Here's how the makeup and wigs on 'Cats' make the iconic musical look up to scratch
The Jellicle Cats are back, and whatever jellicles can and jellicles do, they all have their distinctive looks to maintain.
"It is one of the most iconic parts of 'Cats.' You can't do 'Cats' without the actors and performers looking like cats — and my department is responsible for a large part of it," said Gabe Nunez, the head of hair and makeup for the show's current national tour.
From the has-been Glamour Cat Grizabella and the wise elder Old Deuteronomy to the mysterious criminal Macavity and the magical Mr. Mistoffelees, the feline stars of Andrew Lloyd Webber's perpetually popular musical "Cats" have their own unique makeup, hair and costumes.
As the stage extravaganza has been seen by more than 75 million people worldwide since it premiered in 1981, it has more devotees than a clowder of kitties has lives. The widely panned 2019 movie adaptation hasn't seemed to diminish the musical's large and loyal fan base — or its expectations that all the tomcats and tabbies to be sporting their singular styles on stage.
"Actors will get notes from audience members who have seen this show multiple times. ... It can be daunting," said Nunez, who in November celebrated his 800th performance since he started with the show in 2008.
"But there are moments when I sneak out to watch little bits and pieces of the show, and I'm like, 'It's pretty cool I get to do this and be a part of this history.'"
The multi-season North American tour is ringing in the New Year in Oklahoma City, where the cast and crew will play a five-performance limited run that's an add-on to the OKC Broadway 2022-2023 subscription season. The musical fantasy, which has entranced audiences in more than 30 countries and 15 languages, will play Dec. 30-Jan. 1 at Civic Center Music Hall.
Composed by Lloyd Webber and based on T.S. Eliot’s "Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats," the long-running seven-time Tony-winning show follows a feline tribe called the Jellicle Cats as they prepare for their annual ball, where one kitty will be picked to be reborn.
"'Cats' was the first show I ever saw ... and one of my first dance teachers was on one of the tours," said Erica Lee Cianciulli, who plays the flirty feline Bombalurina on the current tour.
"Being here now is a full-circle moment. ... It's its own tribe to be part of this community."
Nunez and Cianciulli nimbly fielded questions about "Cats" in a recent Zoom call with The Oklahoman:
How do the cast and crew collaborate to make the show look like it should?
Nunez: "It's four of us in the wig and makeup department that keep it going. ... Myself and Amelia (Brown), who's my assistant on the show, we're permanent, full time. So, we travel wherever we go, and then we pick up two locals in each city.
"The four of us focus more on the wigs, actually. The cast does all their own makeup. In rehearsals, they were taught the makeup by our design coordinator Victoria (Tinsman). Once she leaves the production, it's my responsibility to make sure everybody is looking the way they're supposed to."
How was it learning to do Bombalurina's makeup?
Cianciulli: "I am the red cat, so there are reds in my makeup: reds, blacks, whites, little bits of yellows. ... When we learned it, we were given an hour time slot. So, when I first learned it, I was able to do it in an hour. As I kept going with it, I started to get a little bit more picky, so it started to take me about an hour and a half. But now I've got it back down to 45 minutes."
Do you remember what it was like to see yourself as one of the iconic cats for the first time?
Cianciulli: "Yeah, it really put the whole story together. I think there's certain parts of all of it — the wig, makeup and costume — that lends itself to the storyline. And that storyline is vague, but it is still there, depending on which actor is wearing the costume and what they do with it.
"Each character is given three different words, and whatever we want to do with those words, we're given a basis of the storyline. ... Bombalurina's three words are generous, voluptuous and frank. When you think of those three words ... red is the color that I think of, if I had to put a color to it."
How has the look of the show's makeup changed over the past four decades?
Nunez: "We have (original 'Cats' scenic and costume designer) John Napier's designs for makeup. Ours are a little bit different. We embrace the actor's complexion and skin tone underneath the makeup as well. So, ours is not as heavily painted as other productions around the world, or even in the past. ... It allows us to see the person underneath the cat, which I think is really cool, while still keeping cat characteristics.
"That started with the revival on Broadway, and then it transitioned into the first national tour, which I think came through Oklahoma City. I think I was there — we had a tornado warning when I was there last with 'Cats.'"
What's it like working on a show that draws the level of devotion 'Cats' does?
Nunez: "It's a big milestone career moment for me, because this is the epitome of what you want to do in my department is to have everybody in a wig and everybody in makeup. ... If I think more about it in the grander scheme of it, it gets overwhelming. So for me, I just have to go into it like, 'This is my job. I'm turning people into cats today — that's what I get to do.'"
How important are the makeup, the wigs and the look to making 'Cats' work as a show?
Cianciulli: "The whole show is an assortment poems put together, so having the hair and the makeup and all of that behind the text, I think brings it into this beautiful piece of art — and that's what makes it such an iconic musical."
'CATS'
When: Dec. 30-Jan. 1.
Where: Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker.
Information: https://www.okcbroadway.com/cats.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Makeup and wigs add magic touch to iconic musical 'Cats' while in OKC
