Finding Sharla.....(part 1)

So, on Friday I headed over to Structures salon where Tres Dillon, fabulous hairstylist for the MET, was to begin my physical transformation into Sharla (my character in Killer Joe). First I showed her some pictures from our rehearsal "image book" that were inspirational and we chatted about the look. Then, she yelled at me a bit for using "box color" on my hair.....(sorry I'm a struggling artist and can't afford salon treatments every 3 weeks!!)..and explained that it may take more than one visit to achieve the "trailer trash " kind of look we were going for.
And then, the process began..Step 1: My dark roots were re-touched to a shade of dark brown. Step 2: The first application of goo to lift my dark color out of the remainder of my hair. A trip under the dryer to let it do what it does. Upon rinse, there is still a lot of "dark" with copper mixed throughout in my hair. As was getting rinsed, the owner of the salon, Beccah Bartlett (who is also on our Board of Directors) came over laughing, telling me that she overheard Tres talking about how she was going to cut/style my hair...bleach blonde, 80's mullet-esque look! She was mortified and panicked until she found out Tres was doing my hair for the show. Sorry Tres. It was never my intention to get you nearly fired! Step 3: Another application of more powerful gooey stuff, complete with foils. Another trip to the dryer, as other stylists periodically came over to peek at my head and check the color. They discussed in hushed tones and I gathered that this was going to take some time. I sat under the dryer and read about "Brittney's Tragic Downfall" and Tres went and got us some Sushi at Hinode. Another rinse. Step 4: All the other stylists had left for the day by now. Tres explained that it was going to take another visit and that she didn't want to put my hair through too much stress in one sitting. She put on another application to neutralize the red in my hair. More time under the dryer (more magazines). Rinse. Step 5: Another application of a light brown-ish color. Tres wanted to make sure I felt "presentable" enough to walk around for the next few days until I go in for a second bleaching.
Tres and the staff at Structures were terrific. They kept me comfortable both physically and mentally....even though Tres did keep laughing. She repeatedly giggled..."I'm not laughing at you!" We were both really jazzed about this adventure. Stay tuned for another posting (& hopefully pictures) after my Wednesday appointment. And so for now....or perhaps for next month or so I'm thinking.......lots of hats!