[ upbeat music ]
-I'm Ashlee Naegle.
I'm the wigs, hair and makeup manager
and designer at the Seattle Opera.
♪♪​
My grandfather got me into
loving art and he took me to my first opera.
It was a little theater
that he took me and I saw La Bohème.
And after I saw that, it just changed my world.
And I started loving, loving opera.
I started in Seattle Opera in 2007 as an intern,
and then I worked my way up to this position,
and this has been my dream position
forever—since I was a little kid.
[ sentimental music ]
I designed the wigs
and the hair and the makeup for the shows.
I also am in charge of making sure that I hire
all the crews that are needed.
I'm in charge of building the wigs
and just making sure that the overall
look for the hair and makeup looks cohesive to the rest
of the design.
♪♪​
It is really fun at times, really
exhausting at times because, you know, this is
the entertainment business.
There's a lot of different personalities.
-I am the star!
I'm the star!
( laughter )
-Most of the personalities are really sweet, really genuine.
You get to see people at their most vulnerable
and you get to see people at their best.
( Opera singing in German )
-I have changed your look a tiny bit
because I wanted to make it a little bit more Nosferatu.
-Yep! -You'll have the chin, you'll have a nose,
and then you'll have your ears.
( tongue popping )
-Sorry I'm doing that.
( giggling )
-So this program is called Procreate,
and in it
I can put all of the singers faces and digitally put makeup
and build wigs and prosthetics on their faces.
So we have Queen of the Night,
and then we have our Tamino, and then we have our Papagena,
and then we have Sarastro,
and everybody in the chorus
is going to look like him at one moment.
( Opera singing in German )
-So today we're going to be wrapping
your head in Saran Wrap, and then we're going
to draw your hairline and your eyebrows.
And with your wig, you'll have some flecks of gray in it.
Yeah.
Just let me know...
( tape rasping )
if you get a little claustrophobic.
Being that intimate with somebody,
we are in their face all the time;
you really get to know people.
So it's it's really nice.
You kind of act like a psychiatrist.
( laughter )
Do you prefer beards over the ear or above?
-Yeah, why not?
-Yeah. -Your glue?
-Yep, and then glue.
When it comes to hair
makeup, if it's good, you don't even notice it.
If it's bad, it's the first thing you see.
You don't want something to look wiggy.
You don't want them to say,
“Oh, I know that he's got a prosthetic there.
Prosthetic there. He's got this.”
You want it to look as clean and natural as possible.
( Opera singing in German )
-A lot of times
whenever you put a wig on a performer,
you automatically see their face and their expression
and even their body language change into that character.
It's so fascinating because it's
it's like
you're putting their armor on and they're
becoming that persona as soon as they see
the wig all done, even before the makeup is on.
I've had people break down in the chair
because they just felt so beautiful, and
those are always the best moments.
One of the wigs that I am fond of
was actually on the cover of Opera America.
It was for Das Rheingold and as soon as I made
this wig, had a big old cage and she walked out
and I thought to myself, “I bet the director
is going to want her to have lights in that wig.”
And it was like one of the first things
he said to me, “Hey, can you put lights in her wig?”
I was like, “Yes, yes, I can.”
So then the next day I put some lights in there,
and then she walked out
on stage and she lit up
and then she was on the cover of Opera America.
It still brings me joy every day.
Sometimes exhaustion.
Sometimes I'm super stressed.
But I still love it.
I still love that it's ever changing.
This is something that I wanted to be when I was very,
very young.
And the fact that I'm here is huge.
[ dramatic orchestra music ]
See Ashlee's spectacular creations in Seattle Opera's
production of The Magic Flute,
opening Saturday, February 22nd.
Ticket information is at SeattleOpera.org
♪♪​
Catch Art Zone Friday nights at 8
and any time online at SeattleChannel.org/Art Zone.
♪♪​