Audrey 2 Disaster

[Kye]

It has been a while since I posted on this site. Its sad, but I missed you all.

I have recently been hired to be a puppeteer for little shop of horrors in New Hampshire. The Plant arrived yesterday....AND ITS HORRIBLE! I have been in the plant many times, and have been lucky I guess. This plant was rented by a Company called Tracy Theatre Originals, in Hampton NH.

It looks pretty, but the mechanics are horrible. The 20 layers of hot glue and heavy foam make pod 4 barely able to move! If you do open the mouth the top jaw throws itself to the right. It also weighs about 190 pounds. The last company that rented it...I just contacted them said that the puppeteer had to leave the mouth of pod 4 on the floor.

Pod 3....well It 60 lbs, and a human barely fits inside it!

I like to think that I am a good puppeteer. I have done the show many times and was a puppeteer for Disney. But i can make it look right? WHAT SHOULD I DO? HELP?

 

[Kye]

forgot to mention. I am not allowed to alter these puppets in any way!

 

[staceyrebecca]

have you seen a videotape of yourself inside the puppet?

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

According to what I can gather, when my school did Little Shop of Horrors back in 1999, they used the same Audrey II puppets as you have. We're doing LSoH again next year (same director) and I am trying like gangbusters to make sure I'm the Audrey II puppeteer. I just hope we don't use the same puppets as your using again.

 

[Kye]

I am actually building a set...it wont be done for a month or so

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I've built five or six sets of Audreys that ranged from really crappy (the first ones) to really good (the later ones). What I found with the, uh, more "challenging" to perform puppets was that shooting rehearsals and studying the video helps a lot. Also, you don't necessarily have to move the puppets as much as you think.

If you can, figure out poses or positions that the puppets look good in and then rely on those as much as you can to help your performance. If the puppet(s) don't move well or are really heavy save the movement for when it really counts, the musical numbers where Audrey II sings.

If the director is good they should help you choreograph around the limitations of the puppets.

 

[Kye]

Thanks to all for your support. I just Focused and worked through the pain. It must of worked... Here is a snippet about me in the review!

In its largest incarnations, Audrey II’s vocalizations and movements are nimbly co-acted by Paul Metzger (voice) and Kevin Roberge (puppeteer). Metzger elects to tone down the “street” patois that is often the choice of those who give voice to this evil plant, instead giving Audrey II a smoother, and in its way scarier more rational timbre as it increases its hypnotic grip over the hapless Seymour.

As the “inside man”- literally- Roberge imbues the plant with a wide range of easily recognizable movements in tandem with Metzger’s voicings, from sass to savoir-faire. Roberge is expert at every physicalization necessary to animate Audrey II, from stealthy menace to naughty little kid, from cute puppylike demeanor or Avenue-Q goofiness, when the situation calls for it. His dexterity and inventiveness are often riotously funny, but never so much so that he steals focus from the other actors. An amazing feat given the actor himself is buried under seventy-five pounds of foam and can barely see his fellow castmates.

 

[Jinx]

Well done! My favorite part of the review is that you were funny without stealing focus from the other actors. This is high praise indeed, as the show suffers when it becomes "all about the plant" and Audrey and Seymour are relegated to seconday players.

I'm really glad that you were able to coax a performance out of bad puppets. My first "Twoeys" were, shall we say, less-than ideal. I never really reaized to what extent until the next time I did the show, and we built a much better set of puppets. Good tools do make the job much better!

 

[Count von Count]

Hey is it like the videos on youtube?

 

[Kye]

Well done! My favorite part of the review is that you were funny without stealing focus from the other actors. This is high praise indeed, as the show suffers when it becomes "all about the plant" and Audrey and Seymour are relegated to seconday players.

I'm really glad that you were able to coax a performance out of bad puppets. My first "Twoeys" were, shall we say, less-than ideal. I never really reaized to what extent until the next time I did the show, and we built a much better set of puppets. Good tools do make the job much better!

Thanks!
True... I found out that my Twoeys were bulit in 1982...! (i was 7!) Thats before lightweight foam was invented...lol! Good puppets make would have made it better! I will try to post a video soon. How many times have you done the role?