Volta/Appearance

Volta the Freezer Truck
VOYD, London 1984

London

Original 1984 Design

Volta, as part of Electra's entourage, started as an ice-cold dominatrix. Her original design, and early photo-shoots, show her with a prop whip made from electrical cables. She wears silver and polished black, with only touches of Electric blue in accents.

Throughout the years of the london production, the costume construction varied considerably. Each new cast saw a new take on the design. Early years drew on the horizontal bands from the design, but later focused instead on a strong triangular V shape bodice. The concept of chaps varied from literal over-garments hanging low from her belt, to the suggestion of a layer over the base leotard, to "fins" incorporated directly into her leggings. Her shoulders went from an asymmetric protective collar, to a boxy design more in line with the coaches, but without the window details. The costume frequently used unusual and interesting fabrics and textures, unique to that year's build.

Lyndi Oliver, 1992

Marissa Dunlop, 1995

Danielle Harley, 1998

Louise Jones, 2001

Broadway / Bochum / Tours

For the Broadway production, Volta's design was given a relatively minor update, but with the advance in technology and budget, the costume built became much closer to the original design. Rather than a white/grey body, she was given silver foil print on a black base, giving a convincing metallic appearance onstage. Her shoulders became a wide, shallow box connected to the chest, allowing the design details to be accurately reproduced. Both her arms in long gloves, and her legs covered in chaps, are held up to a point - her gloves fasten below her shoulder, and the chaps attach to her belt. The chaps hold an exaggerated triangular shape, and are constructed of a vinyl material that doesn't suggest clothing fabric, but entirely a mechanical function. Her lower legs are covered in the ribbed "Spring" style that is common across many characters, representing the suspension system of the truck.

Revised 1986 Broadway design

Revised Broadway Head-wear design

Broadway backstage, 1987

Bochum promo, 2010

Asia Tour promo, 2013

Wigs

Amanda Abbs, 1987

Leesa Osborn, 1988

Christine Walsh, 1996

Wig on display, 2008

Volta's wig has always played on the concept of a "fan", a cooling fan for the freezer truck. She wears a smart pillbox hat, which suggests a uniform, and has bangs softening the otherwise severe look of having her hair pulled up and back. Her wig has always followed the colour scheme of black, blue and white, however the exact styling and details have varied enormously.

She has had fans that resemble blades, through to beyond half circle fans; hard geometric shapes with blocks of colour to softer, more organic gradients suggesting frost forming on the tips. The fans have ranged from practical, almost under-stated size through to ceiling-skimming heights rivalling Electra's largest mohawks. In Bochum the style varied considerably throughout the 1990s, but from 2002 onwards, with Dawn Leigh Woods playing the role for so long, a style was settled on with only minor changes as each individual wig was re-styled.

The wig consists of four elements: the black/navy base wig, which is long and straight; the white/frosted bangs which are a separate element clipped in place; the pillbox hat; and the fans, which are separate pieces attached to the base, and the base hair is then wrapped around the bottom of the fans resembling a chignon.

The Bochum production has used liberal amounts of glitter over the years, however other productions have completely encrusted the wig in glitter, in what seems to be a structural use of the material. The US / UK Tours did not use a separate white bangs clip, but styled the dark blue or black base wig into a curl on her forehead.

Make Up

Amanda Abbs, 1987

Leesa Osborn, 1994

Dawn Leigh Woods, 2008

Asia Tour, 2013

Volta's makeup varies between productions, with the key features being a strong, elegantly feminine look, and heavy use of the key colours of black, blue and white.

She wears either a white or pale natural skintone, strong arched eyebrows, blue accents under her cheekbones, and either strong red, or blue shaded lips. The red lips appeared frequently in the late 1980s and 1990s, but the blue lips were part of the original design and have become the standard in the 2000s. Volta also frequently has featured extravagantly long lashes, emphasising her elegant, feminine look.

Both her original 1984 design, and the updated 1986 version, intended her to wear a visor, obscuring her eyes. This has never been seen onstage, presumably due to the practicalities of restricting the performer's vision.

2018 Updates

The 2018 Updates saw Volta change gender to male. Male Volta has almost the same costume, but with a silver body and silver codpiece. He wears his belt very low on his hips. He now has short black hair with a fringe that hangs over his face, and the illusion of a pattern shaved into his undercut. This short "wig" is a skull cap held in place with a chin strap, rather than a true hair wig. He no longer wears white makeup, but a natural foundation with emphasised features.

Parsons-Meares Costume Bible

Fan Speculation

• Freezers (technically called "refrigerator cars" and nicknamed "reefers") are diesel-powered. Fans may be curious as to why Volta is thus Electra's original race partner that Pearl replaced, but he could quite reasonably make an exception for a freezer. Volta is more than likely an "express reefer". Refrigerator cars carried perishable goods, and express reefers were designed to ride the high speeds of a passenger train. Volta would thus be able to handle the speed needed in a race.

• Volta's (non-London) costume says "SHIP AND TRAVEL SANTA FE" on her left shoulder box and right leg. This is part of the slogan used by the Atchision, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). The full slogan is "Ship and travel Santa Fe all the way". [1] It is possible they took it off the last part due to limited space. The Santa Fe Railway (now merged with the Burlington Norther to form the BNSF) was one of the most successful railroads in the United States, gaining a song that was sung by Judy Garland in the film The Harvey Girls and covered by well-known artists such as Bing Crosby and John Denver. The Santa Fe was one of the chief competitors with the Union Pacific, which may have accounted for the costume designer's decision to have Greaseball's chief rival, Electra, have a Santa Fe freezer (as well as a Santa Fe repair truck). However, unfortunate contradictions arise with this decision. Volta's outfit is black to match with Electra's color scheme, but ATSF refrigerator cars were often yellow or another bright color. Furthermore, the ATSF was located in the Western States whereas electric engines were almost exclusively used by eastern railroads. However, Volta is a toy rail car, and train model designs are not always accurate.