Defining Beauty’s Elisha Heard Tapped Into Hairstyling and Makeup For “Mama Mama, Oh Mema!” Play
Hinesville, Georgia, USA – Hairstylist-Makeup artist, Elisha Heard of Defining Beauty Salon Suites was tapped to do hairstyling and makeup for the casts of the internationally acclaimed gospel play Mama Mama, Oh Mema! held at the Live Oak Church of God last November 10, 11, and 12.
The stage play is about family unity and reconciliation back unto God despite the challenges of life. But behind-the-stage, the real challenge was how to make the some of the cast members look convincingly old and convincingly young. But being a renowned hairstylist and makeup artist, the task was a breeze. The ensemble showcased a dramatic character transformation literally in the hands of Elisha and her team.
When asked for her inspiration on the casts’ hair and makeup, Elisha humbly comments, “I was given the story of each character by the producer/writer, Shatrece Buchanan, of the play and what she felt each character should look like. From there I took that information and made each character as real as possible with hair and makeup. I added extra hair and dramatic makeup from what she asked for because in theater you have to do more to get the audience to believe in the role that’s being played under bright lights.” She added, “To do the old characters I used colored hairspray for their hair and carefully sprayed and used other tools to make the color faded as if it was realistic. One of them had a mustache and beard that was purchased that I sprayed white to make him look 80 years old. There was also a character that played a female detective and a man, we used a wig to switch her between characters. Another character was a wife and a police officer and she wore wigs also to separate her two characters.”
The play was warmly applauded by the audience not just by the story, but on the entirety of the production from lead actor, scoring, stage design and, of course, the casts’ styling. In fact, even the casts themselves loved how their portrayal literally transformed.
From Trachel Greene, cast member, Mama Mama, Oh Mema!: Elisha’s work was Great! We have been hearing people telling us all day about how they thought some of the old characters were “really” old. She was professional and had a knowledge of everything that the Director envisioned and how to bring her vision to life. I feel she did an outstanding job. I look forward to working with her again in the future.
“I loved it…. Everyone that I spoke with after the play really could not believe the transformation. Those who didn’t know actually thought I was an older man. She really did an exceptional job and I loved her professionalism.” From stage actor and cast member of Mama Mama, Oh Mema!, Derek Jones.
