Where have they just come from?

Literally speaking Emcee has just come off stage a scene or two before so he is full of adrenalin from being on stage. However, his stage presence is very natural because he does the show so often he is so comfortable. Having studied acting for quite a few years I learnt that you don't need to be nervous or embarrassed about being on stage because you aren't yourself, you are another character. So that is why it comes so naturally to Emcee because he isn't himself... We think. The great thing about Emcee is that he doesn't let the audience know anything about himself. He wears this constant mask so that the audience trust him but never know anything about his past. In the grand scheme of his life he has just come from the circus. I thought a man that has left the circus and gone straight to the streets of Berlin to be the master of ceremonies in Cabaret would be such an interesting character. It is most definitely a change of scenery but not really a change in lifestyle.

I have worked in retail ever since I got a job four years ago so I have constantly been in the presence of the public. Which I didn't think would change who I am but it has. I am more cynical and I prefer to be alone in my spare time. It is because I have spent most of my time attending to peoples needs and constantly talking to people. So it makes you more closed off as a person. This is what I think has happened to Emcee. He has spent most of his life in the public eye entertaining people. So when given the choice he doesn't spill his opinions and life experiences with the audience. This makes you feel sorry for Emcee because he is purely a microphone for the people of Germany because he expresses their views and highlights the controversy in Berlin at the time. 

Where are they?

Act 2 Scene 3 is set in the Kit-Kat club, Emcee enters in front of a paneled scrim. The fact that a blank screen on the stage when Emcee sings the song is a clever way of drawing the attention away from the rest of the story. Having a blank canvas for this particular scene allows the audience to just focus on Emcee and what he is singing about. The club is always dark but the lead singer or Emcee in this scene is lit by a spotlight so that everything in the club is dark besides Emcee. They are also in a time of change, with the state of politics in Germany. So the people of Berlin are used to living life they want, mixing with Jewish people, but Emcee tries to highlight where Berlin's state of mind is.. confused.

http://tennesseerep.org/blog/cabaret-radio-commercial/

When is it?

The whole idea of the script is that it's Sally Bowles romantic idea about life through Cliff's eyes. When I think about the heat of some scenes I imagine it to be extremely hot, therefore my script is set in the summertime of 1935. I chose this particular year because it is the time period when the idea of a second world war was on the cards so as it edged closer to 1939 you can see the state of Germany changing. Inside the Kit-Klub it is seedy and dark so if you spent long enough inside you would lose track of time. But for my particular scene with Emcee and the Gorilla I think it would have been at night, around 10pm. Purely because the message Emcee is trying to deliver is one that he would want people to hear so he would choose a busy time to deliver it. The time of year reminded me a lot of a scene in the Great Gatsby where the main characters go to a hotel in the city. The scene is tense from the heat of emotion but because of the literal humidity in the air. It is a perfect representation of what I imagine summertime Berlin to be like. Especially as Daisy and Sally as characters can be likened to each other. As well as Nick being like Emcee as he narrates the entire story.

(http://dylanbconnell.com/2013/07/29/great-gatsby-taught-me/)

Fantasising about Sally

FINAL FANTASY!

This was a really eye opening lesson for me because I had the opportunity to take my hair design and come up with alternatives. I have always found this really difficult because I get stuck on an idea that I get attached to and don't want to let go of. We were all given a word, mine was FANTASY and we had to create a variation of our design incorporating our new word. At first I thought about creating a planet like headpiece that would fit onto the head and make it look like it was floating. But this idea seemed too sci-fi. So I began to think about mythical creatures and Medusa came to mind. I thought it linked at first because I was doing Sally Bowles as my contemporary character and both her and Medusa how a certain power over men. Also because I was incorporating plaits I thought I could make them look like snakes. But once I had begun practising on my dolls head I suddenly realised that Medusa is GREEN... Just like Sally's nails. The whole idea came as the perfect package for me and I immediately forgot about my original idea and wanted to create the new one. I did worry about Medusa being to extravagant but I will use her as influence. Also the costumes from Party Monster were more extreme than I have even seen so Medusa will definitely apply.

I spent most of the lesson actually brushing and then plaiting the front section of the hair. I was rolling with the Medusa idea and couldn't think of a way of making the plaits look like snakes. But I was given feedback about opening up hair pins, weaving them through the hair which will then give me the ability to bend the hair into whatever shape I choose. I have really moved along a step from my original idea, I just can't wait to come up with a new face chart to match...

