Melinda Borsuk-Pollard is perched on a chair in her tiny wig room located in the basement and deep within the bowels of Actors Theatre. She seems perfectly at ease surrounded by head forms, bins of hairpieces and boxes of wigs. The path to "wig mistress" was a natural transition for Borsuk-Pollard, 22, who grew up in her grandmother’s hair salon merrymaking with curlers and combs. She later began learning the art of wig making during a college-years internship with American Players Theater in Spring Green, Wis.
Now in her second year as the resident rug doctor, the Arizona native’s skills are evolving with each new play. "I like to wander around Frazier Arms Museum for ideas and inspiration," says Borsuk-Pollard.
Her next big challenge, which she welcomes with enthusiasm, is this month’s Humana Festival play Act a Lady (performances are on selected dates from March 7-April 1). "Everyone is wigged, men take on the role of women and the play is set both in the 1920s and 18th century," she says. "It’s like a period drag show."
Attracted to the stage at an early age — but never as a performer — she began helping with set designs for school productions at age 12. She moved on to costuming and wigs, and earned a degree in costume design, with an emphasis in wigs and makeup, from the University of Arizona.
After the style of a character’s wig is determined for an Actors Theatre play, Borsuk-Pollard begins a meticulous weaving process, which can take as long as 40 hours. "Wigs are still made much the way they were made back in the days of Marie Antoinette," she says. Each strand of hair — she shops for the human shocks on the Internet and dyes them the necessary color — is hand-tied into the cap, which gives the illusion of a natural hairline. "The only times we don’t build a wig from scratch are for plays that require a wig to look like a wig, or (for a production such as) Dracula, where synthetic hair is used because of the blood, which stains human hair," she adds.
Borsuk-Pollard isn’t limited to faux-fibrilla; she also styles and colors the actors’ natural hair for their roles, and is currently working on her cosmetology license. For now, however, she is content working behind the scenes while her creations appear in the spotlight. "I get a great feeling from seeing my work on the stage," she says. "It’s a real rush."
—Melissa Duley
