Here I am at Thanksgiving (with my Pop) the week before Christmas Carol opened, essentially the height of my beard. That's basically 3 months of growth. Got into our first dress rehearsal, Nov. 30, and this is what they had me do:
Shaved out the chin. This look, by itself, is pretty Victorian. Shannon started calling me Wolverine, though he didn't have a mustache. Oh well. We shaved out the chin so we could do this:
Glued on the beard with what they called "medical adhesive." Whaddya think? Close enough? Our costume designer realized right before our second dress rehearsal that Dickens in fact never had chops with his beard. We thought about it, but decided to keep them anyway. I prefer to think we went with how Dickens wished he had looked (note that with me, his hairline isn't receding). We did the show - ended Saturday evening, December 4 - and as Shannon requested, I shaved as soon as we got home. And I had a little fun with it:
the redneck handlebar
70's trash 'stache
Some of you may be thinking, "Jared, this look isn't much different from the last one." True, it's not much different. But it's amazing how you can take away the sideburns and comb the hair straight back (as much as possible), and suddenly I'm my father circa the mid-1980's. A little eerie, but part of me was happy about this. But all good things must come to an end.
Shave and a haircut (two bits) and I'm back to neutral. Shannon is much happier, and I don't blame her. My head feels lighter and I'm not scary looking. Though, I'm beginning to be of the opinion that when it comes to hair, I prefer to either be here at neutral or full-on mountain man. Go big or go home. Not sure I'll ever be allowed to get that way again, but who knows.
That's that. Shannon and I are getting ready to head home to Louisville for a way-too-short Christmas weekend. Totally worth it though, really looking forward to being with our families for the holiday, and if it all possible see our friends. To our readers, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Have a blessed holiday and we will catch up with you in 2011.
"Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." ~ Luke 2:10-11
