the development of the craft. With the new edition, students and judges are able to see year-to-year improvement and know which categories need more attention, McClintock said.
She and the other judges focus not only on the makeup itself, but also on ideas the students come up with beforehand to help with the behind-the-scenes work. Burn or car marks must match the direction the car was driven, and chemical burns look different than fire burns.
“It’s a lot of critical thinking and problem-solving. It’s not just, I want to put on pretty makeup and play with this palette, it’s really the purpose and thinking behind what you do,’ Does that fit my scenario, is this injury accurate what am I telling (the judge)?'” McClintock said.
Safety is also an issue when working with actors performing under bright lights. Artists must make sure to account for allergies and visual impairments from touch or other props, or they may place models in dangerous positions.
Another consideration is that different hairstyles and makeup must be in keeping with the period of the performance.
“Kids are understanding the elements of an age group and how makeup works because the makeup we have today didn’t have it back then, so how do you make it look like what today’s product should look like,” she said.
Huff spoke about the period work while doing cast makeup for last year’s “Guys and Dolls” show. Set in the 1920s, she thought missionaries would use slim or even no makeup, but the main character, Cassie, was a hot box dancer who needed red lips and cheeks, which was the trend at the time.
“When I design a show or my kids design a show, we talk about time periods,” McClintock said. “When we do a wig, most people in the audience won’t know it’s the right wig, they won’t realize we’ve done the makeup because it’s the right time. But it’s the research we’ve done to Make it fit exactly to the play and the genre of the play.”
And the work isn’t just for show. For 12 years, McClintock coached and mentored Campbell County students at state competitions, and she said all but six students received full scholarships to the university based on their performance. An average of about 30 students enter the competition each year, and more than 350 students receive full scholarships for their artistic proficiency.
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