Quick Chats: Becky Scott

Welcome to our Quick Chat series where we'll dive into the life and times of some of APT's finest. Each interview will supply insights ranging from the obviously relevant to the vaguely insane. Sounds fun, right? Today we're chatting with APT's Wig Master, Becky Scott!

Becky is celebrating 10 years with APT this year and has been Wig Master for the last 7 years. Outside of APT, Becky has been the Wig and Makeup Shop Manager for the Virginia Opera in Norfolk, Virginia for 15 years. She has worked for theaters across the country in her career, and we're so happy she has called APT one of her homes for the past 10 years.

APT: So what does being the Wig Master entail?
Becky Scott: Well, it entails a lot of meetings. I just finished my meeting with Rachel Anne Healy (the costume designer for King Lear) to talk through all of Lear, from the wigs to the facial hair and all the makeup. Mostly it deals with building and styling the wigs and supervising our two stylists to make sure everything looks like it did the minute it left the shop.

APT: Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary at APT! Any favorite memories from these past 10 years?
BS: Thank you! A really great show for us was The Critic a few years back when we got to put ships in wigs. That doesn't happen as often as one thinks, so it was special that we got to put two ships in different wigs. Eurydice has been a real high point for me, getting that red wig to work and look like Kelsey's own hair on stage is huge. This season as a whole has been great. We really knocked this first half out of the park.

APT: Let's talk about that Eurydice wig. What was that process like?
BS: Well there's purple, neon red and orange hair that's been floating around the shop and traveling home with all of us. That was the first wig I've ever built like that, that was that wild of a color. Honestly until I got it on Kelsey I wasn't convinced it was going to work. During one of her costume fittings, though, I put it on her and her eyes got really big and she just looked at me and said, 'Oh my God! Look what you've done!' She was so excited. It was one of those moments where I didn't realize how much tension I had built up about it and I had to tell myself, 'Don't cry. Don't cry.' But really I'm happy with the whole look of that show. It worked. It all came together in one cohesive look.

APT: What are some things you enjoy doing outside of the wig room?
BS: I do a lot of painting and a lot of drawing. I'm actually doing a 52-week art challenge with my best friend and her son. Every week we put some sort of art piece together. Other than that I like to knit a little bit, but after tying hair all day I sometimes don't have the patience for anything smaller like embroidery or needle point.

APT: Would you rather only be able to whisper or only be able to shout everything?
BS: Oh dear! Wow that's a weird question. Well I know people who only shout and it's annoying to listen to loud talkers. I guess I would say whisper, but at the same time I would hate for everyone to have to say 'what was that?' over and over again.