When the lights dim and the curtains rise, audiences at The Prom are stunned to see North actors transformed—elaborate wigs, bold makeup, and all. These characters have come to life, transformed from North students to Broadway stars and high-schoolers in the midwestern U.S. through hairstyles and makeup. Behind the scenes, this change is the work of the 15 members who make up Theatre Ink’s Wigs, Hair, and Makeup department, or WHAM for short.
“We make them look like they’re not like ghosts on stage,” said sophomore Ell Genier, a member of WHAM. “Without contour or foundation or anything, they will look like a blank slate and you won’t be able to tell who they are.”
Genier is currently in charge of designing North’s fall play, Sense and Sensibility.
Theater teacher Natalie Chaidez, the director of WHAM, described the process of designing as “character creation through cosmetics.” Genier added that when designing a character in a production, WHAM draws inspiration from the character’s background, including personality and time period.
For Eleanor, a character in Sense and Sensibility, this included considering her economic background. “Her hair is up because she is helping out with her family, but she still has accessories and slight makeup on, because she’s still rich,” said Genier.
On stage, WHAM members face additional challenges. Senior Anya Sirott, a WHAM manager, recounted a stressful moment she experienced during the opening night of Heathers. “In the first 10 minutes of the show, we had a quick change, under 30 seconds for Veronica,” she said. “We had no idea how we were going to do it. She had to get into a completely different outfit.”
According to Sirott, Veronica’s actor unexpectedly exited on the opposite side of the stage, causing chaos backstage. “We were running around,” she said. “We missed it, and then we had to stop the run.”
Despite the panic she felt at the moment, Sirott now thinks of it as one of the highlights of her time at WHAM. “I look back on that being like, ‘Wow, what a rush. That was so exhilarating,’” she said. “I felt super important.”
According to Chaidez, designers must read the script multiple times and consider the director’s vision before diving into research and character analysis. “You’ve got to research the show, research the time period where it was set, the history of the show,” said Sirott. “You have to understand the world that they were living in.”
However, character creation isn’t always straightforward. According to Sirott, designers initially thought of Alyssa, a character in The Prom, as “saintly” and pure, picturing her with curly blonde hair, but the director pictured Alyssa as “very mature, but kind of closed off.” Afterward, the team ended up designing a more sophisticated but youthful hairstyle for Alyssa, yielding to the director’s vision while also adding their own touches.
According to Chaidez, witnessing students’ flexibility and creativity is one of her favorite parts of directing WHAM. “That’s what really gets me about this position,” she said. “It’s just students rising to these challenges and accomplishing them, beyond what anyone could expect. It’s amazing.”
Beyond bringing characters to life, students in WHAM have built strong bonds with one another.
“It’s a really great community,” said Genier. “We have a great playlist of the weirdest songs, and getting to interact with the actors is really fun.”
Similarly, WHAM has allowed Sirott to meet many new people. “I can’t talk about WHAM without talking about all of the crew, because they are the heart of WHAM,” Sirott said. “They do such an incredible job, and all of them are so ready to learn.”
She added that watching her fellow WHAM members improve through the years was rewarding. “I can see how much they’ve grown since I’ve been with a lot of these people their entire WHAM careers,” said Sirott.
