Opera is one of those things most people seem to either love or loathe.
But one of the things people often don't think about is the makeup behind the performances.
One thing you'll quickly notice about the makeup being applied to Wade Kernot is that it's big, bold, and heavy. Up close it's not very subtle -- that's because it's for opera.
"It's a bit of a dark art to balance, really," he says.
The Kiwi opera singer is getting into character as Sarastro, the role he's playing in the upcoming New Zealand Opera production of The Magic Flute.
"And instead of perhaps, in a movie, where you're doing super-detail HD, where you're blowing your face up to the size of a screen, we're trying to get someone's face recognisable and characterful from 20, 30 metres."
The person tasked with achieving this is Head of Wigs and Makeup, Coleta Carbonnel. She says there's a fine line between good and bad theatre makeup.
"It looks a little bit fake when you look at it close," she says.
"But then you get out there and you see the lighting -- and for these operas it's quite flat -- so you don't see the features anymore, so we try to make them really 3D."
Kernot describes his normal look as "1980s Westie police officer", but that 'cop chic' fades away once he hits the stage.
Kernot has been lured back to New Zealand to perform in Mozart's The Magic Flute, which begins at Wellington's St James Theatre this weekend. It comes after spending five years in a full-time position in a theatre in Switzerland.
"You're doing, five to seven operas a year, and anywhere up to 80 performances a year," he says.
That means he's familiar with the makeup chair.
However it's not all smoke and mirrors -- that moustache is all Kernot.
Newshub.
