Fagin character, from the musical, “Oliver!”
Actor Matt Dentino before makeup:
Recently, Merit Theater, in Northern Ky asked me to create some special makeups for their musical production of Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!”. My favorite makeup was for the character “Fagin” that I created, based on Merit Theater co-founder Ben Iocco’s design. 
Recently, Merit Theater, in Northern Ky asked me to create some special makeups for their musical production of Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!”. My favorite makeup was for the character “Fagin” that I created, based on Merit Theater co-founder Ben Iocco’s design. I remember as a child, seeing Sir Alec Guinness’ portrayal of Fagin and I was mesmerized! I knew it was a fake nose of some sort, and I knew I wanted to make something like that some day.
I applied the nose with prosaide and blended off with 99% Isopropyl alcohol. I stippled a super thin layer of Michael Davy’s Water Melon over the surface of the nose. I found it gave me a nice surface that allowed the grease paint to glide on smoothly. 
It’s not an elaborate makeup, but our Fagin was still very effective. My wife, Cathy, assisted me with the application. Each night, she colored and styled the custom hair extensions I made and colored actor Matt Dentino’s hair to match.
Then she painted the details all around his head and neck with grease paint as I applied a gel-filled silicone prosthetic that I sculpted with Alien Clay on Matt’s lifecast.
I then molded with my own epoxical recipe (it’s just Ultracal 30 mixed with catalyzed Smooth-On Epoxamite 100 instead of water) - glad to give details to anyone who’d be interested).
I then molded with my own epoxical recipe (it’s just Ultracal 30 mixed with catalyzed Smooth-On Epoxamite 100 instead of water) - glad to give details to anyone who’d be interested). The encapsulant is Super Baldiez, airbrushed in and then primed with Michael Davy’s Silicone Gel Primer and then filled with Smooth-On Ecoflex Gel, tinted with SilcPig.
I applied the nose with prosaide and blended off with 99% Isopropyl alcohol. I stippled a super thin layer of Michael Davy’s Water Melon over the surface of the nose. I found it gave me a nice surface that allowed the grease paint to glide on smoothly. I painted the nose with very thin layers of translucent grease paint and sealed the whole makeup with a matte makeup sealer. Sometimes the Water Melon was still a little too shiny, so I sprayed on a tiny burst of dry shampoo to dull it down. I also added crepe hair eyebrows with Mathew Mungle’s extra matte spirit gum. I then added my own simple, water-washable recipe for dirt and grime, formulated to not stain the rented costumes.
Finally, I had actor Matt smear Mehron’s brown and black tooth wax all over his teeth and then he went out and put on an incredible performance each night.
Thank you Matt, Merit Theater, the whole Oliver! family and especially thank you to my beautiful and talented bride, Cathy!
Post edited by Doug Henderson on
3
Comments