props

Distressing a table

First you start by taking the table firmly in your hands and saying, “Stupid table, you’ve got no future and you’re poorly designed.” If it still looks chipper, discuss the economy until you can get the varnish to peel. It shouldn’t take long. In all seriousness, sometimes in theater we need a piece of furniture […]

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Making a fake cake

In the production of Rainbow Kiss, a Battenberg Cake figures prominently however it’s never eaten. Now, the battenberg is very specific in look, with a checkerboard of pink and white visible in every slice. While it’s very common in the UK, it’s something of a specialty item here, so I asked the director if it

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I have blood on my hands

Zesty, mint flavored blood. That’s right, it’s time for another show with blood. The effects in this show are significantly easier, which makes me a happy camper. One stabbing and one razor cut. All fairly run of the mill. BUT. I’m in tech week for two different shows for the next week. I will be

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Buying an ax in NYC

The first thing you should know when you call hardware stores in NYC to see if they have axes, is that all of them, without exception, will ask you who you are planning on killing. The second thing you should know is that after you pick up the axe, you will have no problems finding

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Picking up the couch

Today I turned in a postcard design, built a set piece for one show, and picked up, delivered, and cleaned a couch for another show. I’m, once again, working on two — no wait — three shows at once. My posts this week may be scarce. But I wanted to say how deeply grateful I

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The Odyssey Experience

I’m designing props and masks for The Odyssey Experience for McCarter Theatre’s education department. Here are the drawings I’m sending up to them for review. The idea is that rather than masks, each character has a helm which they wear, to signify which character they are. Athena has her classic helm, which I want to

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Trick chair

For the new show I’m working on, Rags and Bones, I have to make a trick chair that spurts blood and hides human hearts. Actually, I have to make it look like an actor is spurting blood, but the chair is the easiest way to deliver said fluid. The harder thing was figuring out where

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Finished dog

I finished the dog today. Finally. The consensus was that it needed to be gorier, but since I hadn’t built it that way, there were limits to what I could do without rebuilding. For instance, exposed bone wasn’t an option… wait a minute. There’s a real skull in there. So, I dislocated the jaw and

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Going to bed early

In a sort of minor miracle, I don’t have a mountain of work to do tonight. I had to distress the dog a bit and tweak the intestines, but otherwise, nothing. I even cooked dinner. Of course, I also picked up two new gigs today. I’m going up to Albany on Friday with Chinese Theater

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