A young Scottdale girl is using her love of special effects makeup to help local stage productions look good.
Rhya Akins, 11, first became fascinated with makeup at the age of 6 when she appeared in the musical “Annie” at the Geyer Performing Arts Center.
“I was watching all the people do their makeup and got interested in it. I started watching videos on YouTube and Face Off,” Akins said.
Two years later, Akins got the opportunity to do the makeup for some of her cast mates in the production of “Seussical” at the Geyer. Then last fall she was able to help the makeup person for “Young Frankenstein” at the Scottdale theater.
“It's my favorite thing to do. When I have friends come over I always ask them if I can do a scar on their hand,” Akins said.
This past spring she got a call from Kristen Tunney, former stage manager at Stage Right School for the Performing Arts and Professional Theater Company in Greensburg.
The organization's professional company was performing the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Palace Theater in Greensburg and needed someone to create the scars on Jesus' back for the whipping scene.
Tunney said she was friends with Akins' mother Michele Akins and had scene photos on Facebook of scars and other things the young girl had created.
“I thought it was really cool work,” Tunney said.
When it came time for “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Tunney said she tried several adult makeup artists who had worked with the company before, but none were available the week of the show.
“I had seen some of Rhya's stuff, and it was really well done, really professional looking,” Tunney said. “Makeup artists who do the special stuff we needed (for the amount we usually have in our budget) are hard to find, and it seemed like a great chance to get Rhya an opportunity to try out what she was doing in a completely different environment.”
Akins said she created scars made out of latex and painted them and made the bags of fake blood for the actor to squeeze when they were to hammer the nails into his hands.
Tunney said they were so happy with the work Akins did on “Superstar” that she was brought in this summer to do makeup for the student production of “Young Frankenstein.”
“The scars for “Superstar” were fantastic looking, and I think she learned a lot,” Tunney said. “Every day she had adaptations and different techniques to try and make it better. When we needed a monster look for ‘Young Frankenstein' I knew right away who I would call. I hope she's enjoyed the experiences as much as we've enjoyed her work.”
In July, Akins not only appeared on stage in Actors and Artists of Fayette County's production of “Tarzan,” but she also did a lot of the makeup for the production.
“I did the makeup for Older Turk, Kerchak, some of the older monkeys and the leopard. Katie Pretz designed the makeup for the monkeys and I had other people helping me to put the makeup on after I showed them what to do,” Akins said.
“I've been floored by the work she has done here (at the Geyer) and I've seen pictures of some of her other work. She has more talent that an 11-year-old should have,” said Dan Pretz, co-director of “Tarzan.” “This show is kind of our baby and for us to entrust her with something that important speaks volumes.”
Akins said she has loved the opportunity to work on the shows this year.
“I have so much fun doing it and I get to meet new people and I get to transform people into different things,” Akins said.
Linda Harkcom is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.
