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, […]
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 »
If you are curious, there are pictures of the Monkeys in rehearsal. They aren’t finished yet. Emily still has hair and “makeup” to do, but she’ll wait until closer to performance for two reasons. First, they’ll get dinged up in rehearsal. Second, she’ll have a better idea of what the needs of the paint are,
Monkeys in Rehearsal Read More »
We met with the cast today and heard their first table read of Serendib. It was very exciting to hear it, and confirmed that I really like this play. After the read, Emily put them through a quick puppetry experience, which she’ll go more in depth with later. It’s a relief to see that they
Monkeys finished, heading for home Read More »
I had an interesting experience today. We ran into a problem with the girl monkeys because their heads were cast of a significantly heavier material than the rehearsal puppets. The workshop design required them to be light. What to do. After ages of trying different things and getting frustrated and thinking that we would have
Non-verbal thought Read More »
This is the last of these re-run posts. The Rabbits, Carrots and Whales tour was very short, but I used to tour nine months out of the year. I don’t do that anymore. At least, not the same way, but it does seem like I’m gone an awful lot. Friday, October 22, 1998Day Sixteen This
Life with a touring puppeteer: 1998, Day 16 Read More »
Tuesday, October 6, 1998 We’ve now had day two of rehearsal. I say rehearsal loosely, because most of it was spent repairing puppets. In addition to Sungura’s ears, the other challenge we faced today was admitting that one of the puppets is missing. We’d hoped yesterday that it would show up, but no- the small
Life with a touring puppeteer: 1998, Day 2 Read More »
With the move and everything, I’m feeling a wee bit overwhelmed so I’m going to use the wayback machine to post my online journal from a tour in 1998. At the time, I was touring with Tears of Joy, the second largest puppet theater in the US. The tour was a short one, only two
Life with a touring puppeteer: 1998 Read More »
I’ve spent most of the last two days trying to solve the issues with ventilation in ways that don’t make it really unpleasant for the actors. The thing about testing to see if the fogging still occurring is that really the only way to do it is to put the head on and start a
I went to work and worked on the bear. From 10:30-12:00, I went to my last Icelandic class. I have a certificate now to prove that I’ve taken the course, because you can’t tell by talking to me. Went back to work. Bought new glue gun and finished skinning the head–er, that means that I
Today I had the simple task of flipping a sheet over Bessie’s head. Ahahaha. Right. The illusion we were going for was that she was hanging laundry and that a sheet fell back over her, momentarily making her look like a ghost. The trouble, as always, is that I had to do this over my
I’m tired of it already. I had a fit today that sounded like I had consumption. Okay, not really, but it felt like someone ought to be concerned that I might have consumption. Basically, my sore throat has become a nasty chest cold which is aggravating my respirtory infection induced asthma, which is further aggravated
I got to watch a rehearsal of Arabian Nights today. The puppets look fabulous and the actors are doing a really good job. Everyone says nice things about the set, but I naturally have some concerns. I’ll get to talk to the TD tomorrow. Meanwhile, I’ve just come back from a very nice dinner with
Watching Arabian Nights Read More »
I’m sitting in the Chattanooga airport on my way to New Jersey. McCarter Theater is bringing me up to talk about the Arabian Nights set. It’s built, thank goodness, but there are some questions so Chris Parks, the director, wants me to come watch a rehearsal and meet with the TD. I’ll come back to
Chattanooga airport Read More »