Theatrical and Circus Life: or, Secrets of the Stage, Green-Room and Sawdust ArenaJennings, John J. (John Joseph)
History
Theatrical and Circus Life: or, Secrets of the Stage, Green-Room and Sawdust Arena
Jennings, John J. (John Joseph)
Circus; Theater -- United States
"Not so bad as when he makes up for a corpse, however. I'll never
forget the first glance I had at my face after it had been made up
for _Gaston's_ death scene, when playing the "Man of the Iron Mask,"
in '62. It positively appalled me, sir, and I lay awake all that
night thinking of it, and dreamed of myself in a coffin for a month
afterward."
"How is it done?"
"Well, it varies slightly. You see, such characters as _Lear_,
_Virginius_, _Werner_, and _Beverly_ are before the audience some time
before they actually die, and therefore, their faces cannot be made
very corpse-like; but _Mathias_ in 'The Bells,' _Louis XI._, _Gaston_
and _Danny Mann_ are discovered dying when the scene opens, or are
brought in dead, so that their faces can be made extreme. For the last
series the face and neck should be spread with prepared pink to give
it a livid hue in places. Then put a deep shading of powdered antimony
under the eyebrows and well into the hollow of the eye, on the cheeks,
throat and temples. This is very effective, as it gives the face that
dreadfully sunken appearance as in death. The sides of the nose and
even the upper lip should also be darkened, and the lips powdered blue.
Then the face will look about as dead as it would three hours after a
real death."
"In the make up of grotesque faces do they use false noses and chins?"
"Very rarely. Usually the method is to stick some wool on the nose
with a gum and mold it in whatever shape you will; then powder and
paint it as you would the natural nose for grotesque or comedy parts.
Paste is put on with gum, instead of wool, sometimes. Clowns have
to encase themselves fairly with whiting, and they find this trouble
enough without building up noses or cheeks. Grotesque artists have to
work hard with their faces as a rule, but they are often repaid by
discovering neat points. Many of our best Dutch and Irish comedians owe
their first lift to a lucky make-up."
[Illustration: THE LATE ADELAIDE NEILSON.]
"I suppose there are types of the representation of different
nationalities?"
"Well, a gentleman is usually made-up the same, no matter where he
may be supposed to belong, but the caricature is usually one of the
well-known make-ups. A Frenchman has to be powdered with dark rouge,
and has his eyebrows blackened with dark ink. All dark characters, as
mulattoes, creoles, Spaniards, and so on, are done with whiting and
dark rouge, with plenty of burnt cork and umber."
"Is much work necessary on the hands?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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