Making up a character

By Jerry Fink

Monday, June 23, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Makeup artist Ron Wild carefully stretches the paper-thin elastic bald cap over Anthony Crivello’s thick head of wavy black hair, the first step in transforming the handsome actor into the deranged character in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom, the Las Vegas Spectacular.”

“Everything starts with the cap,” says Wild, who left film and TV work in Hollywood for Las Vegas.

When Wild finishes his work an hour later the 1,800 fans in the audience will be able see the Phantom’s internal conflicts — the scarred face becomes a metaphor for the scarred man.

“It’s the dynamics of who the individual is,” Crivello says. “A definitive yin and yang.”

As the Vegas production prepares to celebrate its second anniversary Tuesday, Crivello is now the lone Vegas Phantom. He’d been alternating nightly performances with Brent Barrett, who left to pursue his career outside of Vegas.

“I have turned down opportunities outside the show that would have taken me away,” says Crivello, who won a Tony as best supporting actor in “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” “Vegas has been nothing but good to me.”

He reaches for a bottle of water as he sits in the makeup chair in the tiny, cell-like room with mirrored walls, letting Wild work his magic. He’s even grown to love the dry heat that has him routinely grabbing the water bottle to keep himself hydrated so that his magnificent voice will not crack in the middle of a performance.

And he’s started co-hosting a sports and entertainment radio talk show. “The Sicilians” can be heard from noon to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays on KBAD 920-AM. “I was a broadcast minor in college. That was my backup plan. But the other stuff started working out.”

He was invited to talk about his entertainment career on a local radio show but ended up spending most of the hour talking about sports. Producers liked what they heard and offered him his own show.

“In the life of a performer,” he says, “I’ve learned that when a door opens, don’t ask questions — walk through it.”

The door to the dressing room constantly opens and closes during the makeup session. People come and go.

“It’s usually busier than this,” Crivello says.

The background music isn’t opera or show tunes, it’s bluegrass — Ricky Skaggs playing mandolin and singing “You Don’t Love Me Anymore.”

“Phantom of the Opry,” Wild quips.

After hundreds of makeup sessions, the atmosphere inside the room in the depths of the theater at the Venetian is relaxed. Actor and makeup artist chat as Wild meticulously covers Crivello’s real eyebrows with more dramatic ones.

Wild, who designed the makeup for this production of “Phantom,” is an artist. Crivello’s head and face are his canvas, on which he applies glue and paint and prosthetics that look as natural to fans in the last row as to those in the first.

“Let me brag on you,” Crivello says, looking up as Wild brushes on a dark lining that highlights the cheek and jaw.

“You are talking to a two-time Emmy Award-winning makeup artist. The producers and the director, Hal Prince, thought this new show was a perfect time to go state-of-the-art in makeup. So they turned to Ron to design it. Ron has extensive experience in film and television and also is into animatronics and works with Criss Angel and Cirque du Soleil and Penn and Teller.”

The makeup for “Phantom” has a special look.

“We were looking for an old Hollywood kind of look, very handsome, very romantic,” Wild says.

But he takes advantage of new technology, new techniques.

“It’s designed to be read at the back of the room,” he says. “It’s more detailed, more highlights and shadows. Originally, the makeup was smooth and you tried to paint on the detail. But once you hit a smooth surface with light, the light reflects and you won’t see the detail.

“Here the light may be harsh, but we still have sculptured details. From the front row or back you can see how the shadows make it all come into play. The makeup is more viscous and textured.”

Wild, who worked on films such as “Godzilla” and “Battlefield Earth” and television shows such as “Babylon 5,” isn’t only a makeup artist. He has a shop in Vegas where he designs illusions for magicians. Wild worked extensively with Angel in his TV series “Mindfreak” and is one of the designers now creating illusions for Angel and Cirque’s upcoming production at Luxor, “Believe.”

Wild began doing makeup in films and television 28 years ago. But computerization depressed the makeup industry and so he moved to Vegas, where his wife’s family lived. One of his first jobs here was with “EFX Alive!” at the MGM Grand with Michael Crawford — who came to town after starring in “Phantom” on Broadway.

“In many ways it’s busier here than in L.A.,” says Wild, who has worked on many Vegas productions, including “Hairspray” and “Zumanity.”

He spots a pin hole in the bald cap, which will be topped by two wigs that come into play in the production.

“If you don’t catch the hole it can spread during the course of the show, like a spider web,” he says.

Wild has to catch problems early because there isn’t much time for repairs once the compressed production isunder way — 90 minutes, without an intermission.

“This guy works on the fly,” Crivello says. “This is live theater, and you have to work on the fly. If the cap splits, he’s doing Frankenstein surgery on my head.”

“We don’t have time to go in and do major repairs,” Wild says. “So once he leaves the chair, that’s it. We might have a few seconds here and there during the show, but no more. I have to evaluate whether I can fix it or just say ‘There you go, have fun.’ We have only so much time — and sometimes if you try to remedy a problem it can lead to a bigger problem and so you have to know when to just let it go.”

Crivello brags on Wild some more.

“If there’s a problem, this guy’s on it,” he says. “He watches the clock and he knows to the second what time it is. He actually has an internal clock when it comes to putting on the makeup. If he finds a glitch and has to take time to make a repair, he speeds up the rest of the process. He’s a consummate pro.”

Once the transformation has taken place and the mask covers the prosthetic scar, Wild releases Crivello to wardrobe, where he slips into his quarter of a million dollar costume and then heads for the stage, where he will wreak havoc and rid a wild chandelier.