Dec 29, 2015 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – When you fill out those career inventory tests in junior high or high school that try to offer a few clues about what you would be good at, “wig master” rarely comes up on the list.

It’s a profession Nicole Pagano, the assistant to the wig master with the Pittsburgh Opera, arrived at only inadvertently.

The Chartiers Township resident and 1998 graduate of Chartiers-Houston High School initially had ambitions to be an opera singer, and was training at the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music when she decided singing for her supper was not something she necessarily wanted to do on a full-time basis.

“I realized during my second quarter that it was something that I was not ready to commit to, as it is extremely competitive and takes a lot of discipline,” Pagano recalled.

But instead of stashing away her sheet music and settling in to the study of, say, business administration, Pagano decided instead to start immersing herself into the stagecraft that goes into creating productions of, say, “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Otello” or “The Barber of Seville.”

“All I knew was singing,” Pagano said on a recent afternoon at the Pittsburgh Opera’s offices in the Strip District. “All I knew was the theater.”

She ultimately decided, though, she could continue to work in the theater while not necessarily occupying the spotlight. While at Cincinnati, Pagano, now 35, took a class in makeup and wig design, had an aptitude for it, and became the assistant to James D. Geier, who designs hair and makeup for the Cincinnati Opera and the Pittsburgh Opera.

“I don’t want to say I fell into it,” Pagano explained. “But if I hadn’t taken voice classes, I would have had no idea this existed.”

Although Pagano’s day job is working as a home-based assistant to sales representatives for the McGraw-Hill publishing house, when the Pittsburgh Opera stages a production Pagano swings into action. During the company’s season, which usually includes six productions, Pagano and Geier function like an Indianapolis 500 pit crew for the frequently sprawling casts of Pittsburgh Opera productions – getting the right skin tone and look for both extras and leads, and making certain that not a hair is out of place.

“I like my job because it’s not only a creative outlet, but I like being part of the collaborative process,” Pagano explained. “I also enjoy the job because every show is a new experience. It’s not like a film, where you can pause a scene or go back to a previous frame. It’s live theater, and each show is its own, and the next performance will never be like the performance before that.”

It’s an occupation that’s a little more complicated than merely combing wigs and getting rid of the shine on a soprano’s forehead. The work is tightly compressed, with the company usually renting a theater for about two weeks of rehearsals. They typically have about two days to get wigs washed, set and styled before performances start. Alterations can be made up through the final dress rehearsal. When performances are taking place, Pagano is typically stationed backstage, ready to make any fixes.

“It’s a really concentrated time period,” Pagano said.

Before her duties with the Pittsburgh Opera, Pagano was a wig and makeup supervisor for the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, N.J. Along with holding a degree in theatrical design and production, Pagano holds an esthetician license from South Hills Beauty Academy in Pittsburgh. She also works with other theater groups in the Pittsburgh area and, most recently, has been doing hair and makeup for the Pittsburgh CLO production of “A Musical Christmas Carol” at Byham Theater.

Any advice Pagano can offer to someone who would like to pursue the same line of work? After all, jobs with a title like “wigmaster” are not particularly abundant.

“Unless you can find someone who knows what they’re doing, you need some kind of theater degree,” Pagano said. “It’s just such a specific area. You need to do some networking and observing – just getting your hands in, even if it’s community theater.”

But, if you become part of it, it can be a fulfilling line of work.

“I like knowing I am a part of continuing the art form of opera,” Pagano said.