Onstage costume change

[zac850]

Ok, i've basicly asked this question many times before, but I want to ask it in a different way and see if there are other ideas I overlooked (if that makes any sence...)

The show is Into The Woods. For those of you who don't know it, it takes many farrytailes, and combines them toghter. The 3 main ones are Cinderilla, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The baker and his wife. The baker and his wife was writen for this show, and it is what ties them toghter. The baker can't have a child because the witch put a curse on there house, and they need to get 4 items to stop the curse (which was put on them because the bakers father stole the beans from her garden (the beans that make the gyant beanstalk...). The baker needs Jack's cow, Little Red Riddinghood (who is also in it), hair as yellow as corn (repunzles hair, who is also the bakers sister...) and a slipper as pure as gold (Cinderillas slipper).

About 1/2 of the way through the play, the witch dose something good (I don't remember what..., i think it has to do with getting all of the beans back or something) and the witch turns from an ugly old witch into a beautiful woman. This happens within about 20 or 30 secounds AT THE MOST (the play goes very fast, from one scene to the other without a pause, and from one line to the other without a pause). So, the question is how do I change an old ugly witch into a beautiful young woman. The witch is cast as a fairly professional girl. Shes in 7th grade, but very mature (and even got a call back to the auditions when it was on brodway).

I am meating with the entire production staff sometime soon, including the costumer, and I would like to have many different ideas for how to do this effect.

I have some ideas, but they are fairly expensive, and im not sure how well it would work.

Thanks very much
--Zac

[Nephilim]

Do it the beauty and the beast way, have them face the rear; build easily-removable makeup and costume, and strobe the audience just as it happens.

Or find out how other productions did it...

[zac850]

Thats a good idea, i hadn't thought of that....

Do you know what they did with the costume? How they got the costume off stage...

Im trying to figure out a way to have an opening in the rear of the stage (covered by a tree) where stuff could come in and out from... (thinks out loud)

[ship]

If you have a cyc unit and ground rows, than the low to the stage flat would easily hide the costumes. Otherwise there is always tree stumps hollowed out or other stuff you can place to hide the costume. Than again a hook grabbing the stuff fast can also work given the right slight of the hand.

By the way, Diffusion spray paint like cans is something cheap I have been meaning to mention for a while. I have a can, something like 7 years later and it's still good. Granted you hear a spray can spraying it out but it's cheap and very dependable and lingering fog designed for photo shoots. Plus it's small in size especially for what comes out. On stage, such a burst of fog might help mask the change also. Depending upon volume and draft it might do well in helping to mask the effect even from the front. Plus it's small in sized and localized. You can spray her from off stage or some how mount it to say a staff or other actor so they pass their hand over the witch and she is covered in a dense smoke - enough to make a change. There area also pencil foggers out there but that's real money in rental I'm sure.

[Nephilim]

Originally Posted by zac850

Do you know what they did with the costume? How they got the costume off stage...

The beast was actually flown and just threw the gear upstage behind the set, presumably to the waiting stagehand.

[zac850]

Originally Posted by ship

By the way, Diffusion spray paint like cans is something cheap I have been meaning to mention for a while.

Thanks a lot!!! that would be really cool!!!

The director has been asking if theres a way to make the witch smoke people, and do stuff like that. I, deciding that we weren't going to do flash pots or anything like that, said no. Ill need to tell her tommorrow that this will work...

do you know how much it costs?

[ship]

Production Advantage has pricing to follow. Lots of companies sell it for better or worse prices. My can reads "Diffusion" 8oz, by Pro EFX. I don't know if they still make it or if that's what's being sold anymore but I note two different types from Pro Advantage and they are from CITC not Pro EFX. Such cans if of another brand might be using different propellants, and formulations. CITC's link is http://www.citcfx.com/ , Pro EFX - at least my can is pre-internet.

Note also as I read the can that it contains propane and Iso Butane as Propellants. Flash pots at the same time this is hazing would be a bad thing. "Danger! Extremely flammable."


Top
FOG IN A CAN
Down One
Up One

100010
FOG IN A CAN-MOMENTARY ON
CITC
$8.67

100011
FOG IN A CAN-AUTO LOCK TOP
CITC
6.60

[zac850]

Originally Posted by Nephilim

Do it the beauty and the beast way, have them face the rear; build easily-removable makeup and costume, and strobe the audience just as it happens.

What kind of strobes should I use. Looking around the internet I saw a lot of strobes that you could only turn on and off through the strobe its self, it didn't have anyway to hook it up to DMX, though if it was just a remote control I could do that, and just have it separate from the light board...

[Nephilim]

There are plenty of DMX-addressable strobes out there... my 'favourite' company, Chauvet, makes one or two, as do American DJ, but I believe "the" DMX strobe of choice is the Dataflash units...

Alternatively just set up some floods as 'blinders' and pulse them with a cue... saves buying a strobe.

[seanb]

Martin Atomic is a nice strobe.