Re: Audrey 2
In terms of how to
build the thing - I have seen far too many folks
build it out of foam rubber. While this seams like is should be light weight - it usually ends up being more than a little heavy. They try to
build up the nose,
etc sections using solid foam, put
muslin and glue to make it smooth, When I first say Little Shop off broadway, the plant was amazing. The puppeteer was literally able to stand up and dance inside of the puppet.
I believe the way they did this was by using more or less standard puppet construction. I have seen the following methodology used on large 'You wear um' puppets although not on Audry.
First thing you do is to
build the form using something like rattan. IE you
build hoops of rattan and glue or tie them. Then you run some kind of jute
webbing from the top to the bottom to align all of the hoops to give you the basic shape you need or want. For parts of the puppet like the head that need to be stiff, you will use more rattan for ribs between the hoops. The idea here is to keep it light weight. You may find other materials than rattan ( I have heard of plastic tubing,
etc) but most of the successful builds I have seen used something like rattan ( IE a natural wood product ) instead of plastic or
wire. For a christmas tree I once wore, we had hoops about every
foot or so.
If you can't get the shape you want with the rattan ( say around an eye or nose ) you can add something like Ethafoam rods to the rattan frame to get your shape. Don't think you can short cut the time working on the rattan frame because you can 'Fix it with Ethfoam' later - the final product will be heavier and you will not like the results.
Once you have the shape set, you simply
cover it with cloth. You could use a very thin foam here - but using cloth will save weight and make it more flexible and easier to move. ( But of course your design wall want to support the look of cloth). A popular choice for cloth is something with a
bit of heft like felt.
Finish the project with appropriate paint and
trim pieces.
The
effect you want from the inside is the operator inside of a pretty wide open cage that is covered with the cloth.
I believe that in the old Little Shop scripts they had some pictures of how the puppet was built for the off broadway show. You might want to take a look.
Do your
build early. Unless you have built these kinds of things, you will have issues. Your operator needs as much time as he can get inside of the thing.
