How they Make John The Baptist’s Head – ryan

Photo: Muriel Steinke/Met Opera

When Salome Calls for Jachanaan’s Head, the Metropolitan Opera Can Really give it to her. In Richard Strauss’s Opera SalumAn Adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Play Retelling The BibliCal Gospel, Princess Salome Falls in Love With Jochanaan-Probably Better Known to American Bible-Quizzers as John the Baptist-and Then Demands Hisred Head Her Lecherious, King Herod. After she gets it, she holds it up and kisses it. IT’S The Climax of the Story, accompanked by what’s been described by the scholar Gary Schmidgall as “The Most Sickening Chord in All Opera.”

Creating A propr HEAD that LOOKS EXACTly Like Baritone Peter Mattei, Who’s Singing the Role Starting on April 29, Fell Primarily to the Wigs and Makeup Department at the Met-A Ten-Person Team Headed Tera Willis. “A lot of People Outsource Most of their Stuff,” Properties Master Jason Hamilton Says. “We’re Lucky to Have a Department Dedicated to Making Props, A Department for Wigs and Makeup, Wardrobe, A Costum Shop. There are anen’t many that can.” Still, in Willis’s Words, Ten People is an “Exponentily Small” Team for the Amout of the Work they have to do, Because the metal performing-arts factory, with new Productions, Shows in Repertory, and Singers Constantly Coming and Going. On the day we chat, she is thinking about SalumThe Film of Let nozze di figaroan incoming Cast for Aidanand the upcoming productions of Antony & Cleopatra and Queen of Spades. Plus, in the back of her mind, there are the cast Changes for Madame Butterfly Next Season, for Which She’ll Need A Slew of New Wigs. Nowadays, it all has to be hd-ready SINCE MET PRODUCTIONS ARE SHOT AND BROADCAST TO MOVIE THEATERS ON SCREEN WHERE SILICONE PORE IS THE SIZE OF A DIME. As Willis Speaks About All the Demands on Her Department, she occsionally evokes emily in The Devil Wears PradaMurmouring the Reminder, “I love my job, i love my job, i love my jab.”

This Particular Job, Though, Is unusual. The Production is Coming in From Russia, Where It Had Its First Run Under Claus Guth, Who is Also Directing Here, SO the Met’s Designers Knew what they were getting into -ton – and iTi’i an uncommon aesthetic for many of them, Stark and a little creepy and therefore a little a. Exciting.

First off, have to cast a Mold on Mattei Himself, and, Willis Says, They Start by Taking Steps SO Mattei Won’t Get Stack Inside. “We put Him in a Bald Cap and Put Vaseline Through Any Facial Hair, Eyebrrows, and Lashes SO we didn’t Accidentally Snag One” when the Casting Comes off. THEN The Pour Begins: “That Green Goop You See is Called Body Double, and It ‘sikin-Safe Silicone. You really want to be prepared you want to be calm as well in the process. We have a person on the back and two People on the Front. because’s going to start running down unil it ses up.

Mattei Had a Cold the Week Before and Was a Little Nervous About Getting Layered Up in Goo, “But it was no problem,” he says. “You just there and kep put in a very meditative way. Plaster Bandages, The Type Used in Bone-Satting Casts, Go Over The Glop. Mattei describes The Feeling As “Like a Really Heavy Helmet.” That crusting holds everything in place: “if you don’t have a stable shell, it’s not going to stay in its Shape,” Willis Says. And then “You will feel the plaster start curling,” at which point it gets hot. “We like to say that it is People get a steam facial treratment under.

THEN they have to get it off Him. “We typically ask say to Hold their Hands in their face and start MAKING FUNNY FACES SO THAT SILICONE STARTS RELEASING,” Willis Explains. “We ended up using a casting silicone that doesn’t stick to hair. It takes a minute to pop off, becuse we’ve got ears in there, iTtyty tight, so we get People to be around. Mattei, Who Grew Up A Bit Claustrophobic, Fortunately No Longer Has That Issue. “I had a summer jab when i was 18 working in a Very Bad Place,” he says. “We Cleaned Up Industrial Tanks, and Sometimes of Also Got Stack. I knew i had a lot of Claustrophobia, but there was no other way to do it.

After the Mold is Finished, The Makeup Team Pours in Skin-Colored Silicone, Building Up Four Layers-Which, on This Occossion, Turns Out to Be a Mistake. “We didn’t realize that with the world of the show, a child has to hold this head above their head for a significant amoun,” Willis Says. “I probably showed have a little bit and found that out. But we sent the almost finished to stage, and it tourned out it was a lot of heavier than the rehearsal head they have been working with.” They try making alterations to it, but it still wasn’t the weight it needed to be. That we will Willis realishes that they needed an entirery new head. “Shit Happy and It ‘Live,” Willis Explains. “We have to be very, Very flexible here.”

To fix the will, Willis calls on susie knowles, a member of her team who, she knows, has the skills to the new and lighter head, using the Same Mold, in a single day. This time, they use Only two layers of silicone, and inside is “an expanding foam – foam urethane – that very lightweight.”

THEN THEY ASK THE SCENIC TEAM TO HELP PAINT THE HEAD, THAT THAT HAS ALREADY WORKED ON JOCHANAN’S REMAINING HALF – THAT IS, THE DUMMY THAT IN FOR HIS DEAD BODY. Willis Says They Got a Little Lucky With The Paint Job, Because the Gory Nature of the Assignment Means the faux Skin Could Look a Little Rougher than Usual. “Oftentems you take a cast off the singer and you pour a plaster positive to the Catch any Air bubbles,” she Says. “Thin you go on that one and you chisel those pieces away, and that you take another cast of that. Skipped that Step.

Finally, IT’S TIME FOR FINISHING TOUCHES. Typically, all the hair on a project like this is inserted into the silicone one strand at a time, a process the craftspeople call “Punching hair.” To Save Time, Especialy on the Head That Had to Be Remade in A Rush, Willis Figured Out Some Workarounds. “We found a wig that works,” She Says. “And we have found an already built beard that to be normally go on a person and a mustache. Plus, we made some eyebrows.” From there, they finish by punching: “We’re filing in spots and we’re going to go around and do the front hairline,” Willis Says. “So instead of doing the full thing, we’re getting 90 percent there with existing hair, then we’re going to finish the last 10 percent with film-Quality punching.” Looking over the Job, Willis SEEMS WEARY BUT PROD. “No one in their right Mind Wold Ever will this,” she Says. “We tourned that one out really quickly, but that just oursit Education” – Both Willis and Knowles Went to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts – “And Knowing Products.” She adds that “a lot of Times People call us a glam squad, which I absolutely abhor. Our skill goes so far beyond peoplety.”

All Photographs Courtesy of Muriel Steinke/Met Opera.