Pants falling down 2

[georgiadirector]

In Annie Get Your Gun Annie shoots off the King of France's pants. We'll use drum rim shots for the gunshot, but how do I make the pants fall down?

[ruinexplorer]

I have a suggestion even though I am not a costumer nor worked on this production. First thing, the material that you make the pants needs to be as pliable as possible. If the material is stronger, then it won't "read" when you do have them fall down. I would construct the pants similar to those of a clown. The pants should be oversized and held in place by suspenders. The suspenders should be rigged to open via a rip-cord that the actor has in hand up a sleeve (think Kabuki drop). The suspenders would actually be part of the upper costume so that they don't get dragged down with the pants. Also, I would put weight in the waistband of the pants so the effect would be more dramatic.

[TimmyP1955]

If the weighting is around the waistband, the wasteband will tend to fall into the hips or buttocks and 'catch'. The weight needs to be just below the largest part of the body so the pants can fall freely. I'm thinking small pouches of steel shot.