January 7, 2004
Herald photo by Garret Leiva
Traverse City West Senior High School sophomore Darrin Clem turns into a mole throught the magic of makeup. Clem's mole character is one of 15 animals in the West Senior High production of "Thumbelina."
Child's play at WSH
West High School presents evening of children's theater
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Wielding brushes, fingers and compact disc palettes, make up artists at Traverse City West Senior High School turned their peers into a cross section of the Animal Kingdom.
During a run through Monday afternoon of the upcoming play "Thumbelina," actors portraying a variety of four- and six-legged creatures took their turn in the make up chair. The cast of this Hans Christian Andersen tale has 15 animals in all, including a mole, mice, spiders, a cat, a water rat and catfish.
Five student make up artists, members of the school's Stagecraft class, are responsible for bringing each character's looks to life on stage. Led by Kate Laffin, a 12th grade student serving as the class's student teacher for the semester, the students have planned, sketched and created since November.
On Monday, they began winging it with their live models, taking more than 20 minutes per transformation.
"To make a beetle, to do the make up we knew we really couldn't do a beetle so were doing the beetle's back on the face," said Laura Drake, a 12th grade student. "This is my first time in stagecraft and my first time ever doing something like this, so I'm learning as I go."
Laffin has years of experience with make up and plans to pursue a career in theater. However, even she was slightly stumped by turning a fellow student into a mole. One brushstroke at a time, however, she accomplished her task.
"This project is one of the most extensive things that I've tried to handle myself," noted Laffin, who will study theater at Western Michigan University in 2005 after taking a year off. "There's just so many different fantasy characters that we have to do."
Laffin and her crew are also responsible for the second play presented this weekend: "The Elves and the Shoemaker." The make up for that cast, which also numbers 20 people, is much more human and features mainly exaggerated childish features for the elves.
The make up artists are members of the school's Stagecraft class that handle all aspects of play production: make up, publicity, costumes, lighting, set and props. They support the actors on stage and the director, providing the behind-the-scenes assistance for the show to go on.
Since November, class members have assisted teacher Kristi Bach with everything and anything involved in putting on "Thumbelina" and "The Elves and the Shoemaker." Both plays will run Friday and Saturday evenings at West High School and continue the school's tradition of presenting children's plays to the community.
"I've got incredibly motivated students, they are wonderful," said Bach, the school's theater teacher. "We could never do all that we do without the stagecraft class."
Bach said that before the Stagecraft class, she would do everything they do herself, an exhausting and stressful prospect.
"I'd do all the make up, sew all the costumes, do all the publicity, though sometimes I'd farm one costume out to a mom," she recalled. "I had no family life."
Four student directors are also lending a hand this semester, guiding the actors in the production of the two plays. Dana Szpond, a 12th grade student, is co-director for "Thumbelina." An avid theater student since the eighth grade, with every possible class under her belt, she stepped into a leadership role this semester.
"I like seeing it all come together," said Szpond. "The actors learning their lines, the blocking and getting to know the kids is fun, too."
Szpond noted that during the first part of the year, Mrs. Bach teaches all the basics of acting and theater to the class. The four students directors listen in and get to know everyone. Then, when play production begins in early November, the students take the lead. Over the next seven weeks, they are responsible for making the production come together with Bach serving as a resource.
This experience has opened up a new interest for Szpond.
"I think I want to go into film directing," she said. "I really like it a lot, I've really just fallen in love with directing and I am writing a screenplay right now."
Productions of "Thumbelina" and "The Elves and the Shoemaker" will be held at 7:30 Friday and Saturday evenings at the West High School auditorium. General admission tickets are $5 each and are available at the school box office. For more information, call the box office at 933-7509.