The Art of Stage Dancing Part 18

2-1/2 for brunettes. The creamy tints are for the dark skins, the flesh and delicate pinks for the fair ones. Press the powder first on the chin. It is feminine instinct to start on the nose, but let your start in this case begin with the jaw or chin. Don't rub it in. Pat it on thick till the underlying paint is fully covered up. The powder absorbs the grease. From the chin work upward, reaching the nose after the pad has lost some of its original load, and the nose will not stare out so white on your face as it would if you began there first.

Raise the eye and powder underneath; look down, and powder the s.p.a.ce beneath eyebrow and eyelid.

_Sixth stage._ Smoothing off and blending. Use the baby brush for this; there is nothing else so good. It is surprising in its results.

Do not press the brush too hard on the face; dust the surplus powder off carefully with a light touch, to leave no streaks or patches anywhere. If now the face has a greasy look, you have not used sufficient powder.

_Seventh stage._ High lighting. Take some of your No. 18 Dorin's dry rouge on the rabbit's foot and dust a very little on your cheeks. Do not press it down, just tickle about the edges of the rouge to be sure it blends perfectly with the foundation. If there is too much white about the nose, dust it lightly with the rabbit's foot. You can turn the paw around and blend with the end that is free of paint. Never show a white ear to the audience. If ears come into style again, as they will, the lobe and rim should be made a healthy pink, but not a strong red, with the rabbit's foot.

_Eighth stage._ Darkening the eyelashes and eyebrows. Use Leichner's No. 60 black mascaro; dark brown for light blondes. The lower lashes are better left without the treatment, since they are almost certain to smear the face if treated, and the shadow you have already placed there takes care of the lower lashes all that is necessary. Apply the mascaro to the upper lashes with the brush that comes with the mascaro, or any fine brush will do. Start a delicate line on the edge of the eyelid at the outer corner of the eye, let it curve slightly downward at the start. This line should not exceed half an inch in length and is never carried beyond the eye socket. Do not make the line heavy nor longer. A very little mascaro must be brushed lightly on to the eyebrows, following the curve of the upper eyelid. Fix the eyebrows carefully about three-quarters the size of the mouth, using black or brown mascaro according to whether your type is dark or light.

In this place we are going to tell you how to bead the eyelashes, but unless you are a professional actress and your part will be decidedly enhanced by having the eyes very much in evidence, we advise against your undertaking it. It is not a necessary stage in the makeup process, but it comes into the story of makeup naturally and we give it here for the benefit of those who may wish to make use of it.

Beading the lashes consists in placing a small bead of cosmetique on the extreme tip of each lash. This is best done on the upper lashes only, leaving the lower ones free. The Lockwood Cosmetic Stove is a small affair that holds a piece of candle and a baby-size frying-pan, or skillet, and is one device for its purpose that has the approval of fire insurance companies and so will not be objected to by the theatre fireman. There are some heating devices that you are not permitted to use in any theatre, and persistence in their use after being once cautioned has caused arrest more than once.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CLa.s.s IN STAGE MAKEUP AT THE NED WAYBURN STUDIOS]

In this connection many interesting true tales might be told of princ.i.p.al actors being taken bodily from the stage in the midst of a play and landed in the local jail, causing the curtain to be lowered and the audience dismissed. The stage fireman, a.s.signed to every first cla.s.s theatre during a performance, has authority to enforce all ordinances intended to prevent fire and eliminate fire risk in playhouses, even to go to the extremity of arresting offenders against the public's safety. So be careful to use only a Lockwood Cosmetic Stove or some equally safe affair in your dressing room.

You light the candle, place a small amount of Roger and Gallet black cosmetique in the little pan and heat it over the candle flame till melted. Take up some of this molten cosmetique on the flat end of your orange wood stick and apply it with a deft quick stroke to the upper lashes, painting each one separately and without clotting, so that a little bead hangs to the tip of each upper lash. Use care not to drop any of the black on your makeup. The effect of this beading is to beautify the appearance of the actress by bringing out her eyes in a wonderful manner under the strongest of spot lights.

_Ninth stage._ Red dots in the inner corners of the eye. Dip the paper felt liner in the moist lip rouge and with it make a tiny red dot in the extreme inner corner of each eye, but on the lid--not in the eye--to s.p.a.ce the eyes and make them look to be the distance of one eye apart. Keep these dots well away from the nose, or they will tend to make you look crosseyed from the front.

_Tenth stage._ Rouging the lips. Stein's moist lip rouge, medium. If the lips are left their natural color the footlights bleach them white and colorless. Shape the upper lip into a cupid's bow and round out the lower lip. Dip the little finger into the rouge and press it tightly against the lips, being careful not to smear it; open the mouth and draw the upper lip tight over the teeth. When necessary the upper lip can be shortened in appearance by blending and putting the cupid's bow a little higher. Do not put color on the lips beyond the angle of the nose, otherwise it will make your mouth appear very large. A blonde should not apply the rouge full strength, as it is too dark for her. The lips should not be heavily painted, and the line about the edges should be soft and smooth.

_Eleventh stage._ Finish with a little powder, dusting the face very gently, using a swan's-down puff. Put a very little powder on the lines about the eyes, but not enough to dull them.

Now look in your mirror with critical eyes. Your handiwork should have resulted in a velvety, soft yet rich complexion that will stand the strong lights of the modern theatre.

What you have just put on is known as a grease-paint makeup. There is also a cream makeup, so called, but it is less desirable for the modern professional stage. It fails to give the right effect for a real musical show with powerful lights. I have used both and do not hesitate to give this opinion based on my own experience.

