Open Forum

 View Only

  • 1.  Live actor playing Audrey II?

    Posted 12-19-2019 11:50
    Hey Everyone,

    Has anyone produced Little Shop with a student portraying Audrey II live? If so, how did that work out?

    Thank you and happy holidays,
    Rob

    ------------------------------
    Rob Duval
    Theatre Teacher/Director
    'Iolani School
    Kaneohe HI
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Live actor playing Audrey II?

    Posted 12-19-2019 13:29
    We did it for State Speech contest, but only a couple of songs. There is a great concert version with Jake Gyllenhaal and the original actress who played Audrey that you might want to watch. 
    For our purposes it worked well.

    ------------------------------
    Suzanne Jones
    Teacher
    Pella Community School District
    Pella IA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Live actor playing Audrey II?

    Posted 01-03-2020 20:48
    I cast two female actors to play Audrey II kinda like a rock duo and it was SUPER fun. In most cases we were able to leave the music as is and they just jumped up an octave. We may have changed the key of one song... Can't remember... Here is a couple of pictures in case helpful... I kinda loved the commentary of 2 female actors especially as the questions on what to do with the dentist came up in terms of the morality of whether he should stay or go...

    Best wishes on your production!

    Cheers!

    ------------------------------
    Colleen Mylott
    Secondary Theatre Teacher
    Peak to Peak Charter School
    Lafayette, CO
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Live actor playing Audrey II?

    Posted 01-06-2020 09:57
    I have only done Little Shop with a live actor inside the plant. It works well with plant size #3 but becomes problematic for the largest size as they are having to lift and open the mouth as they sing which can be difficult for someone out of shape. All three times I chose someone who had the voice and then we created a mouth with weights on it (Really just two PVC bars for each hand to simulate the puppet as we had to rent it and he couldn't rehearse with it much before the show. A separate voice actor just can't match the movement well enough to pull it off, although with rehearsal, I have seen it done effectively. You must figure out a way to keep the puppeteer hydrated and cooled with fans or some sort of cooling system. We rented portable AC unit and ran a tube into the back of the puppet during these scenes and it worked well. I did it over thirty years ago and used a wired lapel mic inside the plant and it went very well, although I had a thermometer inside and at one point it read 100 degrees. I couldn't pull it off today, though, that's for sure. Hope this helps.

    Bruce Taws
    Mosley Drama
    Mosley High School
    Lynn Haven, FL

    The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.




    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Live actor playing Audrey II?

    Posted 01-07-2020 05:42
    I saw a production of Little Shop that used a live Audrey 2. Incredible! You just need the right actress/person to sell it. When the people got eaten, they did a lighting shift

    ------------------------------
    Karen Wiebe
    Drama Director
    Burlington KY
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Live actor playing Audrey II?

    Posted 01-07-2020 09:38
    I used a live actor and dancers as the plant. As Audrey II grew, more dancers entered the scene as vines and extensions of the plant with an actor as the "main" voice of Audrey II. We were able to do large scale choreography with lifts and great "eating" scenes this way. It was very effective. I used a hand mould with leaves for the small plant looking like a Venus fly-trap, a solo dancer in a pot as the mid sized plant, and the main actor/voice came out when Audrey II begins speaking.

    ------------------------------
    Kelly Frewin
    Lethbridge AB
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Live actor playing Audrey II?

    Posted 01-07-2020 12:57
    Great comments. I have never seen it done this way but based on the dialogue, wow, sounds amazing. ​

    ------------------------------
    Crit Fisher
    Lighting/Sound Designer
    New Albany High School
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Live actor playing Audrey II?

    Posted 01-08-2020 09:24
    Basic Puppetry 101: If you are using a puppet, then the focus needs to be on the puppet. The only way to make it come to life and be real is if everyone (cast and audience) is looking at it, no matter where the voice is coming from. For instance, when using a hand puppet, the puppeteer looks at the puppet when speaking as the puppet, even if the puppeteer is not using ventriloquism. For instance, in the new musical Frozen, there are puppets manipulated by actors. These puppeteers need to be reacting in the scenes and making the puppet respond physically, but when they speak they have to look at their puppet, and the other characters need to look at the puppet as they react to it, not the actor manipulating the puppet.

    The issue with using a live actor on a lit stage to play Audrey 2 is that the production is asking the audience to split their focus...and I have seen the musical done this way. The actress was far removed from the scene, and lit in a spotlight. To me it was distracting and took away the power of the puppet. Either use a puppet, or an actor but trying to use both at the same time is confusing.  In a concert setting, there is no puppet, so Audrey 2 is totally an actor.  Interesting to have the actors inside the puppet and seen. That would be interesting to see.  When we did it we had a huge kid (who was unseen) operate the huge Audrey 2 puppet by standing inside her, and the Audrey 2 actor on a mic offstage. It worked wonderfully well. Both actors took a curtain call.

    ------------------------------
    Valerie Farschman, Drama Director
    Amherst Junior High
    Amherst, Ohio
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


Related Content