River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1897-03-04
THE ACTORS FACE.
Art of Making Up a Matter of Great I'm
portance.

portance.
Making up is tiresome process for
actor and actress, yet one they cannot
escape from. In private life they are
frequently much better looking people
than they are on the stage-and great
deal more natural; for 'make-ups,"
Notwithstanding the high pitch of per-
fection-we had almost said the pink of
perfection-to which they have been
brought, have never been able to resist
the power of the searching opera glass.
Managers, with laudable desire to
increase their takings, now let out
these cruel detectors at sixpence time
ON the 'slot" misunderstanding to
the honesty of the customer to return
the goods when he has finished with
them. Even the inexperienced may
thus discover that the complexion of
the player is not real, although he is
possibly COMPOUNDED as to the actual
constituents which contribute to the
illusion. A passionate Romeo" val
orous Don Caesar de BaZan'-rent by
the pangs of love, flushed with passion
must endure the physical inconveni-
ence attending on the coating of his
countenance by the substance known
as grease paint"-a name with no spice
of romance whatever about it. 1t is
reassuring to learn that this artistic
product is chemically pure and inno-
cent of lead. The lighter and fairer
tints are rubbed in by ladies, but the
hues for the gentlemen range over a
wide and liberal field. If you are an
honest tar returned from foreign serv-
ice to England, home and beauty, you
affect the sunburnt color; if you are
q mulatto you go one darker, and an In
dian is deeper still. A cheerful chrome
blended with other factors is employed
for Cinnamon, and blue-black is pro-
vided for "unshaven chins" and "old
men,"
A clowns face is ''lined" with YER
million, and there is pathetic red for
representing blotches on the bibulous
faces of the Eccles type of character.
The eyes are rendered p cturesque-and
often hideous-bv a liberal application
of blacks and blues, and in cases of
extreme necessity-such as that of the
Christy minstrel-there is nothing for
it except to ego the whole hog" and use
burnt cork. "Othello," fortunately,
takes a more subdued tone. If he did
not, we should be the more easily able
to appreciate the tortures of the con-
scientious artist who BACKED himself
all over for that part. The ''nigger"
lips are produced by generous strokes
of carmine; and among the negative
virtues of the makeup box is a compo-
sition which apparently stamps out
the teeth of old and wrinkled crea-
tions. Sir Henry Irving, for instance,
uses this in Louis Nj" and as Cor
poral Brewster" in "a Story of Water
loo" The art of making up, although
largely reduced to an exact science, is
more difficult of requirement than
would at first appear. Like most other
things, il demands more care and
thought than the ignorant wot of.
There is not only the complexion to be
adjusted to the requirements of the
character, but the wig and whiskers
must harmonic, and there must be no
obvious "ioin." Even the "bladder-of-
lard" head, endcared to us at the pam
tomime season, takes as much fitting
as a new bonnet-London Telegraph.