There is also a dry makeup, with powder, known in theatrical parlance as a "lazy" makeup, suitable only for a "dumb" chorus girl who has no interest in her work, who comes in late and does not care whether she appears to advantage or not.

To complete any makeup, apply liquid white with a soft sponge to the neck, chest, arms and other exposed flesh that is not already made up.

If, as in some of the modern revues, the legs are not covered with stockings or tights, they too must have an application of liquid white. To look right, any flesh that is exposed must be made up, because the lights bleach the exposed flesh, making it appear bloodless and giving one a gruesome, corpse-like color.

You are wise if in the matter of makeup you study your own face.

Experiment, and note the results. When you are certain you have acquired the best for your own purposes, practice it often, till you can put it on properly and always with the same result. Don't seek to look made-up, ever, but to look your best for the part you are playing, always. If the makeup ingredients are in evidence to the audience you have not created the proper illusion and must practice making up until you acquire skill. It usually takes about one-half hour to put a good makeup on after you have perfected the process with your own features.

_Removing Makeup._ First remove the beads of cosmetic from the lashes.

Then get rid of the little red spot in the inner corner of the eye.

Work this toward the nose with cold cream. Then take plenty of cold cream on the fingers of both hands and ma.s.sage the face thoroughly, to soften the makeup all over. Wipe it off with cheesecloth or an old towel, that you can throw away. Now wash the face with warm water and soap, dry thoroughly, apply a bit of powder, and you are all ready to dress.

SOME MAKEUP NOTES

You makeup for the lights of the theatre, which nowadays are very strong, and may come from many directions and in various colors. The switchboard controlling all the lights is in the first entrance of the stage, and the electrician in charge has his plots and cues all carefully planned for each act. He does not throw lights on or off for the fun of it or at his pleasure, but exactly as carefully designed and mapped by the show's producing director.

The front lights are those in the body of the house as distinguished from the stage. On the stage we have the footlights in red, white and blue, a row of each, and overhead are the border lights in the same three colors. There is the first border, second, third--sometimes even seven border lights, according to the size of the theatre stage. The spotlight is an arc light. It has usually a color wheel that revolves so that either red, blue, straw, light straw, or pink or any other color may be projected onto the "spot" on the stage that it is to illuminate and emphasize. There are dimmers for the footlights and the border lights. With these you can go from daylight effects to sunset, to moonlight, dawn, etc., with gentle gradation. There are two kinds of moonlights on the stage. Number 29 blue in the spotlight gives a summer moonlight; number 35 is best for a winter moonlight scene. Good gelatines, or "mediums" as they are called, are made by the Gelatine Products Company, in Brooklyn, or may be had from Kliegl Bros., the New York Calcium Light Co., the Display Stage Lighting Co., all first-cla.s.s concerns in New York City.

Under strong blue lights the under-rouge in the makeup will come to the surface, which is not desirable, so get to your dressing room and powder your makeup down if you are going to be under a blue light. The makeup will stand a white spotlight or a pale yellow, but will not look well under too much blue and never well under green.

Put liquid white on with a soft sponge. Put this on only exposed flesh that is not otherwise made up, as the arms. Never put powder on the arms. It comes off on everything it touches. Liquid white is far preferable in every way.

The baby brush for blending facial makeup is one of the most important tools in the makeup box. If you try to buy one in a small town they will insist upon your buying a tray and comb, and everything else that goes with the baby set--everything, practically, but the baby. Better buy the outfit than try to go without the brush, but it is still wiser to supply yourself with the brush in time. You can buy it separately in the large cities.

Never put your mirror in your makeup box, for powder and grease will ruin the best mirror made. The mirror furnished with the Ned Wayburn professional makeup box is almost non-breakable; it is clear as well as strong, and in every way one of the best for its purpose. It will stand up where you want it.

Never makeup while in your street clothes or in stage costume. A drop of cosmetique on satin slippers or silk stockings will never come out.

A washable kimono or bath-robe is the best garment to wear. Long fingernails will cut and ruin thin stockings. Don't ever wear the fingernails pointed.

In using the 6B Venus pencil to darken the upper eyelid, use the side and not the point of the pencil. Do not use a pencil sharpener, for it leaves too sharp a point. Keep your pencil free from grease. Wipe it often.

Rouge will fade under bright lights. Much depends upon the condition of one's health as to how long rouge will keep its color on the face.

There will be certain times when rouge will disappear rapidly and you will have to renew the outer rouge, perhaps before the act is over.

Do not throw powder at your face, nor rub it in or smear it. Pat it on gently with the pad and use the blending brush.

The tiny dot of rouge placed in the inner corner of each eye is to fix the distance of the eyes apart. When the eyes are finished they should appear to be about the distance of one eye apart.

Rarely is makeup used in the nostrils. A big nose will look very wide if made up, but a small and very straight nose can stand a very little number 18 rouge in the nostril--not lip rouge, which would be too dark. But it is very seldom that the nostrils are made up.

Unless very careful in removing makeup, your face will feel raw and chafed when you go out in the wind. Take time and plenty of cold cream in the removal of makeup, and dry and powder your face before exposing it to outdoor weather.

If you wish to you can leave the mascaro on the eyelids, working over and under it in removing the rest of the makeup, and so use the mascaro on the street. On matinee days you will see shadowy eyes on Broadway, as some of the ladies of the cast keep the mascaro on till the evening performance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NW]

[Ill.u.s.tration: $100,000.00 WORTH OF DANCING COSTUMES IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE.]