May 26, 2002|By Stories by J. Wynn Rousuck | Stories by J. Wynn Rousuck,SUN STAFF
Initially, Long dresses the mother and daughter in blue (or, as he calls it, "victim blue"), then purple and finally a proud, defiant red. Even his costume sketches reflect Edna's personal growth. As the character's confidence increases and her social consciousness is raised, his drawings show her head held higher and higher. Edna Turnblad may start out a drab housewife, but she ends up a glamorous, bona fide Bawlamer hon.
As to the fact that Edna -- the role created by Divine in the movie -- is again being played by a man, well, that doesn't matter at all in terms of design. "Once you have created the under-structure -- meaning, does he wear a corset, does he wear a bra? -- there is absolutely no difference," says Long, who is also designing the undergarments.
FOR THE RECORD - Due to an editing error, a quotation attributed to filmmaker John Waters in last Sunday's Arts & Society section was incorrect. The quote should have read: "Come to Baltimore and be shocked."
The Sun regrets the error.
"You're designing the character. It's not a man as a woman," he explains. "God put creatures on this Earth in all shapes and sizes. It's all just a matter of plumage."
THE WIGS
Hairy situations are his business, but 'Spray' teases best out of Paul Huntley.
Oh, dear," mutters Paul Huntley, catching his breath. The septuagenarian British gentleman is sitting in the living room of his Upper West Side townhouse, leafing through pictures of women with titles like "Fantasy," "Intrigue" and "Baby Doll."
He's doing research. Really he is.
The pages come from a 1960s book of hairstyles called Mr. Ray & His Magic Brush, essential research supplied by John Waters for the Broadway musical being adapted from his movie, Hairspray.
Huntley is Broadway's top wig man. His stage credits include 400 shows, from Chekhovian plays to Cats, from Shakespearean tragedies to The Producers. Stars such as Glenn Close, Elizabeth Ashley and Christopher Plummer wouldn't think of using anyone else. On television, his work can be seen on The Sopranos; on film, his wigs were worn by Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie and Jennifer Lopez in the newly released Enough. Way back when, he worked with Marlene Dietrich.
Usually Huntley creates wigs that look natural, that don't cause comment, that blend in nicely. "I prefer when it's not a great feature," he says.
Not this time. After all, as producer Margo Lion told him, "It is Hairspray."
With the help of three assistants, Huntley makes his wigs by hand in his basement studio, where shelves display wig blocks custom-made to the proportions of everyone from Carol Channing to Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. The warren of small rooms also contains a drying cabinet for wigs, a standard washer and dryer, worktables and assorted Broadway show posters. And then, of course, there's the hair -- box upon plastic box filled with red, blond and brunette strands. Huntley prefers human hair, most of which comes from Russia.
Each of the 70 wigs for Hairspray took Huntley and his chief assistant four days to make. To achieve the realistic hairlines for which he is known, Huntley sews each strand individually into nearly transparent netting. Wigs made of human hair cost $1,800-$2,500 per wig; synthetic wigs cost $120-$350.
The designer had to relearn a few skills for this show. "Today, of course, we've all forgotten how to tease," he explains. "And it is a lot of teasing."
While big hair is a major feature of Hairspray, Huntley emphasizes, "We're not trying to make people grotesque. They're very young performers, and they have to have a sweetness and a glamour at the same time."
Nonetheless, the oversized 'do worn by the show's teen-aged protagonist, Tracy (Marissa Jaret Winokur), brands her a "hair hopper" and lands her in high school detention with the rest of the hair hoppers. To heighten the humor in one of Tracy's wigs -- a puffy flip with frosted bangs -- Huntley has designed a frosted blue ribbon.
He's also built a sly commentary into the wig worn by the villainous character of Velma Von Tussle, mother of Tracy's chief rival. Velma is played by Linda Hart, whose real hair is dark brown. In Hairspray, her shellacked coiffure is light blond, to match that of her daughter Amber, a character Huntley describes as an evil Sandra Dee.
But Huntley has seen to it that Mrs. Von T. isn't a natural blonde. He's given her wig's roots telltale shadowing. "It sort of suggests that she's bleached it," he explains. As to the style, "one shouldn't say it unkindly, but a sort of blond Ann Miller."
For actor Harvey Fierstein, who portrays Tracy's mother, Edna (played on film by Divine), Huntley has created five different wigs beginning with a straggly, mousy number and progressing to auburn lacquered glory after Edna's makeover.
The makeover wig is highlighted with frosting, the front set in a relatively conservative style that used to be called a "bubble." But turn it around, and hello, Baltimore! -- the back is a French twist.
Frosting, French twists, teasing, bubble cuts -- isn't there something missing?
Hairspray, of course.
Huntley rarely uses the stuff anymore, but these days he and his backstage staff of hairdressers are stocking up.
THE SETS
