Becoming Frankenstein
After sitting in a chair for almost an hour, having green colored makeup smudged into his white face, and false creases drawn over top, Nathan Copier isn’t even in costume with only 45 minutes left until showtime.
It’s all just the start to him becoming Frankenstein.
Copier has been playing the green-faced character three nights a week this month as a part of Frightmares at Farmington based Lagoon. Every weekend in October the amusement park offers rides, haunted houses and Halloween shows like the one Copier acts in. He and the rest of the Frightmares performing group produce 18 shows over just one weekend.
“I enjoy performing for people, because it’s obviously something I enjoy, but at the same time it makes other people happy,” Copier said. “It’s fulfilling in my life to do such, not just to make people happy but it makes me happy as well.”
Copier is not only a performer, but a student at USU as well. Majoring in speech communication he’s busy finishing up his final credits before his December graduation.
“During all of September, I had rehearsals Monday through Friday starting at 6 p.m.,” he said, “I get home from class really quick and then get right in my car and go down to work.”
During performance time Copier arrives at about 4:15 p.m. on Fridays, just in time for make up.
“They said that I have Frankenstein qualities in my face, which was kind of not a compliment,” Copier said, “but I had big enough forehead and just enough features that it would be easy enough to make me Frankenstein.”
Copier is 6-foot 4-inches and as Frankenstein he’s 5 inches taller with his costume shoes.
“The shoes take forever to tie so it takes a lot to get the costume on,” he said.
Even though being tall is a benefit for Frankenstein, Copier said it limits him in roles he can play because he towers over everybody.
“I couldn’t be Joseph in ‘Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat,’ because I was like three inches taller than the next person and that doesn’t really work in those roles,” he said.
Although his height does restrict him for roles he would like to play, he said there are some benefits.
Because of his dancing and singing talents, people can look past his height sometimes, he said, and “it helps out the tall girls a lot because they like tall guys.”
This year at Frightmares, the “Monster Classics” show is new, and it’s Copier’s second year performing at Lagoon.
“I heard about (the auditions) when I was like 12,” he said. “I saw the first audition for it and I wanted to do it and I was never really around to do it until about two years ago.”
He auditioned in January and made it.
Beyond performing at Lagoon, Copier writes music and sings to his guitar.
“Ideally, I’d love to be a solo artist and sell CD’s and do stuff with my guitar,” he said.
Copier hopes to get a job performing for a cruisline or at Disneyworld, but first he’s focusing on school.
“I’ve always told myself that I have to finish school before I take any big risks, so I still have a degree to fall back on if this doesn’t work,” he said.
Along with speech communication Copier is also studying German and he has served as a USU ambasador for all four years.
After the long weekends of performing he stays at his parent’s house, who live in Salt Lake City.
“It’s a lot of energy to put out for an evening and by Sunday you’re exhausted, and then the drive back up to Logan is really fun after that,” he said.
“Monster Classics” runs through October 30. Shows start at 6:30 p.m. on Fridays, 5:45 p.m. on Saturdays and 3:45 p.m. on Sundays.
For more information go to www.lagoonpark.com/explore_entertainment.php
-ranae.bang@aggiemail.usu.edu