LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Hair. Body. Face.
Those are the things artists transform every night to bring magic to the stage. Makeup artists like Robin Rittenour help Cirque du Soleil artists learn what they need to know in order to do their own makeup every night.
"When they're first learning, we start with five coachings. We'll do a step-by-step first where we take photos of each step so they have their own file that they can look at and check and make sure everything is correct," Rittenour said. "Then, we do a half-and-half where a makeup artist will do half their face and they'll learn to do the other half of their face. After that, they do it themselves and they have three to four coachings until they get it down. It's one of the first things they start doing when they get to the show. It can take anywhere from half an hour to an hour and a half for our more complicated looks."
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According to Rittenour, a cream layer goes down first, which helps the makeup pop. Then, it's set with powder so the look can stay on for the whole show.
She said there is definitely a learning curve for some performers.
"The biggest complaint from the performers when they get here is there are so many brushes. How do I remember what goes with what? If they're very unfamiliar with makeup, I'll write with Sharpie on the brushes what goes with which product. It does get kind of confusing," Rittenour said. "Mascara is the worst. Most of the guys, when we get near their eyes, it starts watering. Some will be like I don't want to do it but they'll start getting used to it and some of them start loving it and they're like I don't feel complete until I put my mascara on because it makes me pop."
For performers with head pieces, there is also the challenge of making sure the makeup matches.
"For some of the performers like Red Bird and many of the dancers, they'll have the head pieces and will have matching makeup. They'll put [the head piece] on first to match up their lines," Rittenour said. "Then, they'll do makeup on their face so if their headpiece moves, there is still makeup there."
Just like other aspects of the show, makeup designs are always looked at and reevaluated to see if there are little tweaks and changes to make things better.
"The makeup designer for the show is Nathalie Gagné. She'll either come down and do the original looks with us here. Sometimes, we just a got a new look from her and she couldn't come down so she sends a sketch and we work through it with the artist," Rittenour said. "A lot of them are similar. Once you know the basics of a certain makeup, you can make it work."
The show goes through a lot of makeup over the course of a year.
"I order new makeup probably every two months. They get a new foundation every three months and their bright colors last four to five months," Rittenour said. "It's hard to say an exact number because I order as we go and everyone has different ways of putting their makeup on."
For Rittenour, getting to Cirque du Soleil took a long time and she's thrilled to have her dream come true.
"My senior year of college, I came out to Vegas and I saw "Ka" and loved it. I spent my whole senior year telling everyone I was going to move to Vegas and work for Cirque. Everyone said you're insane. That's never going to happen. After graduation, three months later, I moved out here. No job. No nothing. I just thought I would have an easier time getting a job here if I moved here. It took me two years to get my job here but I love it," Rittenour said. "I love sitting backstage getting the performers ready and hearing the audiences respond. The best is when kids are in the audience and they're laughing and loving all of the moments. That's when you get to be like I'm helping people create memories and that's an awesome feeling."
