When she was quite small, Angela Kabasan’s mother decided to enroll her in Pioneer Theatre, a youth theatre program that taught technical aspects of theatre as well as performing. She credits this program for kickstarting her love of all things theatrical. Following her involvement in that program, Angela took part in several productions with professional companies around Ohio. She still fondly remembers becoming Young Evita (Evita), General Cartwright (Guys and Dolls), and Sheila (A Chorus Line) to name a few.
She has taken a few interesting hiatuses from theatre (fronting a blues band in Ohio, moving to Arizona, and completing college) but she could never stay away for long. After she received her degrees in English Literature and Psychology from Barrett Honors College at ASU, she returned to the stage. Her favorite roles performed in the valley were: Golde (Fiddler on the Roof), Ilona Ritter (She Loves Me), Truvy Jones (Steel Magnolias), Josephine Strong (Urinetown), and Karen Nash (Plaza Suite).
As a makeup artist, Angela first became fascinated with the art of transformation during her time at Pioneer Theatre. She still remembers applying her first stage makeup (Madam Thénardier’s Act II finale makeup in Les Misérables). Angela eventually was asked to teach the class and also became the Assistant Technical Director for the company. She continued her love of makeup by studying at Kreider’s School of Makeup and Special F/X in Ohio. It was there she was introduced to John and Mary Walsh, who ran the Legion of Terror, a special F/X group that did makeup and performed at the award-winning Bloodview Haunted House. There, she learned to further her skills in lifecasting, molding, and various other makeup techniques. From there she answered an ad to become an assistant makeup director for M.O.B. Inc, a traveling murder mystery company. She eventually took over as their makeup director.
She picked her makeup brushes back up in Arizona for the first time in 2016 for Mesa Encore Theatre’s production of Footloose; that show began her foray into hair design as well. In 2017, she won an AriZoni award for her work in Urinetown. Since 2016 she has consistently worked, either with theatres or freelance/commission, on makeup and hair design. The designs gave her much joy were: Footloose, Urinetown, Beauty and the Beast, Pirates of Penzance, and Mary Poppins (MET); Plaza Suite (DST); She Loves Me (DBFRT); and Scar, Lion King Jr. commission (Center Stage Academy).
In 2019, she was recruited to join Southwest Shakespeare Company (SWSC) as a costume designer for As You Like It (having previously assisted in shows such as La Cage, She Loves Me, and Mary Poppins), but also as makeup and hair designer for that and their subsequent shows. Her designs for that show were featured in the 2019 Fall/Winter edition of Shakespeare Theatre Association’s magazine Quarto. Since joining SWSC, she has worked on Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, MacBeth, Irma Vep, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Richard II. She also maintains costume/makeup/props as the company’s Shop Manager.
Last year, Angela made her debut into film, where she played Sarah Burch in the movie NRI. She is currently working on another film set to be released either the end of this year or the beginning of next. Also in the works are a few different writing projects in addition to developing a podcast. When she is not doing anything else, she enjoys cooking, entertaining, karaoke, and drawing. She currently studies theatre at MCC.
