Before anyone can roar at Broadway in Indianapolis’ production of “The Lion King” tonight, Andrew Elliot will already be backstage at the Murat Theatre with a comb and a fistful of hairpins. He arrives two hours before curtain for the national tour, touching up and restyling wigs, setting them in the wings for quick changes and pinning them onto actors as they file into the wig room.
During the show, he swaps one look for another in the dark. At the end of the night, every wig goes back on its block for a light touch-up. Tomorrow, repeat.
This time, the wigs aren’t his designs. But usually when Elliot works in theater, they are. After “The Lion King” wraps its tour here on Oct. 18, Elliot will be a wig designer for five big-stage productions in the area: “Cats” at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, Mozart’s “Idomeneo” for IU Opera and Ballet Theater, “A Christmas Carol” at the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Yuletide Celebration and Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s “Holiday Inn.”
By early December, his wigs will be onstage at three Indianapolis venues on the same night.
Elliot identifies as a makeup artist more than a wig maker, but his contribution extends beyond both of those roles. As a production designer, he creates the overall visual environment on stage.
“I’m working with costume designers, directors and a little bit with set designers so that we are all creating something within the same world,” he said.
One wig takes 70 to 140 hours to create
Elliot caught the theater bug while performing in the Booth Tarkington Civic Theater children’s program. He dreamed of living in a big room with all of his creative tools. He also played the cello and modeled in New York and Chicago. Modeling introduced him to makeup artists, and he realized the craft was a form of painting.
He started teaching himself the trade. He dove into wig design a few years later, learning to make them from scratch.
He was working in theaters when the COVID pandemic hit in 2020. As a “professional face-toucher,” he was immediately out of work. He coped by styling himself as famous women and characters, such as Mary Poppins, Liza Minnelli and Princess Diana, drawing from his massive collection of props. He posted the photos on Instagram, and they were such dead ringers, they went viral.
Disappearing into the personas of Princess Grace and Katharine Hepburn was what it took to get noticed, although that wasn’t Elliot’s goal. Nevertheless, The New York Times mentioned him in a story. Cathy Compton at IU’s Opera and Ballet Theater saw it and brought him on board.
Elliot is now in his mid-30s, and his career has taken off.
He lives in a downtown apartment and uses the bedrooms as his studio. Gowns and costumes in one, his 1,000 wigs and the tools to build them in the other. He sleeps in the living room.
“I’m treating it like a studio apartment that has an adjoining workshop,” he said.
When he has time, Elliot builds a wig from scratch. It’s called ventilating. He wraps an actor’s head in plastic and traces the hairline, then retreats to his studio for the rest. He ties hair a few strands at a time into lace fine enough to disappear against skin. One wig takes 70 to 140 hours. It’s as tedious as it sounds.
“But that’s why I like it,” he said. “It’s quiet.”
From ‘Moulin Rouge’ to the Met
Most theaters don’t have the budget for original handmade wigs. The wig designer’s job is to design the vision in collaboration with the director and costume designer, then cut and style the pieces in a way that helps the actor become the character.
When local Black actor Jonathan Studdard played Lumiere in “Beauty & the Beast”at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, he was amazed that Elliot found a shade of blonde that worked with his complexion.
“In a field that so often can overlook Black performers having accurate textures and styles of wigs, I am blessed that Andrew is knowledgeable,” Studdard said. “Throughout the run of the show, my favorite comment to hear from fellow actors and audience members was,‘That wig looks like it’s growing out of your head!’”
Wig design keeps Elliot busy with the best theaters in the state. In 2022, he did Brooke Shields’s hair and makeup when she performed at The Cabaret in Indianapolis. He also ships wigs to regional theaters around the country.
IU’s theater and music program brings the best in the business to Bloomington, giving Elliot’s work a bigger spotlight (literally — IU’s Musical Arts Center has the second-largest stage in the world).
In 2024, the Metropolitan Opera from New York City came to campus to produce the world premiere of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” in Bloomington, directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher. Elliott was the only IU designer on the production. Everyone else was with the Met.
A few months later, Elliot did the wig design for IU’s remake of “The Nutcracker” for PBS. The production won a regional Emmy and played in 290 PBS markets.
Last year, Elliot designed 28 productions. He started 2026 on the road with the Broadway touring production of “Moulin Rouge,” but “running” the wigs, not designing them. More like making sure the design is executed.
Working on a single show meant repeating the same styles night after night. He was happy to come home to a flurry of productions in Indianapolis and the diversity that those jobs afford.
“I miss getting to be creative,” he said.
Glinda from ‘Wicked’: ‘He’s magical’
Hair has history, intersecting with political and cultural shifts of the times. Elliot has a deep knowledge of the subject. For instance, the bob wasn’t a thing until about the 1920s, when flappers embraced it to push back on societal expectations.
It’s one of the reasons Elliot has become a valued collaborator for actors, directors, costumers and lighting designers. He cares deeply about his work — and them.
An in-progress wig is pinned to a mannequin head in Andrew Elliot’s studio on Oct. 2, 2026, at his home in Indianapolis. Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy 
A wig designed by Andrew Elliott for Indiana Repertory Theatre’s “The 39 Steps.” Credit: Provided photo/Andrew Elliot 
Wigs styled by Andrew Elliot line a shelf on Oct. 2, 2026, at his home in Indianapolis. Elliot designed some of the wigs for Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s production of “Cats.” Credit: Jenna Watson/Mirror Indy
Ginna Claire Mason, who played Glinda in “Wicked” on Broadway, became fast friends with Elliot at her costume fitting for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s “South Pacific” in 2024. She recognized him from those marvelous Instagram homages.
The first style he set for Mason as Nellie Forbush didn’t flatter her the way they had hoped.
“Rather than settling for good enough, Andrew took the time to restyle it until it was just right for my face,” Mason said. “He won’t stop until something feels right.”
Mason called Elliot “magical,” someone who can take “a meager show budget” and turn it into something polished. The magic, Mason said, is in how he does it with generosity, humor and kindness.
“He made Indianapolis feel like home to me,” she said.
Tonight at “The Lion King” Elliot will pin another wig in place, give an actor a nod and send them into the light. He will remain offstage, content to remain unsung while his gifts help other artists roar.
Where to see his work this season:
- Disney’s “The Lion King” (running crew), through Oct. 18, Old National Centre
- “Cats,” Oct. 8-Nov. 22, Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre
- “Idomeneo,” Nov. 14-15, IU Musical Arts Center, Bloomington
- “A Christmas Carol,” Nov. 14-Dec. 26, Indiana Repertory Theatre
- Holiday Inn, Nov. 27-Jan. 3, Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre
- AES Indiana Yuletide Celebration, Dec. 4-23, Hilbert Circle Theatre
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations. Sign up for our free newsletters.
Megan Fernandez is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor. You can reach her at mbfernandez234@gmail.com.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
