The New Surry Theatre Performing Arts School

Theatre Makeup:

The Theatre Make-up course is a hands-on project based leaning process. It it similar to the course taught at the UMO Theatre department.

It is relatively easy to learn and practice, moving from simple steps to more and more skillful and intricate ones. It has a solid structure that has to be followed and in the same time it is very personalized and creative. Most parts of the course are very appealing and fun for both male and female students. It is individual work and in the same time team work with students helping each other to master the craft. It also creates a close contact when they have to work on each other faces. It teaches students some basics of human anatomy, makes them be more aware of other people by giving them a task to observe and remember different features, colors and the aging process. It enhances their self-awareness and understanding of how other people see them as well. It gives them a chance, perhaps for the first time ever, to look very closely at themselves from a very different perspective. Skillful makeup application can produce a dramatic effect which can be appreciated by the whole group and becomes a pride for its creator. It can be documented by taking pictures of the various steps of makeup process and the pictures can be used for their Portfolios.

Stage makeup is a studio class, involving relatively little outside preparation but commitment and concentration when in class. The objective of the course is to learn by practice the basic techniques for the design and application of makeup for the stage.

Theatre Makeup meets Tuesdays: 6:00-8:00

Elena Bourakovsky headed the large costume department of the Komedy Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia for 15 years where she presided over the design and implementation of costumes for a repertory theatre that performed more than 20 plays each year. She first met Bill Raiten when she designed the costumes for Murray Schigal's LUV, a play he was directing at her theatre in 1989. In 1990 she was invited by Jane Snider, Head of the Costume Department, and by Al Cyrus, Head of the Theatre Department, to come to UMO as a J1 exchange Professor of Costume Design. The New Surry Theatre asked her to stay and she remained in the U.S. to continue as a designer for the University and for The New Surry Theatre. She has since become a U S citizen and has designed either costumes, make-up or the entire production for more than thirty plays, operas and musicals. She has worked with professional and community theatres, colleges and youth groups in Maine, Canada and California. During this time she continued her work as an artist and her unique miniature egg paintings have been sold in New York City at Rockefeller Center, Trump Towers and The Russian Tea Room. She now works as a youth counselor through TDC.