The Greening Session – MAC for Wicked the Musical: Elphaba’s Green Makeup

A witty and heart-warming exploration of what could’ve happened before Dorothy unceremoniously dropped in, Broadway musical Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz has landed in Singapore.

The official makeup provider for the award-winning performance here is MAC Singapore.

To celebrate the collaboration, the brand held a short event at its Robinsons Raffles City counter, where two Wicked cast members received very different makeovers.

Jemma Rix, who plays Elphaba, the emerald-skinned protagonist in the musical, was deftly transformed into her character by the production’s makeup artist, Kellie Ritchie. Alongside Kellie was MAC Senior Artist Beno Lim who worked on another Wicked cast member, Elisa Colla, who plays Nessarose, to showcase wearable greens for a pretty springtime look.

I enjoyed the side-by-side demos and how MAC cleverly integrated the green theme.

See the ginormous paint brush that Kellie uses? It’s actually available at art shops. ;)

Here are the products that Kellie uses to transform Jemma into the memorable witch with the green skin:

  • MAC Chromacake in Landscape Green (a MAC Pro item) and what I believe is Kryolan TV Paint Stick in 511 or 512, for the essential glorious green. According to Jemma, the creams don’t feel sticky and they dry almost instantly.
  • A theatrical powder from Ben Nye to set the greens and prevent the colour from running, should the actress perspire under the lights.
  • MAC Eye Shadow in Vanilla for sculpting. Jemma says that this, together with shading, adds depth and dimension to her face; helping her to appear green but not look as though she’s wearing green makeup.
  • MAC Eye Shadow in Purple Haze to contour the cheeks and shade the eyes.
  • MAC Eye Shadow in Carbon to add depth to the cheeks and on the brows.
  • MAC Eye Shadow in Saddle to contour the eyes.
  • MAC Eye Kohl in Rosemary & Thyme on the lips. A brilliant choice, I feel – this olive pencil with antique gold reflects both complements and contrasts well with the green base.
  • MAC Pigment in Golden Olive on the face to transform the flat matte look into one with a dewy, 3D effect. Jemma calls it ‘sparkle motion’ (so cute!) which is an apt phrase for the shimmy and iridescence that add dimension to her visage. She remarked that even though her makeup is green, it can still look pretty. :)
Besides the giant art brush, Kellie also used:
  • A & Q makeup brushes (A & Q is an Australian brand)
  • Sephora Collection I.T. purple makeup brushes
  • Kryolan makeup brushes
  • MAC makeup brushes

Here’s another MAC interpretation of the Elphaba look.

And here’s a video of Jemma getting green.

At the event, she revealed that she takes 30 minutes to remove her makeup and that she sometimes perspires green beads of sweat. Much to the audience’s amusement, she also said that instead of blackheads, she gets greenheads on her nose! :P

When Jemma was asked if the makeup helps her to get into character, she said that the makeup is what is expected of her character but her acting comes from within, adding that she tries to keep everything as truthful as possible. She also said that she feels special to be green.

Jemma, Elphabatised! ;)

The colour green might project villainous vibes but Beno translates the hue into freshness and light for his Wicked-inspired look.

I believe I saw MAC Eye Shadows in Fresh Flare, Bitter and Lucky Green (and maybe Juxt?) which he complemented with MAC Eye Shadow in Freshwater. He also gave Elisa a pretty blush flush with MAC Mineralize Blush in Fresh Honey and MAC Mineralize Blush in Early Morning from the new Naturally collection and dotted her cheekbones with Cream Colour Base in Pearl for radiance.

Here’s Elisa with the finished look.

Winner of 35 major awards including a Grammy and three Tony Awards, Wicked has been described as ‘the defining musical of the decade’ by the New York Times, while Time Magazine’s accolade harks back to the original story of Oz:

If every musical had the brain, the heart and the courage of Wicked, Broadway really would be a magical place.

At the same event, I met James Molloy, the MAC director of makeup artistry for the Asia-Pacific region. Like the inimitable Gregory Arlt, he is unassuming and very warm. I was especially drawn to his hair – a beautiful blonde that he’d bleached himself!

During our short conversation, he revealed a few MAC makeup trends to come:

Sounds awesome. ♥

Image/video source: MAC Cosmetics Singapore and Wicked the Musical Singapore Facebook Page

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