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Hey, Foz, we'll be neighbors! I'm staying at the same place, but I'm not flying in until Thursday morning. For some reason I just presumed you'd be going to the New York Auditions. We'll have to see what other MC folks are there and have a get-together of some kind. I thought I saw something...

OK, to invoke the broadway idom YET AGAIN: One thing we must all remember is that the muppet characters are fictitious characters, the same way that The Phantom in The Phantom of the opera is, the way Jean Valjean in Les Miserables is, the way Grizabella in Cats is, the way Rod, Princeton et...

Depending upon performance conditions, you actually may want to steer clear of white. Under stage lighting it tends to wash out badly. An example is if you've ever seen any pictures of the stage productions of The Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom's mask looks white onstage, but they're actually...

I have always been much more concerned with the functionality of the mouthplate that its appearance. As it is entirely inside the puppet, durability is far more important than cosmetics. I have made some puppets exactly as you described. (Samples can be seen at...

Here is a link with pictures showing the consruction of a head/neck similar to what Buck describes. The one point I might disagree with him is in using a stretch fabric. You can use a fabric that has one-way stretch as long as the stretch runs horizontally. If there is vertical stretch your...

Again, to invoke the broadway scenario, The Phantom of the Opera has been playing on broadway for nearly 18 years now, and many actors/actresses have played the leads in that show. Those are cast replacements. But the tour is also playing simultaneously, so they need other performers for the...

One thing to bear in mind about the whole casting process is that producers are always casting replacements on broadway and in the theatre. Many actors have played Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom in The Producers even though the roles are indelibly marked by Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick...

I have the Grey Seal book and both videos. I think that they compliment each other very well. Watching the videos demonstrates several techniques and tricks very efficiently, and the book is a great reference to have at your side while in the process of building. Its comb binding allows it to...

Absolutely. It's a simple format, and often simple is best. Particularly if you don't have a lot of professional credits. Bear mentions putting the director's name on the resume, which is a good idea if the director is at least somewhat well-known in the industry. "Mrs. McGillicuddy" who...

There are many ways to do performance resumes, but probably the most important rule is to distill it down to no more than one page. Remember that the resume is not what gets you the job, it's what helps you get the job. My simplified resume can be seen at...

Rick and John have been signed to open the Las Vegas production. You can read the story at http://www.playbill.com/news/article/94267.html Sadly they seem to have steered away from puppeteers as first choice performers. The first replacement casting call for broadway was to puppeteers, but...

I'm sorry Buck, but "retro-cool Muppety goodness" doesn't begin to do justice to this incredible resource! I have been looking for this for longer than I care to admit! Without question you get my vote for "coolest guy on the forum!" A MILLION THANKS!

Propologist- Not only are these great mechanisms, but great photos documenting them. Thank you so much for taking the time to carefully illustrate the methods you use!

The characteristics of my facial hair are usually determined by whatever show I'm in at the time. I usually try to coordinate 2 or three shows at a time so I know how long my hair needs to be, beard, mustache or both... Last year I played two roles in one show and the director said we'd use...

No, the poor production just made it less bearable. The problem still lies with the material, not so much the performance. I mean the whole thing with Angel coming back from the dead...puh-lease. It was a bad version of a story hung on the frame of a good story. And poorly at that! It is in...

I HATED Rent. I saw the national tour last fall, and 6 seconds into it I felt sorry for the actor playing Mark, whose voice was obviously trashed... was sad to learn that his was the best voice in the whole show. The biggest problem I had with the show was it was such a lousy rip off of...

It's kind of like asking "how is a motor vehicle made?". It just begs a million more questions. A vehicle for use on snow? On water? On streets? Off-road? For how many passengers? One? Four? Three-hundred? The one common ingredient in building muppets is creativity. There is a need for a...

A&E's Biography did an excellent program on Sesame Street, and it is available on video. Check it out at http://store.aetv.com/html/search/index.jhtml?search=sesame+street Buck's list above is excellent. If you're extremely fortunate you might come across a copy of Of Muppets and Men by...

Ah, the bad science based on "Well, I heard from someone..." and "or so I hear..." and "supposedly"... These are terrible criteria on which to make a decision. Those of us old enough to have lived through the Apollo program remember it clearly. And no, many of the astronauts did not die...

I rather enjoyed Craig Ferguson's take on the "Tom Phenom" on his Late Late Show. Essentially it boils down to this; whom are you going to consult for a medical condition, a doctor or an actor? Tom Cruise claiming to have "done the research" is in no way qualified to offer medical opinions for...