Act Out

When first speaking to senior, Alessandra Gouverneur, she would smile lightly and explain that she didn’t just have one job for the play, but two… two jobs that are very time consuming.  “I’m 1/2 of the Cheshire Cat and I’m also the head of makeup crew. The biggest challenge I experienced during the production was going between acting and managing makeup crew and the tasks that come with it.”  Having inherited the role of lead Make-up artist this year, Alessandra has realized it comes with a few more bells and whistles.  Olivia Barrington had been running make-up with Alessandra as her second, now it was time for Alessandra to find her second. “This year, a lot more decisions are up to me and I’m the one to go to for any questions. I needed to make sure I made my cues, checked everyone’s makeup, taught my girls how to do stage makeup, keep things organized, keep the actors quiet, and find a girl in makeup to be my assistant to run the show when I’m not there.“

One story Alessandra told us speaks of how these three young men worked throughout their whole high school career.  “My funniest experience backstage in the makeup room was when I was a freshman during Treasure Island. I was sitting in the room when I heard a loud CRASH from downstairs and then some yelling and running. Then, I heard two guys yelling “Move!” and something about someone getting cut while running up the stairs. Andrew Minkin and Henry Ballesteros dragged Joe Schwalb through the makeup room and into the bathroom in the back. Blood dripped from Joe’s injury and I initially got very frightened. Then, Clare Baumgart ran through the makeup room with paper towels and explained she heard the commotion and wanted to help clean him up. I looked at the blood again and realized it was the fake blood we use for the show. Before I could take even a step, I heard Clare in the bathroom gasp and yell in frustration, “I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!” The boys came out of the bathroom laughing with an angry Clare in tow, and I couldn’t help but laugh myself.“

As for terrible experiences, luckily, Alessandra doesn’t have one, only a little embarrassment.   “At the state competition for One Act my junior year, I was in charge of makeup and I forgot the setting powder. I was so embarrassed I wanted to hide because I couldn’t believe I forgot it. Thankfully, we didn’t sweat all of our makeup off completely.” 

“Favorite memory in theatre?”  Alessandra smiled lightly and then spoke “Pippin, the entire show.”  It was her freshmen year and magical.  “Watching it, doing makeup for it, meeting new friends during it. It was and still is my favorite show and I still miss it. It was my first musical and I got to know better one of my closest friends. The makeup was whimsical and colorful and makeup crew was a huge success.“

For other hobbies, Alessandra does forensics, which is her “big” hobby. “It’s my number one priority aside from school during the season, and I have achieved a lot of success in it.” Alessandra went to Nationals this past May in Chicago and she recently won 6th place in Oral Interpretation of Literature at the state competition. She also sews and subsequently has helped costume crew here and there.  Alessandra plans on going to college and hopefully majoring in some sort of business or management area, or maybe statistics. She also has considered minoring in Spanish as well. “I don’t know what the future holds, but I want to keep the fine arts in my life. I have yet to know where I’m going, but I have high hopes for Miami University of Ohio along with other schools.“

“My freshman year I was on the tennis team, and a teammate of mine asked me if I wanted to do makeup crew for the fall show and I said sure. She ended up not having the time for it, but I stuck with it because I was injured and couldn’t play. I liked it so much I joined again for Pippin. I tried out for the spring show but didn’t get called back, and I tried again for the fall show my sophomore year and got cast. I’ve done mostly makeup, but I act every now and again.”