DiPietro’s makeup awarded for ‘The Recovery Act’

MADISON – J.P. DiPietro lives in a world of sponges, sealers and swabs. His work with makeup effects for actors in Bob Jones Patriot Players has landed him a state award.

DiPietro’s latest design won second place in the state-level Walter J. Trumbauer Theatre Festival at the University of North Alabama on Dec. 1-2.

Bob Jones’s one-act play, “The Recovery Act,” featured DiPietro’s work; Bob Jones ranked in top place and will represent Alabama at Southeastern Theatre Conference in Mobile in March 2018.

The play’s setting is a post-war America after an attack with multiple atomic bombs, resulting in the election of a fascist government that has instituted marshal law. “The protagonists are Cassandra, who has prophetic dreams, and Jacob, who illegally preserves banned books,” DiPietro said. “Distribution of banned books results in imprisonment of one of Gideon’s friends and execution of another.”

The play’s basic premise is that America will recover eventually.

“The only character I’m doing is Jessie, played by Brendan Worley. He’s the only survivor of his unit when the nuke bombs fell. He suffered a severe amount of radiation burns on the left side of his face, causing permanent scaring,” DiPietro said.

In his first try, DiPietro needed two hours for the prosthetic application. “Since then, I’ve gotten it down to 40 minutes from start to finish,” he said.

DiPietro’s toolbox includes gelatin, alcohol-based paints; 99-percent alcohol; Dixie cups; makeup sponges; sealer; and a hair dryer. For the character of Jessie, DiPietro has to pre-paint, patch imperfections and applying adhesive on the prosthetic’s underside.

“I’m confident of Jessie’s makeup because I’ve done a lot research on radiation burns and regular third-degree burns,” DiPietro said. “I’m also pleased on how it looks and its effect upon the audience.”

For each rehearsal and show, DiPietro must recreate the makeup from scratch. He melts gelatin for a mold of the actor’s face, pre-paints, applies adhesive to the actor’s face and blends the prosthetic onto the actor’s skin with warm gelatin heated in a microwave.

Theatre is special to DiPietro because a production combines everyone’s input and “allows creative freedom amongst the cast and crew. What you see on stage is the culmination of all those great ideas merged into one memorable show.”