It's Not that Easy Being Green - Brittany Morgan

I’m 18 years old,  5’ 7”,  long blonde hair, and I’ve just been cast in my high school’s production of the Wizard of Oz to play the Wicked Witch of the West.

Regular me...

When I first found out the I would be playing the same role that the terrifying Margaret Hamilton made iconic in the 1939 movie the Wizard of Oz, I was ecstatic to say the very least.  In my previous theatre experiences, I always played the pretty blonde damsel in distress.  Although fun, I became tired of playing the same roles over and over again and actually became bored with performing the same old tricks on the stage.  The challenge of playing the villain both intrigued and delighted me and I knew that I would do fantastically in the role if I were given the chance.

The cast list came out on March 2, and that’s when I learned my wish had been granted.  Little did I know about all the rigorous, intense, and painful work that lay before me,

It’s been two months since the cast list went up, and we are currently in the middle of our run of this fantastic production. 

Through the run of this show, I haven’t exactly been looking like myself.  I’m pretty sure that my hair will forever have streaks of black in it and my skin permanently tinted green.  At the beginning, I didn’t initially think it would be a problem washing off the standard stage character makeup, but I thought differently when I had to attend school the Monday after a performance with green ears.  I’ve tried babying oil, make up remover, and regular soap and water, and nothing has gotten rid of the makeup completely.  After realizing my dream of normal colored ears was impossible, I wore my ears with pride for three whole days at school before it completely washed off…of course, just in time for the next performance.

Ain't I purty?

It took over an hour to get "in face", as I liked to call it.  Understandably, each part felt a little different.

The teeth? Self explanatory.  They were gross.

The eyes are an interesting story.  I ordered yellow contacts from For Eyes, the same place that had been keeping me from being categorized as “legally blind” for 5 years now.  I didn’t stop to think, however, that I have dark eyes, meaning that yellow contacts probably won’t show up well on brown eyes.  Luckily, the contacts took on a neon green color, which also worked for the role.  Good thing too, because my mom would have been pissed if she found out that I spent $70 on something that didn’t turn out right.  The only problem with them is that they are sometimes difficult to see out of.  So much so that I wouldn’t be able to tell Ellen DeGeneres from Justin Bieber…

      Just for the record, I think Justin Bieber and Ellen are very different.  One is suave, seductive, and so talented that any girl would die to date them, and the other is the Biebs.

The hair is done from using a colored hairspray.  All over.  I need a good three washes to get somewhat back to my blonde self.  I also need a lot of lipstick from all the butt-kissing I have to do to convince my mother to wash the tub after I’ve been in there.  (Yes, it gets everywhere. Even the ceiling.)

Another spectacular element to our show is that we have numerous amounts of special effects, the favorite being the flying effects.  From multiple rehearsals and performances of the show being jerked here and there in my harness has left me bruised in some of my...most sensitive areas.  My “racing stripes” of black and blue between my legs would make a gynecologist blush…or just tell me that I’m doing it wrong.

Dorothy and me in our harnesses before the performance.

Oddly enough, the children really seemed to like me.  Good thing I wore a lot of deodorant, because if I didn't scare them, my overwhelming pit stains would have.

The overall experience has been more than magical, and I can not think of a better way to end my high school experience on stage.  I never dreamed that I would be blessed enough to perform with such a talented group of people and I know my stay in Oz is something that I will NEVER forget.

Great cast, wonderful people

If picture aren't enough and you would like to see clips from our show, please visit this link for a few snippets from our Cappies Night.

If you have any questions for me about this post, feel free to email me!