“Audiences come for the hair,” joked OSF’s Wig Mistress and Interim Hair and Wig Supervisor Cherelle Guyton during a recent interview. While hair may not be the primary draw of OSF plays, it is a highly visible element of actors’ costumes and can have an outsized visual impact.

Recent productions have featured some wildly memorable hair and wigs, such as the taffy-colored confections of last season’s Head Over Heels. This season continues to raise the bar with fantasy-inspired hairstyles in The Wiz, and no fewer than 45 wigs in the American Revolutions drama Roe, which reflect four decades’ worth of aging and hair trends. Roe even features an onstage wig change, giving audiences a behind-the-scenes peek at the wig crew’s handiwork.

Over its eight-month season, OSF will mount 11 shows that will perform nearly 800 times. This season, there will be about 4,000 wig changes, and the company’s wig-and-hair run crew is hard at work every step of the way. During each performance, one or two wig run crew members are backstage ready to help the actors. “We are always lurking,” said Guyton. “We’ll just come up and start adjusting their wigs or fixing their hair. There’s a lot of trust between the actors and the wig crew.”

Creating and taking care of all those wigs, and the hair beneath them, requires keen intelligence, artistry, hard work—and a lot of caffeine. “This job is not for the weak or the thin-skinned,” said Guyton. “We have to be meticulous. People have a sense that theatre is chaotic and disorganized, but there is a lot of organization and discipline that goes along with a deep passion. We give our all and then some, because we love this work and we are passionate about it.”

Wigs are made, not born

Prep time starts early for the wig department. Around the end of December, as some OSF departments are building the shows for the coming season, Guyton and her wig artists meet with designers, stage managers, production staff and the costume, hair and make-up teams. “A lot of our work involves communication, listening and building relationships. We’re all working toward the same goals, to articulate the designer’s vision and to make the best show possible,” Guyton said.

Once design details are in place, wig personnel will schedule appointments with actors to assess their needs, measure head size and create a mold. For the mold, they pin the actor’s hair or braid it, then wrap the head in plastic wrap, adding strips of duct tape to keep the mold solid. That piece is then lifted from the actor’s head and placed on a canvas wig block and stuffed with polyester fiber or Easter-basket grass until it matches the actor’s measurements. The mold is then covered in a mesh cap.

Using a small hook similar to a fish hook, wig makers venti-sew, or hand-tie, the wig material, usually human hair, to the mesh cap. The tying process can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 12 hours depending on the wig. Once the wig has been created, it will be styled to match the desired look, which could include cutting, dyeing, shaping or even adding accessories.

Diverse cast deserves diverse wigs

Guyton said she is particularly passionate about making sure the wigs let the actors, especially actors of color, feel true to themselves and their ethnicity regardless of what character they are playing. “I’ve been a part of a lot of conversations about making sure people aren’t wearing stereotypical hairstyles or costumes,” she said. OSF’s Key Stylist and Multiethnic Hair Specialist Kymberle Gamell, in a separate interview, agreed: “Understanding that a black woman would not wear an Asian woman’s wig or vice versa is important.” 

Both Gamell and Guyton emphasize the importance of being true to the actor while also interpreting the design vision for the show. “Although they are playing characters, their ethnicity doesn’t change, who they are doesn’t change. You can be Ophelia, like [African-American actor] Jennie Greenberry in Hamlet, but Ophelia will have Jennie Greenberry’s hair texture,” said Guyton.

Guyton said she’s heard stories from ethnic actors who have had horrible experiences with wigs and make-up in other theatres. “I love it when they come to OSF, put on a wig and say, ‘I look like my character, but I also look like myself’ ” she said.

As a stylist, Gamell supports the wig run crew during shows, and styles, cuts and cares for the actors’ hair. “Part of my position focuses on our ethnic actors,” she said. “African-American hair care needs are different, so I advise the actors on managing their hair care and help them find products."

Tightly curled African hair is more easily bothered by the friction of wigs than straighter hair would be. Shampoos, styling products and styling tools designed for people with straight hair can deplete textured hair of natural oils and also cause damage. Before Gamell came to work at OSF, many African-American and mixed-race actors in the Rogue Valley would travel to San Francisco or Portland to get their hair styled or to purchase products made especially for their hair texture. “There was a disparity in the amount of hair care given to African-American actors,” said Gamell. “In Ashland, we can’t just walk into the local drug store and find the products we need.”

Another part of Gamell’s work is educating the hair department about caring for a globally diverse clientele. “Everyone has been excited to learn, and this has been one of the best team-building aspects of our department,” she said.

Heavy is the head

Supervising the wig department is something of a juggling act, said Guyton. In addition to communicating with a variety of theatre departments, creating the wigs and managing the wig run crew, she also has organizational tasks including scheduling fittings, maintaining inventory and estimating costs and labor for each project. “It’s a balance between the business aspects, such as attention to detail, implementing new processes, supporting the staff and organizing our time, along with the creative side,” said Guyton, who has an MBA as well as an MFA certification in period styles for wig and hair design. “I like the business aspects of the job as much as I like the creativity.”

Guyton noted that wig makers have to be flexible and open to the theatre’s fast pace and long hours. “We build wigs for everyone who is cast in a role, and also for the understudies. There are late nights,” said Guyton. “These days I try to get to bed before 2:00 a.m., and I drink a lot of Coca-Cola.”

Guyton stays in close contact with the directors, actors, and other departments throughout the season. “I love the collaboration. Even when we aren’t all on the same page, it’s great to work together on these shows,” she said. “The best part, though, is seeing the actors’ faces light up when they put on the wigs and transform into their character.”