Little Shop Of Horrors: Plant

[rickytowner]

So at my school we are putting on Little Shop Of Horrors, and at the end of the show we are going to blow the plant up. But between all of us we carnt think of we could do it...

So my question is, can any of you think how we would??

P.S. The plant will be a puppet with someone inside it hopefully.

 

[cprted]

What do you mean by "blow the plant up?" Enlarge it? Make it grow in front of the audience's eyes?

 

[Wolf]

Yes please explain what you mean by "Blow up". If you mean to destroy that changes the whole ending of the show.

 

[thatactorguy]

Do you mean at the end of the run and after/during strike? Depending on what it's made of, as long as there were no toxic materials used in its construction, you could set fire to it and roast marshmellows...

Just don't violate any local fire laws, and if you do, I never posted this...

 

[Chris Chapman]

One of the points of the show is the ending. By Killing Audrey II at the end of the show, the entire Black Comedy aspect of the show kind of gets lost. That's why the movie version of the musical is NOT as good as the play.

FYI: They did shoot the original musical ending for the Movie version, but it didn't "test" well and they reshot the lame ending that it has now. If you do some research online you can pics of the wonderful Movie Audrey II on top of the Brooklyn Bridge for the original ending.

 

[rickytowner]

sorry, by blow up i mean make it explode

sorry again

Thankyou
Ricky

 

[Chris Chapman]

Just don't do it. (See response above.) Bet this is a Director who thinks that it's too much of a downer if Romeo and Juliet die too. Or if Tony dies at the end of West Side Story. Now Little Shop isn't on the same level as those shows, but you get my drift.

Watch the original Roger Corman B&W version and see how the source material doesn't have a happy ending either.

On a safety level, you don't want to do it because you have a puppeteer in close proximity to whatever effect you choose. If the Pupperteer pulls out and then you go with the gag, Audrey II will "shut down" on stage and be motionless, effectively robbing the setup you are looking for anyway.

Sorry, I'm usually not negative on CB, but this just isn't a good production idea.

 

[philhaney]

sorry, by blow up i mean make it explode

sorry again

Thankyou
Ricky

Um... We really can't tell you how to do that. The Safety section of our Terms of Service states:

The users of ControlBooth, in a effort to police themselves, have evolved the following: No discussion of "how-to" of rigging, pyrotechnics, human flight, stunt falls, weapons and electrical will be permitted. Our stock answer to these questions is always "Consult a qualified professional."

However, I'm sure there are other non-pyro ways of achieving the same effect.

 

[icewolf08]

I think that this effect can be achieved without the use of pyro, and thus it is perfectly acceptabel to keep discussing it. While I agree that destroying the plant at the end of the show is contrary to the script, it is your production to do what you want with. However, generally changes like that are not allowed under the performance license, so make sure that it is ok to make the changes before you sell tickets.

If you really want to "blow up" the plant then you should build the puppet so that the operator can effectively "eject" parts of the plant from within. Then get a good fog machine and some strobe lights and have at it. Since it is high school there are not rules that say you can't have the fog machine inside the plant with the operator so the smoke can come from within the plant. Run the fog, flash and trash the lights and fling plant parts. Simple.

 

[gafftaper]

No you can't use real flames and/or explosives on your own. There are ways to do this for real but they would require a HUGE budget and hiring a real pyro expert. Then there is the pyro permit problem. You would have to pay the fire department to have someone there on stand bye. The single trick would probably cost 2 or 3 times your current show budget. Even if you had the money and the pyro expert, your fire marshal and your school district are not likely to allow you to do it.

If you are stuck on the idea go with what icewolf said. However, I want to point out that it's going to be a LOT more difficult and expensive to build a plat that you can make "explode" at the end. So again budget is going to be a problem. You may have to sacrifice a lot on the look in order to make the trick happen.

My opinion: It sounds cool but it's not in the script so it changes the meaning of the show, it's dangerous, and it's too expensive. Don't do it. Leave it alone and do it the way the show was meant to end. Put your creative juices and money to work trying to figure out a way to have the arms of Audrey 2 reach out into the audience instead.

 

[reverymike]

i would suggest using a bunch of latex styrofoam chunks that are painted and decorated to look like the plant. then, use sound FX and a few ultrabright strobe flashes, maybe some smoke, and move the plant puppet backwards off stage, as other people throw the foam peices all over the stage. When the lights comeback on, there will be bits of the plant strewn about creating the explosion effect.

 

[mstutzman]

i would suggest using a bunch of latex styrofoam chunks that are painted and decorated to look like the plant. then, use sound FX and a few ultrabright strobe flashes, maybe some smoke, and move the plant puppet backwards off stage, as other people throw the foam peices all over the stage. When the lights comeback on, there will be bits of the plant strewn about creating the explosion effect.

I totally agree, sometime the biggest effect is the easiest and cheapest to do. Don't reinvent the wheel, use the years and years of technical theater tricks that have been used for years. Strobe LX's, smoke, air canons, black on black, blacklight.... most importantly use sound. Use your running crew, for something other than comparing Gerber to Leatherman in the wings. Have them onstage and in the house throwing damp foam rubber on the audience. The entire effect could be done in complete darkness.

The original effect for the show is lame, but simple. I agree that this ending to the show is much better than the movies. But it shows that a simple effect can play well. Use the magic of theater, and not what Disney has made theater into.

 

[gafftaper]

As a side note. There are lot's of people around the country who have an Audrey 2. Before anyone goes building their own do some research on places in your area who have recently done the show. Call and find out what they did for the plant. Here in Seattle there's a guy who did the show about 15 years ago. He has all the stuff and rents it out to what must be hundreds of productions over the years. You get multiple sizes of plants from small hand held puppets up to the big one with lots of vine extensions. He also includes the dentist's chair and gas mask/tank pack (which looks a lot like a space helmet with light up LED's).

 

[Celeste]

I saw a production that used flutter-feti cannons (not pyro!) to shoot green confetti streamers out over the audience at the end of the show. I think their vision was more of a million little Audrey II's out in the audience, but it could work as an explosion. The manual confetti launchers are not overly expensive.