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First Person

Makeup for screen and stage is his bag

Joe Dulude II of Northampton on the highlights of working on “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.”

Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff

As a kid [in Pawtucket, Rhode Island], I always loved old monster movies like Frankenstein, Dracula, and Wolf Man. Every Halloween I would get dressed up. My parents were amazing; they allowed me to pursue this. I loved makeup and doing makeup on myself and other people. I eventually moved to New York and worked in a clothing store. I would wear makeup on myself, very ’80s-ish rock ’n’ roll makeup. People came in and asked if I was a makeup artist. I said yes and started doing photo shoots for free. I learned so much.

I started as a cashier at MAC Cosmetics in New York and was able to practice and move up. Then I moved to LA to do film and television. I covered for a friend doing makeup for Vanessa Williams for Into the Woods. Two shows turned into eight, and then I took over. The costume designer, Susan Hilferty, was going to be designing Wicked. I said I would love to work on the show.

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I never took makeup classes. [If you’re] interested in becoming a makeup artist, take art classes. You learn about color theory, the human body, and what is under the skin — the bone structure. Even if the character is an alien, the look needs to make sense anatomically.

Things change when you start to work on a real face. It doesn’t look like it does on a flat piece of paper. Lots of adjustments get made once you see it under the lighting.

Fiddlehead’s Priscilla will be challenging. I’ve done drag makeup, but I wouldn’t say it’s my specialty. I love that I get to be creative, like on Priscilla or SpongeBob [the musical], where I got to create the look of that world. Growing up, I never thought I’d be doing what I’m doing.

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CURTAIN UP Fiddlehead Theatre Company’s Boston premiere of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical runs from September 30 to October 9 at the Shubert Theatre. For tickets, visit citicenter.org or call 866-348-9738.