“I don’t want your blood money.”

Looking for something to do Easter weekend?

I am make up designing and spot oping for Midnight Productions “Jesus Christ Super Star” at the Keswick theater in Glenside PA. Its going to be a lot of fun. If you have the time and the means, get your tickets through Keswick Theater

For make up design, my focus is largely on the Priests. I want them to look exotic, but this is also their war, and they are the bad guys. Below are my rough sketches, just to get my ideas down, but it’s a glimpse in to how I work. These were sketched at a Saturday rehearsal.

This is straight out of my sketch book. No touch ups. I did add the text saying who they were.

I’ll start with Pilate. I wanted to really show how regal Pilate is. He’s either in this position because he royally pissed someone off, or he’s just that good. Either way, his patience is being tried at every corner. Because of that, he has a short fuse. I wanted to really emphasize his jaw and cheek bones to give him a harsher look. I’ll do that with redish purples. The highlights on his face will be done with silver/gold to make him look that much more above the crowd. I’ll emphasize his brow and eyes with black.

Caiaphas. The ring leader. The actor playing Caiaphas has this wonderful deep voice, and I want his appearance to be just as menacing. Beads and string will be woven in to his hair and beard. Annas and the Priestess mimic the features of Caiaphas. Because they are often seen on either side of Caiaphas, I wanted them to kind of balance him.   All three priests will have black upper lips and eyes ringed with black. The line with the circle pattern and the lines around the mouth are inspired by the Maori warriors and their facial tattoos. As I said before, this is their war, so they are in their war paint. I’m going to use lots of golds and purples and blues for their coloring. The face with the X over it is a take for Annas that I didn’t like. It didn’t fit with the other priests.

And finally, with have Herod. I see Herod’s court as kind of a drunken bacchanal, so I really wanted to portray that feeling in Herod himself. He’s going to have really rosey cheeks and some definite bed head. Other than that, I wanted to keep Herod pretty simple. He’s having too much fun to have a high maintenance appearance. I also wanted him to have a different feel than the priests or Pilate. He’s a little removed from their situation, and doesn’t quite fit in with them.

I hope this was enlightening. And I’ll say it again, if you have the time and the means, this will be a really great show.