Last week I spent the week helping Antonia, a member of The Port Talbot and District Amateur Operatic Society, get ready for her role in CATS The Musical. The musical was being performed at The Princess Royal Theatre in Port Talbot. I first met Antonia last year when I also made up one of the society members, Hefin, for his role is last year’s musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert. What a wonderful week it was! Antonia played the role of the sassy cat Bombalurina who stood out from the crowd as the ‘red cat’ in her own leotard which was custom made by her fiancé.
For her makeup, we took inspiration from the broadway/west end productions of CATS and used their Bombalurina looks to inspire our own. Each cat has its own unique look so we didn’t want to stray too far away from Bombalurina’s character.
We started off by having a trial day the week before where we chose the look and played around with different materials in order for the look to last on stage. By the time the dress rehearsal came I knew exactly what I was doing. Each day Antonia came to have her makeup done we would chat over a coffee and managed to gain time on the previous day.
I thoroughly enjoyed my week spent with Antonia and being able to help her character come to life. I even managed to see the production on closing night and was overwhelmed with the amount of effort and energy that went into it, from everyone. It was a job well done! Everyone should be proud of themselves! So here’s to a great week spent with wonderful people and a new found friendship...
Jess x
