Acting: make up w/expressions...

Primarily, I'm a makeup artist. Have been a theater actor, director, techie, etc., etc. BUT my first love is theatrical makeup and film makeup special effects work. I've spent a long time learning how to do this. The thing you may have experienced with WHY the audience was so enthralled is due in large part to the fact that audiences have come to EXPECT good makeup work to be done because they're presented with it practically with every movie you see nowadays. And they expect to see it with stage work too or whatever they watch in entertainment like this. Films have created some incredible makeup effects and it seems to spill over to theater now. As a matter of fact, there are numerous "special makeup" theatrical productions and the use of special makeup for these things is becoming more and more prevelant. I really don't know to what degree, but I seem to see it more and more - simply because it's available, it's not rocket science and lots of people who like doing makeup have developed skills that make using special makeup work even for stage (when required) so much easier and accessible. I mean it IS A HIGHLY specialized and ever evolving and growing craft that MUST be studied and learned for a LIFETIME. But it's a matter of learning by doing, experimenting and working to improve constantly.

As I said, MY first love is doing makeup work. There is some of it being done VERY VERY poorly. I've met sooooo many actors who say "oh, I know how to do my own makeup" - because they bought Corson's Stage Makeup book or they had a semester or just a unit of exposure to makeup work in college....WHEN in fact, there is so much BAAAAD makeup being done that it's laughable. I say that if you intend to be a well rounded actor that you know as much as you can and develop skills that allow you to at least appreciate those who do even the behind-the-scenes work so that your work ONSTAGE as an actor or actress is much more aware and complete. And GOOD MAKEUP WORK is part of that. Learn the lessons well. Practice is key in this regard. And then when you have makeup on that really goes a long way to enhance what you do as an actor creating a character - fictional or otherwise - then you can more easily use your craft to the fulllest. And by the way, good makeup work does NOT steal the focus unless the actor or actress wearing it is so bad that THAT is the ONLY thing worth looking at. Rather it should (as I said) ENHANCE what the actor does - not be the driving force, but more a TOOL that makes the WHOLE performance better.

Study, study. OBSERVE!!! Look around. Become a people watcher. Look at other people's makeup work. DECIDE what is good and what isn't. I'll tell you this - the scales tip heavily to the BAD side with actors and actresses or other makeup artist wanna-bes, who THINK what they do is "good enough" or even in some cases "good" when it most certainly is not. If you're REALLY interested in makeup work, then you'll seek the ways to learn that fit you best. But I've seen your schools website and they don't even list any kinds of courses in makeup work or much less even exposure to it, in their curricula. And THAT is one of the things that MOST COLLEGES or schools simply do NOT address. That's why there are people like me who have this interest and at least get to work with it once in a while. SO few good film or theater schools simply don't put much stock in teaching this yet it is SOOO needed. And some of these makeup schools that ARE thriving are NOT teaching actors or makeup artists much more than basics - at much too high a price. GOOD makeup work is a lifelong study or should be. Too bad for most people it's not that important whether I think it ought to be or not. Good luck.