Getting fitted with a black wig, pointy nose, yellow hat and big brown boots has now become a standard routine for Caleb Vines.
The Geelong-born stage star transforms into the fictional character of Pinocchio eight times a week.
“The costume consists of a few layers – it does get quite hot,” Vines tells the Independent.
“I wear this ’onesie’ that makes my skin look like wood, then another layer over the top which is made from neoprene.”
The 28-year-old local talent is part of the Australian cast bringing Shrek to life for audiences across the nation.
Sporting a Van Gough-inspired look, Vines applies his own makeup before every show.
“It takes me about half an hour to get ready,” he said. “It used to take me a little longer but I’ve got it pretty down pat now.”
But Vines is reluctant to reveal the mechanisms behind the wooden puppet’s signature sprouting long nose.
“It’s a secret!” he laughs.
“But I can tell you it does grow live on stage … it’s pure theatre magic.”
Adapted from the 2001 blockbuster film, Shrek The Musical follows the story of a giant green ogre and his friends who are on a mission to rescue a princess from a fire-breathing dragon.
Apart from Vines’ characters distinctive look, the voice is equally important to master.
Vines demonstrates the unique vocal requirement by impersonating Pinocchio’s signature phrase “I’m a real a boy!” for the Independent.
“As you can hear it’s very high-pitched,” he laughs. “For the majority of the show – I’m using that voice.
“I’ve never had to do something in full falsetto before.”
Figuring out how to replicate Pinocchio’s voice was “trial and error”, he explains.
“There’s a lot of hydration involved,” Vines said.
“I make sure I have a drink bottle every show with Hydrolyte in it, I carefully warm up and warm down and get a lot of rest.”
Vines is currently on a national six-month tour of the production alongside a star-studded cast led by Ben Mingay, Lucy Durack, Nat Jobe, Marcia Hines and Todd McKenney.
Performing next to McKenney is particularly “special” for Vines.
The first professional musical Vines ever saw, Singin’ in the Rain, starred the veteran entertainer.
“I remember being in awe of Todd very vividly,” he recalls.
“I was probably 10 at the time and now I’m working alongside him. It’s a very ‘full circle’ kind of thing.”
Providing a similar “unforgettable experience” is something Vines hopes to give to other young theatre first-timers.
“You have to show up for them every time – it might be your hundredth time performing, but it’s their first time seeing it,” he said.
“And just like my first time, it’s a memory they’ll remember forever.”
Vines’ talent and determination has taken him from Geelong’s amateur theatre scene to around the world.
At 18, the former Christian College student decided to head across the country to study acting after he was offered a spot at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
“I had known about WAAPA since I was little, it was my dream to go there for a very long time,” he said.
He graduated three years later before he started working professionally across Australia and overseas.
Vines notes a five-month stint in China performing in the stage production How to Train Your Dragon, where he got to fly animatronic dragons, as a career highlight.
More recently he appeared as Malcolm Heslop in the national musical tour of Muriel’s Wedding.
“Last time I was on stage I was looking very different … I was this loveable bogan with this horrendous mullet,” he laughs.
After four rounds of auditions, Vines landed the role of Pinocchio while still working on the iconic Australian musical.
He had three weeks off before six weeks of rehearsals began for Shrek. Now on tour, Vines is performing eight shows across five days a week.
But when the musical comes to Melbourne next month Vines plans to make a pit stop at his hometown.
A catch-up with his grandmother, Ferri Bond, is on the cards – the woman who he says inspired his love for theatre.
“She was a wonderful local actress who starred in many Geelong productions,“ Vines said.
“I knew her as gran, but on stage she would transform into all these different amazing characters, it was incredible.”
After picking up acting classes at age eight, Vines soon followed in his gran’s footsteps – and even starred alongside her in shows.
Vines, who grew up in Highton and Belmont, credits Geelong’s local theatre scene as an “incredible opportunity“ to cut his teeth in the industry.
“By the time I auditioned for WAAPA I’d done 25 shows in about 10 years,” he said.
“I’m very grateful to have grown up in Geelong which has such a rich community theatre base.”
