Hair & Wig Design Observership - Manhattan Theatre Club

Hair & Wig Designer Nikiya Mathis and Manhattan Theatre Club have partnered to host a Hair & Wig Design Observership for an early career hair & wig designer identifying as BIPOC on the upcoming Broadway production of JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White.



Nikiya Mathis is a hair/wig designer and a classically trained actress, who holds an MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She currently recurs on Season 3 of “Power Book 3: Raising Kanan” on FX.

After years of her & her peers experiencing natural-hair horror stories, she became the change she wanted to see in the space of styling & design. She is the recipient of the Kathy A Perkins Behind the Curtain Award from Black Women on Broadway, an Obie Award, a Henry Hewes Award, 2 Broadway Black Awards, and a Drama Desk nomination. Nikiya's design credits include Broadway's Once Upon A One More Time; Death of A Salesman; Top Dog/Underdog; and Chicken & Biscuits. Her most Recent Off-Broadway credits include Roundabout's Primary Trust; Vineyard Theatre's This Land Was Made; and Movement Theatre Company's The Cotillion.



Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a Tony Award-winning nonprofit theatre dedicated to producing innovative theatre of the highest quality by American and international playwrights, with a focus on presenting New York, American, and world premieres. For 50 years, MTC has been the creative and artistic home for America’s most gifted theatrical artists, producing works of the highest quality by contemporary American and international playwrights. MTC is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in every aspect of our work both on and off the stage.



The Hair & Wig Design Observership provides an early career hair & wig designer who identifies as BIPOC the paid opportunity to engage with Nikiya Mathis and her team during the production process through opening night of JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING. Additionally, the Observer will have access to staff members from Manhattan Theatre Club’s Artistic Production, General Management, and Production Management offices as well as the Production Crew. As a result of this experience, the Observer will learn how a hair & wig design for Broadway is created and implemented, and grow their professional network in the process.



The ideal candidate is an early career hair & wig design professional who identifies as BIPOC and has not yet worked on a Broadway production. They possess a comprehensive understanding of the production process developed through practical hair and/or wig design experiences on either the academic, semi-professional, or professional level. They are eager to seek answers to questions that will lead to a deepened understanding of the design process and its implementation as well as current standards and practices of the theatre industry. Their schedules are sufficiently flexible to accommodate irregular observation dates and times during the months of August, September, and October 2023.



The Observership time commitment is approximately 75 hours over 4-5 weeks. Specific observation dates and times are flexible and will be determined by the Observer and Nikiya Mathis based upon the JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING production schedule. The compensation is $3,000.



To apply: Forward resume and cover letter to HR Director, via email to: jobs@mtc-nyc.org with “Design Observership” and your last name in the subject (MS Word, Adobe PDF or plain-text format only).

379628495013006
Salary: $3,000