Mother-daughter duo behind wigs topping ‘Jubilee’ cast

Thursday, Feb. 8, 2001 | 9:16 a.m.

Juanita Sutton toils away in a small room affectionately termed "the closet." At 80 years old, she has spent nearly 25 years combing, styling and braiding wigs that top the long-legged dancers of "Jubilee" at Bally's.

Never mind the pink, yellow and blue ostrich feathers, the jewels and protruding quills that make the stunning headdresses. For Sutton, it's all about the wigs and hairpieces all 365 of them.

It's a lot of work, she said, looking at the cork mannequin heads (called wig blocks) holding the various hairdos that needed to be set.

"Each girl has a special night to send them in," Sutton said "Some of them we get done in 15 to 20 minutes. Others take hours."

To handle the load, Sutton works evenings. Her daughter and assistant, Peggy Knapp, works days. Together the mother-daughter duo put in at least 80 hours a week ensuring the wigs look fantastic and cling firmly to the heads of nearly 100 dancers.

Sutton's journey into the world of wigs began after she moved to Las Vegas in 1973 from Missouri, where she owned a beauty salon for 16 years. After spending two years working as a dresser for the showgirls, she moved on to wigs.

"Wigs are a big part in the show for period pieces," Donna London, "Jubilee's" wardrobe manager, said. "It sets the time."

The wigs also stabilize the heavy headdresses. For some of the dancers, the wig is all that warms their otherwise bare shoulders.

"In a number where you've got on a wig and a G-string, a wig is a lot of your costume," said Stacey Walker, a chorus singer who works as a stand-in for absent dancers and principle singers.

"The wig is actually bigger than the entire costume," she said, pointing to a hanging, 2-foot stretch of brunette hair, a handcuff and an indistinguishable piece of black material used when she performs as a slave girl in "Samson and Delilah."

Each dancer is individually fitted for the wigs. The curly masses arrive from a distributor in Los Angeles and are straightened, shaped and styled to accommodate the themed dance numbers.

Tight ringlets are worn during a French number, and long flowing locks are worn during "Samson and Delilah." Some hairpieces are woven with jewels.

"This is called a 'Titanic' -- waves and curls," said Knapp, holding a period wig used for the show's re-enactment of the fatal voyage of the luxury ocean liner Titanic.

"If the waves (in the hair) aren't right, it sets the curl off," she said. Demonstrating how tape and pins are used to set each ridge in the hair, Knapp explained that curling irons aren't an option.

"You've seen plastic melt before," she said. "Well, this melts."

As Sutton led the way through the dressing rooms filled with costumes and headpieces, she pointed out the varied wigs hanging from hooks above individual makeup stations.

"We go through a lot of wigs in a week," Sutton said, noting that some dancers will wear as many as three or four wigs during each show. Forget retirement for Sutton. With all the work to be done, she said she plans to stick around for a while.

"As long as I can wiggle in and they still want me," she said.

Knapp added with a laugh, "I'll probably retire before she does."