An Exploration in Stage Makeup 

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My name is Bryn Merrill, a senior at Natomas Charter Performing and Fine Arts Academy. PFAA is a community to shed light, educates, and inspires those in the artistic field. From dance, visual and digital art, vocal, music, and drama. Within the drama department, the art form of stagecraft is an essential part of the creation of the production. An aspect of that performance of a show is the stage makeup. The art of stage makeup has influenced the history of Hollywood, yet rarely gets appreciated. After participating in multiple stage makeup classes at Sacramento Theatre Company, I feel very passionate about shedding light on this focus. 

 

As an actor, I am familiar with the makeup industry, but I have never been the one to compose it behind the scenes. For this project, I have embarked on a hybrid of community and exploration, by creating and initiating the grayscale makeup for the NCS 2022 production of the Twilight Zone. I wanted to keep the theme of the famous 1960s show with not only its eerie dementor but also its compositor of the black and white facade of the period. I worked with the director and head of the drama department, Karen Pollard to assist me on this journey. I have learned to teach the actors of the production, with the help of a stagecraft crew of students that would also help me. The production opened on October 26th and closed on 29th 2022. 

 

As you move through the website and project, I hope that you will be transported back to the time of grayscale as well. While I struggled with communication, deadlines, and color correction, I am beyond proud of the team, actors, and project. Stage makeup is an aspect that I felt passionate about and I hoped to encourage the students of NCS to become passionate about it too—appreciating the ability that makeup has to brighten the stage to life through old age, fantasy, gore, or the grayscale of a tv screen. 

 

Thank you so much for your time. 

 

Sincerely, 

Bryn Merrill