Re: OOC # 34
Okay, Shrek wrapped up tonight. As makeup gigs go, it was one of my easier ones...I was only making up Shrek, Donkey, Pinocchio, the Dragon, and doing a few details on Farquad, and then turning Fiona into an ogre at the end of the show. And even then, to make things even easier, the director decided she didn't want to use prosthetics on anyone (she changed her mind about that with Pinocchio, for the nose, but she found a nose that she liked better than the one I had made, and I agree with her choice, as I've long intended to re-engineer mine), which is usually the hardest part of doing makeup for Shrek.
The good news? I commented to the director that we'd never really negotiated a price--the one time we discussed it, the discussion ended with me saying, "Let me check on some prices and I'll get back to you," and then I never did (I've been really bad about that this year). She said, "Charge me whatever you think is fair for your work, and I will pay it GLADLY. This show would have been a disaster without you." So, now I have to figure out what's a fair price for my work (and I'll probably still under-price it, because I knew it was a community production going into it so I know they probably don't have a REAL professional budget, and because I honestly have no idea what current market rate is for theatrical makeup designers...there aren't really a lot of them out there to poll for information!) But it will more than make up for the $900 I had to spend getting my car fixed (alternator finally completely died...I was having to recharge my battery every day and a half or two days, if I didn't run too many errands.)
The bad news? I launch right into rehearsals for Footloose (I'm actually in this one...I didn't audition, had no interest in auditioning and no intention of ever doing the show...and then someone dropped out and I'm apparently on the director's list of "go-to guys", because she contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in the part. It's comforting to know that your reputation is such that directors will say, "Hey, he'd work for this part and I don't hate working with him..." *grin*) So, the free time I gain from not doing Shrek every night will turn into rehearsing Footloose a lot over the next few weeks.
But, for a few more weeks yet, things have slowed down at my 'regular' job at the park, to where there are really only a few days I need to be there each week and the rest of my time is much more flexible. We'll see how crazy things get when we move into the Halloween season.