Richard Harper has had a successful career as a hair and makeup artist working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tours and regional opera companies as well as print work, portrait work and industrial films. He has worked for the Broadway companies of Les Miserables, Grease, Blood Brothers, Kiss of the Spider Woman, My Fair Lady, Cabaret and Sugar Babies, among others, and has been lucky enough to work with great stars of the stage: Vanessa Williams, Carole King, Rosie O’Donnell, Joel Grey, Debbie Allen, Ann Miller, Kim Criswell, Maureen McGovern, Andrea McArdle, Werner Klemperer, Lea Salonga, Regina Resnik, Sharon Lawrence and Kay McClelland. He has received cosmetology licenses in several states, worked as a platform artist and colorist and specializes in wig construction, repair and design.
In addition, Richard’s life-long fascination with clothing history and construction culminated in his study of tailoring and dressmaking in the Haute Couture Certificate Program at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. He has created clothing and costumes for Renaissance Faires, historical re-enactment and stage work, as well as accepting commissions for historical and contemporary wedding and concert attire. Recently he has been doing a great deal of teaching at steampunk cons such as Teslacon, the International Steampunk Symposium and Motor City Steam Con.