CASSIDY TILDEN

My concept for the hair and makeup design for 9 to 5 the Musical revolves around owning
who you are, and staying strong and true to that notion. When first looking at a show like 9
to 5 the Musical, the first thing to come to mind is the aspect of uniqueness and
individuality. With a large cast, it’s difficult to find some form of variety and difference
when working solely with hair and makeup. Part of my focus was to find hairstyles for each
character that brought variety to the stage and brought out each of their personalities, but
also stayed true to the era. For example, Judy started the show with her hair in a tight
french twist, but as the show progressed and she became a stronger woman, her look
reflected that, and by the second act her hair was styled in a half-up half-down look with
loose curls. The time period also presented some challenges to overcome; since the musical
is set in 1979, we are on the verge of the 80s, so some of the styles were starting to push
towards the 80s while clinging to their 70s roots. With this in mind, a pinch-full of women
wore some blue eyeshadow while others still wore natural tones. Because this is a show
about middle-aged people working in an office but was performed by university students,
we needed to age each character ever so slightly. Mr. Hart was aged the most and sported a
fake mustache, and depending on if a man in the cast had a mustache determined where his
wrinkles would be located; i.e. if a man had a mustache, he would not have wrinkles in his
nasal labial folds as they wouldn’t be seen. From here, the women and the rest of the men’s
wrinkles were randomly handed out, as to give some variety, since everyone ages
differently.