I had one of those days where two rejections arrived at once. I do try to view every rejection as constructive criticism, even when I think the person might be cracked. If nothing else, this is a reader response and I try to ferret out any clues about what isn’t working. I don’t go crazy […]
Using rejections constructively Read More »
Today I auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Madama Butterfly. Their production uses a bunraku-style puppet for Madame Butterfly’s child. This style of puppet normally takes three performers and they were casting understudies; the principals were pre-cast. First of all, receiving an email which says, “go to the back of the Met to the
Auditioning for the Met Read More »
Jodi came over this afternoon and we spent a while with one of my rehearsal puppets practicing some overt manipulation. We’ve got an audition tomorrow and figured it would be a good idea to brush up. The thing is, that we’ve performed for so long together that we got back into the groove really fast,
I need to update it, since it has none of my Lazytown work on it, but, at least it’s online now.
I know some of you are in Australia, but I’m not sure which parts. You must, MUST, take advantage of the Unima World Puppet Festival in 2008. UNIMA is the international puppetry organization. It is the oldest continually operating arts organization in the world. This festival will have shit-hot puppetry at it. Man, I wish
UNIMA World Puppet Festival 2008 Read More »
There’s a certain euphonious delight happening with that title. Anyway, we are now into the part of the build where I am creating the final dolls. Everything goes much, much faster once I’ve got the patterns created. At the moment I have a pile of body parts on my table waiting for me to assemble
Coraline Assembly Line Read More »
I’m sorry, I meant to post these photos yesterday. To a certain degree creating the clothes for this paper doll is much like creating a costume for a human. I start by draping my “muslin” (in this case a soft, white, rice paper) to get the shape I want. I can’t use exactly a pattern
The theater decided to move the dress rehearsal up a day, as in tomorrow. I explained that it was impossible to have the wings built and installed in the dress–which the designer also knew–by tomorrow. So, they are going to cut the puppetry wings. le sigh…
No need for wings, after all Read More »
This requires some explanation. The costume designer for Mabou Mines’ latest show approached me about making a wing mechanism for her. I didn’t have time for the whole project, but was able to make a single wing, hoping that they could copy it for the other. She took it to California to be tested. Last
Want to make a wing? Read More »
Gah. I’ve started the build of the real Coralines and the first one I put together had that same gap under the chin. I set it aside and started another–same gap developed. So, the problem is in the pattern. I finished that one and then cut it apart to make a clean pattern. The new
Coraline: bad pattern. No biscuit. Read More »
After I built the legs and checked for sizing, I added a small aluminum bar across the top, using the cloth and Zap method that I’ve mentioned before. This is so that the string I’m going to use to tie them to the torso doesn’t rip through the top of the leg. I drilled two
Attaching Coraline’s legs Read More »
The legs start the same was as the arms did, so we’ll skip all that and go straight to the knee joint. I glue two pieces of fabric to the back of the leg, making sure that the joint is completely snug. It is important to have things tight, so that I don’t have slop
I did not work on Coraline at all. So there. Because we were nervous about money, I signed up with a temp agency right after we got to NYC. They sent me out on a gig last week, which was only one day long. It was very, very easy receptionist work. The company requested me
It’s only temporary Read More »
I thought I wasn’t going to blog about her legs, because the process is the same as her arms. But, wouldn’t you know it, not only am I going to blog about it, but it’ll wind up spanning more than one entry. The process of making the patterns is the same as with the arms.
Coraline: Correcting a pattern Read More »