Sally Bowles Face and Hair charts

Based on my moodboard this is the face chart that I created. It was hard to demonstrate the two different images that I want to create but I thought splitting the face down the centre was the best way to show that. I wanted to keep the make-up really simple for the plain image, just because there would be so much emphasis on the hair. Also with both images up against each other I didn't want it to look too busy. So I have kept a really simple design like the one I used for Anita Berber but insteda I have covered the lips in hundreds and thousands because Sally is every so sickly.

I think the hair has to be my favourite part about the whole design. It is the most powerful hair I have decided to go for. But I think it will really contrast with the simplicity of the make-up. I have to say I love creating corn rows and now I finally have the chance. But I used my historical to contemporary collage image as my inspiration because I wanted lots of colour and small plaits which I have gone with in this design. The back of the hair will need to be curled around a pin or crimped but I am yet to give it a go...

Life is a Cabaret

Act 2 Scene 5 is the scene in which Cliff tries to persuade Sally to move away from Berlin. She then sings the song about Cabaret. In this song she sells the idea of Cabaret as a care free place where you can have all the alcohol and drugs you want. Before I saw Cabaret I didn't understand the meaning behind the key song that is sung by Sally Bowles but now knowing her character I don't see any truth behind the song she sings.

Sally's character is extremely naive to her situation. She refuses to join reality and instead buries her head in drugs, alcohol and glamour. The timing of this song in the script makes it seem as though she doesn't even believe in the song herself but she is just trying to prove to Cliff and the audience that Berlin is the place for her. In this song she says "no use permitting some prophet of doom, to wipe ev'ry smile away". Which is exactly what she does and thats the way she treats Cabaret. She manages to wipe away her cares and pretends that reality doesn't phase her. At times her personality can be a bit too much to bear because you can understand that her chacracter is down and unfulfilled but Sally herself chooses to ignore it. One thing that is prominent abour Sally Bowles is there is always something about her that is conflicted. Her love for Cabaret, yet she has a hatred for reality. She is a happy, bubbly person but underneath she is unhappy. 

Emcee Face and Hair charts

After my first experiment I felt I needed to really push the character of Emcee so that you could really see who he was through just make-up and hair. And this is what I created based on my research.

Start by cleaning the face with cleanser, toner and then moisturiser.

Mix together Kryolan foundation 6 & 7 with a large amount of Illamasqua rich liquid foundation. Apply to face generously.

Blend out with a blending brush.

Use the angled brush to apply a mixture of concealer colours (D15/D16). Get your model to scrunch the face to make it easier to apply the colour.

It should be applied to all of the crease lines. Use a softer brush to blend them out.

Use the same shades and technique to colour under the eye.

Feel for the cheekbone and apply the colour to the lower part of the bone. The contour should run from the start of the ear to the bottom of the cheekbone. Blend out.

Using the highlighter brush dab Illamasqua Libido cream blusher directly on the cheekbone and blend.

With the brown and black pencil draw an artificial eyebrow with a higher arch than the normal one. Brush it through the eyebrow with an eyebrown comb.

Using the eyeshadow brush and the black supracolour palette apply it over the eyelid and up to the eyebrow and a small smudged line underneath the eye.

Apply mascara to the lashes.

Then cover the lid in black eyeshadow.

Apply the powder, dabbing it all over the face. Making sure the neck and chest are included.

For the moustache cut 6 6cm pieces of the hair. Apply 3 on each side of the cupids bow on the upper lip.

Use duo glue, then cut shorter 1cm pieces of hair over the top.

Twiat the ends of the moustache and then curl upwards with gel. If it doesn't curl then wrap the hair around a brush and apply heat from a hair dryer.

Use the same colour that you used for the blush on the lips. Follow the lipline and apply generously. 

This is my first attempt at the design itself. I was really pleased with how it came out. I think I have really grasped all of my influences and put them together in this image. The only thing that I found hard was of course the moustache. I decided to buy loose strands of hair rather than a fake moustache because I wanted it to look real. But this then meant that I needed to think about what way the hair grows on your face and make sure it didn't look stuck on. But unfortunately this does and the ends didn't curl up the way I wanted, despite adding lots of gel and applying lots of heat. To work around it I think I will make the moustache strands shorter so they are easier to control.