Bringing "Cabaret" to Life

 My director Elizabeth Redmill's theme for her show was derogation. I designed makeup for the Emcee to visibly degrade, mirroring the theme of societal decline. In Act One, the Emcee's makeup represents creativity and freedom, appearing increasingly theatrical. As Act Two begins, the makeup is smeared and muddled, symbolizing a complete deterioration. This visual journey captures the character's internal struggle and the external chaos of the era. Each change was linked to an emotional point of the Emcees story. Specific details I did were having Emcee have a beauty mark that historically resembles creativity and freedom. I also wanted to give her a more exaggerated cupids bow, incorporating time period but having her character be a more exaggerated version of that. Her eyebrows were also more angled than the rest giving her more of an edge than the rest of the cast.

Foreshadowing; Historical Context and Showing Characterization

The overall mood for "Cabaret" was degradation, reflecting the late 1920s setting and the impending rise of Nazism. For characters like Ernst, I created a trustworthy and friendly appearance that belied his true political alignment. 

Schultz and Schnider were put in aged makeup, while also keeping their personality traits. I wanted to keep Schultz looking hopeful and innocents. While Schnider have a more grounded look with a slight softness to her.

With characters like Kost, I wanted to show her alluring independence with a bold colored smoky eye. In the 1920 they started to do what they called racoon eyes, which was the start of what we call a smoky eye.

Cliff needed to have a grounded feel. I wanted him to feel young and independent. I also gave him a cleft chin, in the 1920s a cleft chin was an ideal beauty standard for men. I did this because I wanted Cliff to be considered a conventionally attractive man for his society.