VIDEO: Being Mario Rosenstock

Vickie Maye goes backstage at Mario Rosenstock’s Opera House shows, ahead of his July appearance at the Marquee.

REALLY, it’s all about the teeth, Mario Rosenstock tells me. He nods in the direction of a little blue box where a set of false dentures is safely stored after each show, the responsibility of the make up artist who painstakingly repaints them a neon white each night.

I’m backstage at the Opera House, Cork, watching Mario’s transformation into the Gift Grub Marty Morrissey. It’s the biggest of his nine costume changes of the night so it’s done during the 15-minute interval. He’s already in a polyester white flare-and-waistcoat combo, with open neck black shirt. The arched, pencil-thin brows are painted on, a matted black wig is produced.