Preliminary Harispray Story Board

So, below i have pictures referring to character looks based on some of the research i've done.
Most of the the looks are pretty well established based on the two films...Having seen the Broadway production and also having been fortunate enough to work with some of the former members of the wig crew, I have preconceived idea of what the shapes of the styles should be and the direction the design should go in. Of course, I need feedback from the Costumer and Director before I set any design.

I've got some photo looks below. If you scroll all the way down past the photos, i've got an outline of the principles and what I think their looks should be based on the synopsis i found on wikipedia; Click the link below to read the Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairspray_%28musical%29#Synopsis



Photos

Left: Velma Basic (we'll order it in Blonde and make a french twist up the back out of the two pony tails)

















Left: Prison Matron Look






















Left: Gym teacher look (imagine with large Jackie O style sunglasses)


Left : Prudy Pingleton (Mamie Eisenhower look) We'll do this hairstyle in a very Red wig with more volume on the sides...think Carol Burnett's look from Mama's Family
























Edna Looks

I prefer if we went with a "Divine" inspired Edna, not a Travolta.























above: Faye Dunnaway as Joan Crawford...This is the "beulah braid" look i refer to in my notes about the mother/daughter look for tracy and Edna...imagine this look with bangs for each.

above is the Lulu "to sir with love" look...that wig is called a "ruby" and can be used as the base for most looks and then a second wig or piece can be pinned on top. Inexpensive and a lot of look for the money.

I like this wig plus add-ons for Maybelle. this wig by itself for some of the chorus girls.

above This is a pre-fabricated (factory made) beehive...a good option for Maybelle or for Velma...but i think because this wig is such a distinctive shape that there should only be one of these on stage.













this bee hive is hollow inside, so We can put in foam pieces to create the spherical shape that Amber needs in her Miss teenage Hairspray look...i've worked with this particular wig before and its actually got lots of possibilities...We would of course get it in blonde...

This would be a good Amber basic look...it would need teasing and styling, etc...but it's a solid look for Amber. this look is also perfect for other members in the chorus, in a different color and styled differently.

This is a good look for amber's Mother Daughter wig...we'd get two of these and style them slightly different, one for Amber, one for Velma.

this is called a "vamp". we would also use it in a different color and styled differently for Penny

Left is a tracy basic...and then we'd build on that

Tracy – dark brown with light blonde streaks

Her Second entrance she changes to a wig that is larger and more finished, the two tone basic with head band Basic 2
(Chorus girl gets similar do later in show in different shade of brown with same blonde streaks)

Mother Daughter look - Beulah Braid 2 tone with streaky fall in back…Edna gets similar do in reddish blonde with dark streaks instead of blond streaks. They wear this to Big Doll House. 2 wigs pinned together…

Possibly - During intermission, Tracy changes to a wig that is styled the same as her Mother/Daughter wig, but the wig is tattered and mussed from the fight and overnight in jail. Top of act she ends up at Maybelle’s record shop. (we use 2 wigs here, one that’s fabulous and one that messed up)

Finale look – a build on the original silhouette, but larger and with more blonde streaks.

Total Looks for Tracy – 5

Edna – strawberry blonde, dark golden blonde…streaks of medium brown

Long stringy gray wig, front is in pin curls, back is loose. Similar to Divine’s Edna…not Travolta…if there is an old ratty wig at BRLT, then that wig could be used.

Momma welcome to the 60s…before she leaves the house for a quick change into glamour…she simple wraps a large silk scarf around her ugly pincurls. WARDROBE issue.

Then, she gets her make over and she’s stunning…probably wearing the tidal wave sweep.

Then for Mother Daughter day, she’s in the similar 2 tone Beulah braid look, which she keeps on for prison. 2 wigs pinned together

Finale – she goes back into her make-over 1960s wig…or into the factory made beehive.

Amber – shades of lightest blonde

If the right girl is cast, then she might be able to wear her own hair for most of the show, and getting wigged only at the end for Miss Teen Hairspray competition.

Otherwise – She gets a teased about basic bob-

And her dance mother daughter day look is a jumbo vamp…

Then the finale would be a jumbo curly beehive

Velma – shades of golden blonde…perhaps wigs that

have slightly darker roots sprayed in

Baltimore Crabs - She gets a colonial farm girl wig…that I will jack out and make glamorously appropriate

Then, she gets the same Vamp wig for amber, styled slightly different from her daughter…

Finale – Perhaps we put her in a Marilyn Monroe wig with an extra piece on top for incidental scenes and the finale (in the TV studio, etc)

Or we can do a beehive for the finale styled differently from Amber…

Penny – brown

Vamp wig with pigtails

Possible we do 2 vamp wigs for her, styled the same…2^nd act the vamp wig has streaks.

Penny is about

Link – uses his own hair…try to cast a boy with enough hair to put a little loop down onto his forehead…

Seaweed – I’d love to put him in a fabulous “Little Richard” wig…otherwise…he can just wear his own hair.

Maybelle – Blonde, obviously.

First look is an updo with a Beulah braid and big cake shaped bun on the crown.

Then we put her in a ruby (think Lulu’s hairstyle from To sir with love) with a big curly piece on top for height.

I know where I’ve been, she gets a blonde afro that pins behind her silky blonde bangs in her ruby…because if she’s singing about civil rights….she ought to be wearing an afro in celebration of her blackness…even if the afro is blonde.

Or we could put her in a blonde beehive…

Maybelle’s such a pistol, there are lots of directions we

can go with her…

Little Inez – she gets braids for most of the show…then at the end, I’d like to put her in a matching blonde wig to her mother…the audience will eat that up.

Female Authority figure –

Prison Matron – She gets a platinum blonde 1940s pinup girl wig…(subtle overtones to German Domantrix) no glasses

Gym teacher – auburn finger waves...big Jackie O sunglasses (even though she’s inside)

Prudy Pingleton – Brown Mamie Eisenhower do…hopefully we get horn-rimmed glasses for her.

Male Authority Figure

Mr Pinky – brown full men’s wig with

thick tortoise shell glasses frames (I see him as “Newman” from Seinfeld)

Principal – Is it possible that we have the actor wear his own hair for this look…or can we interchange this look for one of the others? Maybe he wears his own hair and a mustache/goatee(I see this guy as sort of average looking…his costume really should say “Public School Principal” and maybe just a van-dyke to set him apart)

Mr. Spritzer – Gray Balding Wig with facial hair (I see this guy as a rumpled up older ) business man

CHORUS MEMBERS

I think that depending on the females in the chorus…those who have lots of thick hair that is at least chin length ought to be able to do “hot rollers” on their own hair and tease/spray it out.

If the girls have short or thin/fine hair, they maybe ought to be wigged, and they’ll get one look and keep it the whole show.

There is one girl who has a line in “big doll house” who has a one line solo… with a Latina’s accent, “Don’t I know you from First and Main?” She gets a long curly “Cher” wig.

Black Girls in particular – because of “modern” styling on Afro-American hair…many girls are either chemical relaxed or they wear a weave…neither of which is going to be period. It will be easy for me to wig these girls