Second
Look Face Painting and Make-up Artistry provides theatrical and media
make-up
artistry for
clients in the Central New Jersey
counties of Mercer,
Middlesex, Monmouth, Hunterdon, Somerset, and Union, the northern and
central parts of Ocean, plus eastern Bucks County PA, Staten Island NY,
and occasionally beyond.
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| Theatrical and Media Make-up for
Stage - Television - Art and Commercial Photography - Promotions -
Event Models - Runway Shows - Dance Competitions - Live
Performances |
Performances in front of an audience or a camera can call for basic make-up, or something more, like period looks, or fantasy, age, injury, and other special effects |
| Well, honestly, most actors do. Make-up is the last stop between an actor’s brain and his or her audience. It brings the actor’s work to the next level by outwardly expressing things about their character they may not be able to on their own, like looking the right age, part of the appropriate historic era, of the right culture, social status, health, or even the proper species of animal! |
| Erin started art lessons
around the time she first held a pencil. Her first art teacher was her
mother, an
award-winning fine artist and graduate of Moore College of Art and
Design in Philadelphia. Erin took her first class in stage make-up when
she was
14, a year after the first time she worked on a theatrical production
at school. After completing four years of
sequential training in the studio art program at the Hun School of
Princeton, she went on to visual arts studies in college. Undergraduate training includes studies in BFA programs at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, and at Long Island University's School of Visual and Performing Arts at C.W. Post. Erin's master of arts degree in Electronic Media was earned on full scholarship for visual communication from Drake University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Erin's working background in the arts includes illustrating children's educational texts and storybooks, designing make-up and stage props for professional theatre companies including The Passage Theatre Company, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, and Premiere Stages, and painting stage sets for productions at professional, community, and school theatres. Credits for Make-up
and Hair/Wig Design include stage productions of Kiss Me, Kate, Oklahoma, Crazy for You, Driving Miss Daisy, Deathtrap, Pinocchio, She Loves Me, Dracula, Noises Off, Macbeth, Grease, Neil Simon's Rumors, Hansel and Gretel (opera), and Doctor Dolittle (pictured above). Erin also created 1950s
period make-up for the narrative flashback scenes filmed on location in the
Princeton area for an internationally
broadcast documentary production by England's Channel 4 called Voices. She also created the
make-up for the zombie swarm in the independent film Outpost: Knightsbridge. Erin is also a produced playwright (a member of the Dramatists Guild of America since 1992). Other theatrical credits include composing music and writing lyrics, directing, stage management, props design, set design and painting, and costuming (see OTHER THEATRICAL ARTS). Erin has painted, built, and sewn things for McCarter Theatre Company in Princeton, worked in Bugs Bunny's dressing room at Six Flags Great Adventure, made things, coordinated things, fixed things, run a follow spot, and swung a hammer for various performing arts venues and companies including the Paramount Theatre and Convention Hall on the Boardwalk in Asbury Park, Princeton Opera Association, Shakespeare '70, Actors' NET of Bucks County, the Theatre Guild of New Jersey, Like 40 Productions, and many others from New York to Philadelphia. |
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Rates for stage and media work are determined by consultation. Please call any weekday between 9AM and 6PM (609) 510-8939 or e-mail any time regarding your
project
needs
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| Hansel
and Gretel -- The
Fairy Tale Opera by Engelbert Humperdinck Produced by Boheme Opera New Jersey, at The College of New Jersey Center for the Arts, Trenton, NJ The top photo above shows soprano Jendi Tarde as Gretel and mezzo-soprano Jessica Renfro as Hansel on stage. The bottom two photos are the two faces of Jessica Renfro, on the left, in her headshot, and on the right, backstage as Hansel. Jessica's headshot courtesy Jessica Renfro, other photos copyright Erin Penney. Performed in December 2011 on the Mainstage at the Center for the Arts at The College of New Jersey, this production of the nineteenth-century German opera called for specialty make-up for angels, a witch, and turning a mezzo bombshell into a boy. Make-up and hair design was handled by Erin Penney, with assistance by Tess Ammerman. |
| Cabaret ActorsNET of Bucks County, performing at The Heritage Center, Morrisville, PA Design and photo copyright Erin Penney The role of Sally Bowles in the classic musical Cabaret calls for the look of a showgirl in 1930s Berlin. Second Look Senior team Artist, Tess Ammerman, played the part in 2011 and called on Erin to come up with a period-appropriate character make-up and wig. The theatre company used another one of Erin's photos from this session on the production's promotional poster. Tess's photo is scattered throughout this website in various guises. Those are her eyes staring back at you from the top of the page in the Second Look company logo! |
| Lost
