When an actor has packed on an extra 30 pounds or an actress has shaved her head for a leading role, some may rationalize the action by quoting the amount of money they will be getting for it. But how do we rationalize it for a local high school’s play?
Roosevelt High School’s School of the Arts required all of its female actresses to cut their hair for roles in its upcoming play.
“Thoroughly Modern Millie” is a play set in the 1920s during the flapper era. On opening night March 2 every female cast member will be onstage with freshly buzzed hair.
The bob was the hairstyle of choice for the politically driven flappers of the era. The prospect of purchasing wigs may seem more plausible, but the director of the play wanted an authentic feel.
“In buying the wigs you’re not going to get that natural flow to it,” School of Arts theater director Kathryn Koch said. “It’s all going to be that pattern stuck to their head. Also, the cost of a wig for 1920s-natural is going to cost hundreds of dollars.”
Roosevelt’s School of the Arts has long been the stomping ground for high school students who plan on making a career out of the arts, so cutting their hair for a play is not uncommon.
“RSA is a really serious program, senior Roosevelt student Kiliaen Van Rensselaer said. “So if you want to be a serious actress, you’re going to have to get used to making sacrifices like that. So it’s really just getting you prepared for the real world.”
In most plays, asking potential cast members if they are willing to modify their look for a specific role is common and helps the director determine which actors will fit best in their production.
“We asked the girls to cut their hair prior to auditions,” Koch said. “So it wasn’t like we blindsided them with it.”
“I feel fortunate that our school treats it like the real world rather than baby us,” said April Blair, a senior at Roosevelt’s School of the Arts.
In the acting business, a role is usually something actors transform into. It is rare that an actor shows up and just reads lines. There have been many interviews on Hollywood actors and actresses describing the different lengths they took to become a character they once played. It is the ability to transform into character that makes an actor or actress valuable because they give a real-life feeling to the story.
A realistic character needs a realistic look to give the audience a feel for what the characters are experiencing in the play.
“What they probably were looking for is to a get a feel of what was happening in the 1920s,” Fresno State Department of Theatre Arts costume designer Elizabeth Payne said. “What they were trying to do [were] the socioeconomic, political and those things. They were cutting their hair for a reason, and that might be part of what the director and costume designer were trying to get them to understand.”
There were more than a dozen girls that cut their hair in preparation for the play and all of them donated their hair to Locks of Love.
“You have to change for your art,” Koch said. “If you don’t, you’ll never change, and change is art.”
“Thoroughly Modern Millie” will be playing throughout March at Roosevelt High School’s auditorium. For information, call 559-253-5323 or 559-253-5284.