I'm not just posting this cos I'm tired of seeing George heavy sweating

couple of questions:

Is makeup still needed under modern lights?

What's the minimum an actor should know? Or to put it another way, where should we start our beginners?

What should be in a "my first makeup kit"?

Ged

I think modern lighting HAS made a tremendous difference to the use of make up. No longer should we all look washed out unless we use the heaviest make up and the bluest of blue eyeshadows!

As a girly, I think we ladies have it easy. Frankly, my make up kit for the theatre is EXACTLY the same as my everyday make up kit. Sometimes I'll put it on a bit heavier but that's all. The most essential item that's missing from my everyday kit quite often is "wet wipes" (ie make up remover in a wipe). Invaluable!

Can't really advise for the guys (not being one) but the guys in my group tend to get away with tinted powder to prevent shininess (particularly for the follicly challenged...) and that's about it. Occasionally heavy blusher is used on the nose and cheeks if playing a drunk or an elderly gent, brown eyebrow pencil is used to create wrinkles and dark grey eyeshadow to create shadows in the hollows of the cheeks or under the eyes. And the only guy to use lipstick and eyeshadow in living memory is our panto dame!

I have memories of being slapped up with traditional 5 and 9 to play a 60 year old man when I was in my early 20s... I looked like a Navajo in full warpaint...

thanks Maureen, with your permission I'm going to pass on your excellent advice to the rest of the group

I think men still look a little "piggy-eyed" under stage lights if they don't use anything on their eyes to make them bigger. Get one of the girls to do them. a spot of dark shadow over the lids and/or a bit of liner in the outer corner of the eye helps a lot, especially for fair men.

Personally, I'd have someone from outside come in and watch the dress rehearsal specifically to look at make-up. Usually "Fred you look a bit pale" is enough to send all the women into the men's dressing room before opening night to set the matter straight...

Remember, women might often use their ordinary make-up bag for stage, but they still tend to lay it on a bit thicker than they would under the light of day...or even if they were going to a nightclub.

This is where being a team comes into play - everything you do in theatre affects someone else..

Your make up requirements will be determined (apart from the obvious of age charagter etc) by your lighting. Maureen was right in observing modern lights help with make up. But more importantly a good colour choice will help more than anything - with the exception of good placement of the lights in the first place (which can in turn be affected by the set)

Getting your Lighting designer to turn up to rehearsals early and to decide on his colour pallette will define what type of make up you'll need.

is there a nice easy book that explains which slap with which gel? or is it pretty much common sense?

You wish!!!!!

The Nice lighting Gel manufactures such as Lee Filters, Roscoe and Gam colours all publish helpful brochures though that have useful info in.

Mainly it's the application of the old rule of thumb. If you're using harsh stark colours then you may need to use more make up - if using warmer lighting colours, then the opposite may apply. In the end you won't really know until you see the end result on stage (which may negate my earlier remark), however if you have some Muppet like me lighting your show who tends to do different things, then fore warned is forearmed

i guess there's no substitute for experience eh?....