00:00The wig really does change the entire persona I take on.
00:05I mean, it's big and glamorous.
00:07And on top of that, I have a crown on top of my head.
00:10And it really makes me feel like a princess.
00:12So that transformation completely helps my acting.
00:18Hey, my name is Sonia Balsara.
00:20I play Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin on Broadway.
00:22I'm backstage at the theater right now.
00:24It's about an hour until showtime.
00:26And come check out my hair prep before the show.
00:34The schedule is very intense.
00:36We do eight shows a week.
00:37And it's when the rest of the world is sort of relaxing.
00:40So I think finding balance between your social life and your working life is really important.
00:46I think I've done close to 300 shows now, maybe a little bit less.
00:50And keeping it fresh every day, finding new things to play with as an actor is a challenge
00:55for sure.
00:56And it's a really exciting challenge.
00:59I went through a process of learning how to do the makeup for the show.
01:03I have to do it myself every single day.
01:05So I've gotten pretty good at doing makeup.
01:08I love the detail of everything.
01:10So, like, with my eye makeup, for example, I have these little pink sparkles that I put
01:16here at the end.
01:19And I have a lipstick change from the beginning of the show to the end.
01:22And that represents something about how she's grown and the choices she's making.
01:27So every day after I do my makeup, my hair gets put in pin curls.
01:31And this is a really important and very specific process.
01:36There's specific placement for every pin curl so that when they put my wig on, it can be
01:41pinned exactly in the right spot as well as my different accessories.
01:45Like, I have three different crowns that I wear throughout the show.
01:48So what's great about this is that I don't have to style my hair every day.
01:52Like, getting to wear a wig lets me have freedom to take care of my hair, not put product in
01:58it, not, like, curl it every day.
02:00So it keeps my hair really healthy, which is a great thing.
02:05And then I put a wig cap on top of it so a wig can go in my head, as
02:09well as a microphone.
02:13Now I have my wig cap on, my hair's all prepped, I have my mic on, and I'm going to
02:17put my costume
02:17on.
02:19The costumes are unbelievably beautiful, all of the little crystals all over.
02:25One of the things that I do is think about how the costumes inform how I stand and, like,
02:32even feeling the material just, like, really puts me into the world.
02:36So my very first week is actually my first two-show day in Aladdin.
02:41The skirt that I wear in the last number is really, really heavy and it was really long
02:48at the time.
02:48And my foot got caught in the skirt and I fell on my face in center stage in front of
02:561,700 people.
02:58And I got right back up and finished the dance and it was a very humbling experience.
03:05The wigs are absolutely incredible.
03:07So they basically, like, saran wrap my head with plastic and with tape and figure out the
03:12exact size of my head.
03:13And then they make a wig specifically for my head and literally take hair by hair to
03:21create all of this and it's really, really amazing and magical.
03:26The art of creating the wig and then also the art of styling the wig.
03:30So it gets washed, it gets put in curlers and taken out and then styled.
03:37So it's definitely heavy, but it is not, like, uncomfortable or painful, I would say.
03:45Like, it's pretty comfy for how heavy it is.
03:51Every day I get to step on stage as Princess Jasmine and represent all of my identity.
03:56And that is a rare thing to get to do in this industry.
03:59And getting to own, like, my Indian heritage, my Persian heritage, my, even my American heritage,
04:05because this is a world that exists.
04:07It's a, it's a melting pot of cultures.
04:11That's, like, a really, really special part of the show for me, too.
04:14Jasmine fights to be a leader and we need more female leaders.
04:19And it's so awesome to even be in this room with, you know, women on the other side of the
04:24camera.
04:24Like, that doesn't happen all the time, and I think that having women in all different positions
04:29and with a common goal is also the reason that I'm here telling the story every day.
04:35Thanks for spending my pre-show with me, and it's time to go do the show.
04:38See ya!
04:39This is probably my most treasured item in my dressing room.
04:42This is the Hindu goddess Sarasvati.
04:45She's the goddess of wisdom and music and learning.
04:47It's just, like, it's very grounding to look at her every day and be reminded of my roots.
04:53And, yeah, I say, like, a little prayer to myself sometimes, too.
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