Wig Maker Maurice Neuhaus Wigging Out On Broadway Written by Mo Arikat Photographed by Lea Loukus
	Maurice Neuhaus

Maurice Neuhaus works with hair. That’s his job. But Maurice is not your everyday hairdresser. He is a wig maker, building custom wigs for Broadway shows and opera companies throughout the country. At age twenty-six, Maurice has already built wigs for the Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota Opera, Cleveland Opera, Philadelphia Opera and countless Broadway Shows including Wicked, A Raisin in the Sun, and Drowning Crow. He has built wigs for celebrities such as: Rue McClanahan, Alfre Woodard, Kristen Chenoweth, Eric McGormack and Carol Shelly.

Maurice Neuhaus "Ventilating" a Wig

Wig making has been around for centuries but it is definitely an unknown art form. “When you go and see a Broadway show, you take it for granted that the actor’s hair looks like it suits the character, but it doesn’t occur to you that the actor is wearing a wig - which is actually exactly what we want,” explains Maurice. He continues, “Wigs are essential for many reasons. Let’s say the lead character is doing her household chores in the first scene, and then in the next scene you see her going out to a formal dinner. There is no time to turn her hair into an up-do in forty-five seconds, which is sometimes all the time the character has to change costumes and hair. And then there are period pieces which always demand wigs. And there is always the pesky problem of where to put the mike. In most Broadway shows, the microphone is hidden under the wig.”

Maurice started learning his craft three years ago. His teacher was Bob Kelly, the oldest and most reputable wig maker in New York. “If you want to become one of the best you have to learn from the best,” says Maurice. Mr. Kelly has been in the business for over fifty years and has built wigs for stars such as Madonna, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ella Fitzgerald, Steve Martin and Tony Braxton. Mr. Kelly is also the contracted wig creator for NBC’s hit show Saturday Night Live. So how did Maurice get Mr. Kelly to take him on as an apprentice? “I just walked into his shop with all necessary utensils for wig making and asked him if I could sit down next to one of his workers and see if I could pick it up,” explained Maurice. "Mr. Kelly said, 'No we really don’t do that.' But I kept begging him, and told him that I really wanted to learn. So Mr. Kelly said yes and sat me down and taught me how to tie a knot."

Maurice explains the process. “A wig for a show has to be custom made for each actor. The process starts with taking measurements. From those measurements, you create a cast of the exact shape of the actor’s head on a pre-made wooden or cork block. On that cast, you build a foundation of nylon netting. Once all of this preliminary work is done, you can start knotting the hair into the wig with the help of a needle (which looks like a tiny crochet needle). This process is called ventilating. You start from the back and work your way up. Each of these knots contains about four to six hairs. There are thousands of knots in each wig. By the time you reach the hairline you have to tie knots with one hair at a time. You have to have the patience of a Buddhist monk. When I first tried to tie a knot with a single hair I wanted to scream. I kept practicing and now I do about thirty single haired knots a minute.” It usually takes thirty to forty hours to complete a wig but with practice Mr. Neuhaus has learned to build a wig in twenty to thirty hours.

“When you buy a wig off the shelf in a store, there is too much hair in it and usually it is made out of only one color hair. When I build a wig, I use less hair and up to four to six different shades of blond, brown or whatever color I need. Plus I only work with human hair which usually comes from India or China. Another difference is the fact that custom made wigs have what is called a lace front - a piece of colorless nylon netting which is glued to the actor's skin. This netting contains all single knots of hair which gives the illusion of a natural hair line and makes it look like the hair is coming out of the actors head,” explained Maurice. This is why one of his wigs can cost up to two thousand dollars.

Three years ago, Maurice knew nothing about the creation of a wig and now he has reached the top level in this profession. “I love what I do,” he says, “and it’s really fun to sit at home and see one of your wigs on television in a commercial for Good Vibrations.