Boy Found at Whole Foods by Tammy Ryan Equity Premiere co-production by Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey and Premiere Stages, Union, NJ The photo above shows actor Jamil Mangan during the first make-up test under raw stage light on the stage of the Zella Fry Theatre on the campus of Kean University, home of the Premiere Stages Play Festival. Funny title, serious play. The recently-divorced mother of a teenage daughter finds herself developing a close and fateful relationship with a refugee from the Sundanese Dinka tribe who works at the local Whole Foods. The leading lady in this powerful new play was played by four-time Emmy winning actress Kim Zimmer, the title character by Warner Miller, and his best friend, a mysterious fellow Dinka named Panther, played by Jamil Mangan. The photo above shows Jamil's first make-up test under raw stage lights, about two weeks before opening night. Panther bears the tribal scars of a Dinka warrior and also has had his lower central teeth ceremonially extracted, so director John Pietrowski (Artistic Director of PTNJ) asked Erin to design the illusion. Erin taught Jamil how to do the make-up himself throughout the run of the play at the Zella Fry Theatre on the campus of Kean University, presented as part of the Premiere Stages Play Festival. Jamil replicated Erin's make-up design when he played the part again at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in 2011. For more information about the co-production of Premiere Stages and The Playwright's Theatre, click here for the Playbill.com article. |
| Desi
Dance Fest & Competition Union County Performing Arts Center, Rahway NJ A Bollywood style dance competition brought nearly five hundred dancers out to vie for top honors at The Union County Performing Arts Center at the historic Rahway Theater. The team above won the Award for Excellence in the category of Best Costumes & Make-up. Choreographer and costumer Sunrita Mitra of Plainsboro NJ called on Erin to create an original three-color make-up design with sparkling touches for her company dancers. The white areas feature a skin-safe cosmetic glitter, and several clear faceted crystal "jewels" were added to each dancer's face as light-catching accents to complete the make-up design that helped bring one more trophy home for this multiple award-winning dance team. |
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Rates for stage and media work are determined by consultation. Please call any weekday between 9AM and 6PM (609) 510-8939 or e-mail any time regarding your
project
needs
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| Left to
right, Second Look Senior Make-up Artist Kelly Allen, The Grinch,
Senior Make-up Artist Tess Ammerman, Candy Cane, owner/designer Erin
Penney, Jack Frost Johnson & Johnson Corporate Video Ethicon Division, Bridgewater, NJ The division of Johnson & Johnson that makes surgical products goes all out for their holiday parties! For a special video shoot, J&J called on the Second Look make-up artists to support the company's original production featuring executives as characters including "the Grinch," "Candy Cane," and "Jack Frost." Shot by the team that makes the company's educational videos, the program was the surprise centerpiece of the company's annual holiday party. |
| In the
photo above to the left,performer Jim Barone as he looks
when catching a game at Yankee stadium. On the right, Jim as Elvis. Jim Barone, Elvis Tribute Artist New Jersey Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest and Festival Union County Performing Arts Center, Rahway NJ Jim Barone is an extremely talented performer with an uncanny ability to create the vocal illusion that Elvis really is in the building. This comes in handy, or course, since Jim is a professional Elvis tribute artist. When it came time to take part in a series of progressive regional competitions sponsored by Graceland to find the country's top Elvis tribute artists, Jim thought he would create an advantage by hiring Erin to develop a resemblance make-up. Erin learned that Jim specializes in presenting the Elvis of the mid-1950s, did some research then a test make-up, then returned for each of the competition days to help prepare Jim for his performances. Jim sailed through to the top three in a field of professionals from around the world and went on to compete in Nashville. |
| Driving
Miss Daisy Kelsey Theatre, West Windsor, NJ Click above for information about shows at the Kelsey Theatre. In the press photo above, Allwyn Baskin as Hoke takes the wheel for Eve Connolly as Miss Daisy. In this Pulitzer Prize winning play, three actors takes us on a journey through the hearts and minds of a trio of Atlanta natives whose lives are intertwined from the years 1948 through 1973. Each character ages throughout the play, with Miss Daisy starting at age 72 in 1948 through age 97 in 1973. Her son, Boolie, goes from age 40 to 65, and Hoke, Daisy's driver (and ultimately, friend), Hoke, goes from age 60 to 85. Erin created this production's make-up, hair and wig designs to depict the various ages and eras of the piece. Award nominations for this production through the New Jersey Association of Community Theatres (the Perry Awards) included one for Outstanding Costume Design, which is the umbrella category by which make-up, hair and wig design is also recognized. Driving Miss Daisy marked the second time Erin's work was so noticed by NJACT voters. The production itself garnered wins for Best Actress (Eve Connolly as Miss Daisy), Best Actor (Allwyn Baskin as Hoke), Best Director (Dan Maurer), and the 2008 award for Outstanding Production of a Play. Trenton Times Theatre Critic Anita Donovan called Erin's quick change age make-ups, hair and wig designs "wonderful and totally believable." |
| Actor Spiff
Wiegand as the title character discovered it really is
pretty
easy being green (from head to toe, even)
with a bit of help from Erin and a couple of body painting assistants.
