Tiffany Hicks, the Lady Behind the Mask. Summer 1991 MCIFA interview

Q; What kind of special training did you have to do

Tiffany; I went to a private college in London, Complections of London, school of makeup, and studied film and stage make-up, special effects, glamour makeup, I did a photographic hait styling course, bald caps, prosthetics things like that

Q; how did you get the phantom job

Tiffany: We had a lecture froma doctor whos specialized in canver patients, people who had limbs missing, he gave me Christopher Tucker's address, I knew Chrstopher Tucker form the Elephant man and companyof wolves, I went down to his studio and told me I have a job for you in the theatre

I met her in Denver when she was doing make-up for the beauty and the Beast tour back in 1997. Very lovely lady, and cute British accent.

More from the interview,

Q: explain the steps from the makeup

Tiffany: First, I put on the bald cap which looks like a swimming hat, and glue it on so that he looks bald thats the main foundation, followed by three prosthetic pieces: the skull piece, the face piece which covers the nose, the lip and the right side of the face, then the lower lip which I glue on. then I use what is called a pax paint over the entire fave, head and neck, it's just like normal foundation but with a glue base, so it sticks, if it was grease it would gome off then I do the rest of the grease paint and fill-in, then the two wigs.

Q; do each phantoms differ in how you apply the make up

Tiffany; basically the same, although I use different glues on different people because of the skin type

Q: are the prosthetic peices designed for each actor, do the understudie have their own

Tiffany; The understudies do not, but the main actors do, the main understudy does, the second understudy you mix and match peices, you just have to use to fit what is best

Q; originally it took 2 hours, how did you reduce the time

Tiffany; Well to start with I was thinking about each step as I was doing it and now I know what I am doing, I used to paint all the pieces on his fave and now I pre paint everything, and that's cut down a lot of time, you just get quicker, uou just get to know what you're doing more.

Q: how does the actor prepare his face.

Tiffany; Just cream mosturizer.

Q: any special routine to keep the skin from becoming damaged?

Tiffany; No, because I take off the make-up with mineral oil, which is water soluble, so that's pretty good for the skin, somethines, if they rip the bald cap off, that can hurt a little bit, I try not to use too many alchohols on ths skin, because that will damage it.

Q; where are the prosthetics made

Tiffany; in England by Chris Tucker and he sends them to me thirty of fifty at a time.

Q; are they reusable?

Tiffany; No we throw them away, the edges are stuck to the bald cap or the skin, to reuse something you would have to have a thicker foam.

Note** in the very begining in London fans would fish out the used prosthetics from the trash, so after Micheal found out, he had Tiffany rip up the prosthetics to shreds.

Q: Did you have anything to do with the developement of the makeup?

Tiffany; No not really,we decided on the colour, it should be more burgundy rather rhan just highlight and shade, people would relate to that colour better

Q: any actors allergic

Tiffany; No. but Robert Guillaume, his skin was very fine and very very delicate. it was like tissue paper it was so soft. I used medical adhesive on the bald cap, which I do not really use because it is not strong enough to hold, it used to slide about

Q:most difficult part

Tiffany; It is not difficult, the bald cap id probably the most crucial, I get them from makeup suppliers and sometimes they vary a bit. you have to get them to fit the right head. Michael was very good about staying still. he did not move, maybe sometimes he would be on the phone, Out on stage Michael was very concious about his make up.,

Q; between shows on matinee days, Michael would leave the make-up on, did he leave everything on

Tiffany; the top wig goes down to be reset, and the bottom lip would come off so that he could eat then we would stick another one on for the second show.

Q; touch ups

Tiffany; Maybe around the neck, pincil in the eyebrows again, about ten minutes of freshening up

Q; is Micheal easy to work with

Tiffany; ya, pretty easy he is very professional and I have learnd a lot from that, He is a good person to start working with, it makes it more enjoyable thats why so long, I do care about it when I am with Micheal

Q; have you trained others

Tiffany; I trained Thelma Pollard in New York, and Mike Moore who is doing the tour, and Liz Dean in London

Q; do you think that you will be working on the phantom movie when it gets made

Tiffany; I would love to , I think that Micheal will want me.. to make all those cups of tea for him

Phantomfett, I am jealous that you got to meet her