The Young Company: Behind the scenes with makeup crew

Lavinia Huang

Whitney Young’s very own Young Company has just finished performing it’s winter play, The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry. Many people know about the amazing actors and actresses that took part of this production but crew behind them is what helped drive the play into the amazing piece that it was.

The makeup crew is in charge of doing hair and makeup for each of the characters in the play. These hardworking people have a vital role in the visual of the characters and often to understanding the story. For this twenties themed play, the crew used a lot of hairspray and bright makeup to make colors stand out in the setting. Hair and makeup may seem simple to the outsider but it’s a process to the crew.

“An hour before the play all the actors get set up to costumes and makeup in rounds. There’s four rounds. In each round there are six actors. They go to costumes first so they don’t mess up their makeup. We use the makeup to characterize the characters. For example if they are old, we use wrinkles and if they are supposed to be young we use a lot of blush. Once all the rounds are done, we are assigned characters to do quick changes throughout the play,” Sarah Mendez ‘18 describes the process.

Unfortunately, this was Jai Primer’s ‘18 last play as a member of makeup crew. Jai was the makeup head but for the spring play, Asia Locke ‘18 is stepping up as makeup head.

“I’m sad to see Jai go but I would like to see other people join company as well! Makeup crew is so fun and it’s great to be part of the community that is the Young Company,” remarks Asia Locke ‘18.

If you are interested in joining company the spring play will be coming up in a few months so start thinking about your skills and interests. As an actor or a crew member, you can be part of a great Young Company production.

The makeup crew on the set of The Good Times are Killing Me.