Photo by Green Man's costume designer Ingrid Proos. Additional photo on
the Body Painting
page, linked below. Green Man by Jim Knable Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey at Premiere Stages, Union, NJ A professional Actor's Equity Theatre in residence at Kean University's School of Visual and Performing Arts in Union, NJ, Premiere Stages is dedicated to developing new works from emerging playwrights. As part of the Premiere Play Festival, playwright Jim Knable's Green Man was selected in competition through the National New Play Network for an Equity staged reading. The play was previously workshopped and read under the direction of John Pietrowski at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey in Madison who presented the piece to the national competition. John remained as the production's director through this latest phase of the play's development and asked Erin to help visualize this drama's mysteriously character-shifting title player, based on a so-called "vegetative deity" in Celtic mythology known as a Green Man. |
| Top row, left to
right, the
Three Witches are Giz Coughlin, Susan Fowler, and
Kate Couzens. Hecate, queen of the witches, is Theresa
Forsyth Swartz. In the bottom row, Banquo, shown in his ghostly
state,
is actor Steve Lobis. He is flanked by Tess Ammerman and Tami Feist as
the Weird Sister's coven-mates. Far right, Mr.
Inspiration. Macbeth ActorsNET of Bucks County, performing at The Heritage Center, Morrisville, PA There is a legendary curse associated with this Shakespearean tragedy that makes it a project so feared, theatre types do not even speak its proper name. Laughing in the face of superstition, Erin signed up for the cool and rare chance to design specialty make-up for witches and ghosts and not necessarily go with warts and hooked noses. Meanwhile, a fairly incredible series of mishaps occurred in the final two weeks before opening night, including serious injuries in the cast and a slew of other freaky complications which caused this production of "the Scottish Play" to be shut down and rescheduled to perform two months later. But the show must go on (eventually)! Erin explains the design concept: "The make-up design for the witches reflects director Cheryl Doyle's animal totem concept influencing their performances and costuming, including (top row, left to right) a lioness, a bat, and a raven for the Weird Sisters, and their equally weird kin (added for group scenes), a lynx and raccoon. The design for Hecate reflects her Greek goddess namesake's status as a triple goddess of the moon, shown in the trio of images of waxing and waning crescents embracing the new moon over the actress's 'third eye.' For Banquo, the design was meant to show the 'echo' of his gruesome demise (garotting and head wounds) and emphasize his status as a specter, rather than literally depict every nasty wound mentioned in the script (as is done about as often as witches get warts and hooked noses). Plus, his make-up and costume change has to be done in two minutes flat! Special thanks to make-up assistants Tess Ammerman, Giz Coughlin, and Kelly Allen, and also to the 13 turkey vultures that, for whatever reason, wandered into suburbia and landed on my neighbor's roof one morning while these designs were in development, thereby inspiring the black, white, and blood red color palette for the creepy creatures in this production." |
| "After
several challenges from the famous curse of 'the Scottish Play,'
Actors' NET of Bucks County has opened Macbeth... the work is two months
late in reaching the stage. No problem -- a packed
opening night audience welcomed it with gusto.... Steve Lobis stands
out as Banquo -- the dining scene in which his ghost appears is done
brilliantly." Stuart Duncan
The Princeton Packet
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Rates for stage and media work are determined by consultation. Please call any weekday between 9AM and 6PM (609) 510-8939 or e-mail any time regarding your
project
needs
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National Flavors Day Some call it guerrilla marketing, some call it a good old-fashioned publicity stunt. Whatever you call it, this was one such event pulled off simultaneously in three cities (New York, Chicago, and San Francisco). The team of New York body painters, Erin included, set up shop on the stage of the Hard Rock Café on Broadway at Times Square. Over 200 models, aspiring actors, working dancers, at least one Metropolitan Opera chorus singer, and plenty of otherwise interesting and sporting young men and women were covered neck to toe in paints to match bathing suits in colors corresponding with the three flavors of Jose Cuervo tequilas that were about to launch on the national market. |
