The Broadway musical “Wicked” is in Birmingham playing at BJCC Concert Hall. This company travels around the country performing 52 weeks a year and the one thing most people remember about this show is the main character is green.
Fox 6 had a backstage pass to interview some of the cast members – Wacth Video below:
Transforming Anne Brummel into her character, Elphaba, takes about 30 minutes.
Makeup artist Joyce McGilberry applies a mixture of water and green paint to performer Anne Brummel. “To me it’s just work and once the green is on you really become Elphaba the character,” Brummel said.
Using water and green paint, makeup artist Joyce McGilberry colors Anne’s face and chest with a brush. After that she applies a powder that keeps in the paint in place.
“That keeps it pretty still. It comes off in a few places. A certain gentleman might get it on his face occasionally when we kiss but it stays pretty set because of the powder,” Brummel said.
During the month-long stop in Birmingham Brummel and McGilberry will go through about 25 packs of green paint and countless packs of powder, but being green provides some other makeup challenges. Instead of using pink for blush, McGilberry uses purple.
“The green will give the appearance of flattening out the face so we use the purple to lift her cheekbones,” McGilberry said.
Brummel and McGilberry said all of the hard prep work pays off when the audience gets to see the final product on stage.
“I can’t imagine doing this role without the green. I don’t think it would be the same,” Brummel said.
As for getting the green paint off, Brummel says it takes about 10 minutes to scrub it off. She has a shower in her dressing room so she can wash it off before she leaves the BJCC.
Buy Wicked Birmingham AL Tickets today. Get $10 OFF on Wicked Bjcc Concert Hall Ticket Orders over $350! Use Code AFF$10.