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 […]
Distressing a table Read More »
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
Making a fake cake Read More »
But you’ll have to wait until I’m finished with tech to see pictures of it. At least be happy I remembered to take photos. It’s a Battenberg cake, as specified in the script.
I made a cake out of sponge Read More »
Specifically, what are the dimensions of British 10 and 20 pound notes? Thanks! Googlefu is failing. Edited to add: A hearty thank you to Sean, who found the info for me.
Help, please: How big are pounds? Read More »
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
I have blood on my hands Read More »
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
Buying an ax in NYC Read More »
For the past week and a half I have looked at every sofa on Craig’s List plus visiting live stores looking for “the” sofa for the production I’m doing props for. Some things I have learned. There are more ugly couches than attractive ones. Brown couches tend to be leather. There are a lot of
Buying a couch should be simple Read More »
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
Picking up the couch Read More »
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
The Odyssey Experience Read More »
It’s hard to be upset about things breaking when you get to have this conversation. Stage Manager: Hi. I hate to bother you, but the chair isn’t spurting blood anymore. Me: What’s it doing? SM: Blood just dribbles out onto the stage instead of shooting across. We really need spurting blood. I went down to
Trouble with the trick chair Read More »
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
Okay. You people asked for it. Here are photos of the dead dog I built. This is the initial blood look, working with the idea that the dog has been hit by a car recently. Most animals killed by cars die from broken necks or internal bleeding. There’s very little visible damage. We needed gore.
Dead dog photos from Bad Jazz Read More »
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
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
Going to bed early Read More »