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| Photo
by the film’s Assistant Director Mark Violi Outpost: Knightsbridge Dark Oasis Pictures In the story of this independent film, something really bad happens to unleash a ferocious bacteria on board a naval vessel on a secret mission, turning about a dozen military scientists into zombies. The design concept Erin used for this freshly undead look was inspired by Dan Striepeke’s vision of the post-apocalyptic missile worshipers that lived in the subways Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Creepy, translucent beings with lots of blue veins visible through the pallor. Add a dash of Dr. Phibes, some dog tags, and viola! |
| The Wizard of Oz Open Air Theatre at Washington Crossing State Park, NJ Pictured amidst the fur and foam is Marty Berrien This custom-made Cowardly Lion costume of acrylic plush knit features approximately 30 feet total length in garlands of human extension hair in two different colors and three textures hand-stitched together to form the tail tassel, leg trim, and chest and shoulder mane. Several seriously modified off-the-rack synthetic wigs of different textures form the unit headpiece with attached chin beard and stylish hand-sculpted and painted foam ears. The muzzle is an extensively modified pre-made hot foam latex prosthetic, resculpted inside and out for fit, comfort, and cosmetics. It is finished with custom-blended PAX paint to match the Kryolan SupraColor foundation, and is accented with fiber optic whiskers (not sure if he can receive cable television through them). The whole thing was designed to allow the actor to get into and out of everything himself in minutes, without any assistance, and for the headgear and face to stay absolutely secure and reasonably comfortable for a couple hours each night of a two week run in extremely challenging backstage conditions at a very rustic outdoor amphitheatre in 90 degree-plus heat with equally extreme humidity levels. And that’s all BEFORE hitting the lit stage in a fur suit in front of a packed house of a thousand or so. In August. Thank God, all the preparation and prayers paid off smartly - everything went without a hitch! Marty is also the guy in the red suit in the Dolittle shot at the top of this page. He displays yet another persona (that of Bill Calhoun) at the far left in the group shot from "Kiss Me, Kate" below.
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| Shown
above, make-up designer Erin Penney and actor Kevin Gallagher Noises Off Kelsey Theatre, West Windsor, NJ
Erin explains, "This is what happens when your director needs to cast the role of a 70-something, inebriated English actor and none show up at auditions. So we had to make do with this good looking lunk a good 30-some years too young in reality, employing his acting skills and my paint job to create the character of Selsdon. I added the few missing decades in just under 30 minutes per performance. For others in the cast, I added sardine-proof hairpieces, optically amplified cleavage, and several other special visual illusions involving pigment and paintbrushes."
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| Kiss Me, Kate Kelsey Theatre, West Windsor, NJ Erin notes, "Big cast, two eras (Elizabethan and early 1950s) and numerous very, very quick changes. I designed make-up including specialty work and hair prosthetics, modified numerous commercial wigs and falls, supervised and instructed members of the company to function independently during production, trained three assistants to help with the application of specialty make-ups and the constant quick changes and also stage managed and built props for this multiple award-nominated production -- one nom was for costume and make-up design, yay! Below, the Thug in the fedora at center is my brother, Kurt Penney. He’s also shown below sporting sausage curls in another scene from the same production." |
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Rates for stage and media work are determined by consultation. Please call any weekday between 9AM and 6PM (609) 510-8939 or e-mail any time regarding your
project
needs
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| Check the links below for info on media make-up for special photography including headshots, portraits, weddings and more! |
