A Stage Community Weaves a Bond
by Therese LeVasseur
Wig & Hair Supervisor, Mark Taper Forum
Photos: Javier Vasquez/Center Theatre Group
Theater offers many things, including ritual, shared experience, transformation, and a deep look into the human condition, uniting people in focused attention to powerful storytelling that evokes empathy, catharsis, and spiritual reflection. For those of us lucky enough to belong to a backstage family, it is pure joy, unconditional support, and love. For performers joining us in a production, they become cherished extended family members and build strong bonds that last a lifetime. For guests, a theatrical production offers an unlimited amount of emotional experiences that celebrate the human condition. The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles is a creative space that allows artists to play a vital role in shaping public discourse and driving societal progress by using their work to critique social norms and advocate for change.
Author Jocelyn Bioh demonstrates the sacredness of belonging and shared experience both on and off the stage in Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. She expertly weaves the humor of a traditional Harlem braiding shop to demonstrate the power of culture, community, and chosen family while deeply exploring identity and the immigrant experience.
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding Shop is realistically recreated onstage with brightly colored hair stations and a hysterically complex cast of characters that any viewer will relate to. For those of us who have toiled behind the chair, the characters are even more relatable and familiar. The cast works intimately with wig designer Nikiya Mathis, and the wig team in order to expertly execute hair braiding on stage. While the cast is trained to braid onstage, the wig team prepares the wig effects with magnetic panels and double-stacked wigs for hair transformations onstage that are undetectable even when the viewer is looking for them. Most guests leave marveling at the onstage hair transformations!
The wig team meticulously maintained a huge number of wigs and included Therese LeVasseur (706), April Tillies, Toya Patton (706), and Camille Thomas (706). We used a large amount of Pattern Mousse to wrap the braids and give them a freshly styled look. Wig partings were hand-painted with an illustrator palette for improved definition. Wig edges were redefined, lace cleaned and colored with copic markers regularly.
The sheer number of wigs kept us all on our toes and required swing Camille Thomas to maintain the performers’ personal protective styles and provide additional support. Each of the three tracks focused on a specific performer’s wig changes for continuity and timing. Most recognizable is the “lemonade” wig worn by performer Melanie Brezill, which is revealed from under a hair-laden scarf. Melanie plays several colorful shop characters and has many wig changes, which kept stylist Toya Patton very busy. April Tillies was responsible for the many looks of the only male cast member, the fabulous Michael Oloyede. His looks required precision glue and taping in 90-second changes, which created a very close-knit team of dressers and stylists.
I was responsible for the fabulous Leovina Charles onstage transformations. She enters as a client with an unruly Afro seeking a protective style for her trip to Aruba! Over the course of the play, the Afro panels are expertly removed by performers to reveal small sections of braids that were coiled underneath, demonstrating an onstage styling progression. This required a teamwork application in which Leovina assisted in holding each pre-coiled section from the first braid wig while the top Afro style was applied on a hair snood base to hold the braided coils securely. Checks were frequent throughout her stage entrances and exits to ensure security and the best possible reveal onstage.
In total, the chosen family of the Jaja’s performers, design team, wig crew, and the MTF backstage family made the show a wonderful experience. But more importantly, the chosen family of this tenacious Harlem wig shop is demonstrated throughout with great humor and truly exemplifies the ties that bind as the characters face an unexpected immigration crisis. Jaja, the shop owner, is jailed in an immigration sting, leaving the shop family to support, protect, and care for her undocumented daughter. Truly, there isn’t a dry eye in the house as the house lights go down on this committed cast of characters demonstrating the true meaning of family. •
