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Dearth
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- Jul 24, 2009
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I hate to admit it, but I was reading something last night about a particular episode of TMS from Season 5, and had absolutely zero recollection of seeing that show back in the day... the episode where Glenda Jackson and her crew shanghai the Theatre and take it out to sea as a pirate ship.
So I pulled it up on YouTube and it was pretty cool seeing an episode that was so totally unfamiliar.
Something occurred to me during the cold open with Pops, though. The way Glenda is holding the 'penguin' (in actuality a disguised parrot) looks an awful lot like a trick used in the stage version of Little Shop of Horrors, where the actor playing Seymour himself is simultaneously the puppeteer of Audrey II for the number "Don't It Go To Show Ya Never Know".
Seymour wears a modifed jacket with a fake arm and hand holding a large plastic flowerpot. His real hand is up inside the 'pod two' size of the Audrey puppets. This allows the puppet to try to nip at Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronette while Seymour's free hand attempts to stop the plant and shield the fact that it is animated from the girls. A fun little scene where the actor gets to battle with himself.
Now, for the shots where Glenda is holding Eric and the puppet speaks, sure, there could be a Muppeteer crouched down behind her with his arm through the crook of her elbow. But I think for the two shots where she's walking, they may have let Glenda be the puppeteer.
And there is a precedent for a guest-star helping out with the puppeteering duties, at least one that I can think of. Christopher Reeve reportedly puppeteered some minor character during I believe the Bob Hope episode.
On a show where they were constantly doing the unexpected to make the audience believe in the illusion of life for these puppets, I think in this instance they may have used the simplest trick of letting Glenda Jackson put a puppet on her hand.
Thoughts?
Alex
So I pulled it up on YouTube and it was pretty cool seeing an episode that was so totally unfamiliar.
Something occurred to me during the cold open with Pops, though. The way Glenda is holding the 'penguin' (in actuality a disguised parrot) looks an awful lot like a trick used in the stage version of Little Shop of Horrors, where the actor playing Seymour himself is simultaneously the puppeteer of Audrey II for the number "Don't It Go To Show Ya Never Know".
Seymour wears a modifed jacket with a fake arm and hand holding a large plastic flowerpot. His real hand is up inside the 'pod two' size of the Audrey puppets. This allows the puppet to try to nip at Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronette while Seymour's free hand attempts to stop the plant and shield the fact that it is animated from the girls. A fun little scene where the actor gets to battle with himself.
Now, for the shots where Glenda is holding Eric and the puppet speaks, sure, there could be a Muppeteer crouched down behind her with his arm through the crook of her elbow. But I think for the two shots where she's walking, they may have let Glenda be the puppeteer.
And there is a precedent for a guest-star helping out with the puppeteering duties, at least one that I can think of. Christopher Reeve reportedly puppeteered some minor character during I believe the Bob Hope episode.
On a show where they were constantly doing the unexpected to make the audience believe in the illusion of life for these puppets, I think in this instance they may have used the simplest trick of letting Glenda Jackson put a puppet on her hand.
Thoughts?
Alex
