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  • 1.  Little Shop of Horrors plant rehearsal

    Posted 12-09-2014 09:54
    We are performing Little Shop of Horrors in March.  Our plant puppets are not arriving until 2 weeks before show.  Does anyone have any effective pointers in order for a high school student to prepare the "voice syncing" element for the show between the voice and the puppeteer?
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    Evelyn Carlile
    Drama Director
    Canton GA
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  • 2.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors plant rehearsal

    Posted 12-09-2014 11:27
    Have your puppeteers start coming to rehearsal earlier than the plants arrive.  Have them watch...and watch and watch and watch.  At the same time, they should be learning the script.

    Have a talk with your plant voice.  Consistency is going to be key.  He/she needs to be as consistent as possible.

    Our puppeteers could see our plant voice and I know they came up with some little cues for things where the was a pause before the line or something.  A big head nod just before the line started, that sort of thing.

    Good luck!

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    Laura Steenson
    Theatre Director
    Reynolds High School
    Troutdale OR
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  • 3.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors plant rehearsal

    Posted 12-11-2014 07:28
    Our puppeteer attended all music rehearsals with the voice of Audrey 2. He had to know each song perfectly so he wasn't guessing ever. The challenge also was for Audrey 2 to learn to sing it exactly the same way every time. The puppeteer understood some of what movement he would need to do to operate the puppet and performed the move,net without the plant in rehearsals. ------------------------------------------- Scott Hasbrouck Wheat Ridge CO -------------------------------------------
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  • 4.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors plant rehearsal

    Posted 12-11-2014 10:43
    You may also want to discuss with the puppeteer(s) the reality of how difficult it will be to operate pod 3 (and 4 depending on the design.)  Pod three was the hardest for our students to operate, both because it is heavy and supported on the arms for a long period, and also because they can not see the results of their movements.  Once we had the puppets, we used video so that the puppeteer could see what they looked like.  We also had the director move the puppet from the outside, with the puppeteer inside, so they could feel the movements.

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    Josh Belk
    Director of Theatre
    Monument CO
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  • 5.  RE: Little Shop of Horrors plant rehearsal

    Posted 12-11-2014 11:11
    I would suggest having the puppeteer attend blocking rehearsals as well as music rehearsals so that the puppeteer has a better understanding of Audrey 2's role in the story.  This allowed my puppeteer the chance to make character choices and have Audrey 2 react to things she heard.  I had the puppeteer sit in the place the puppet would be and this gave the other actors a focal point with which to communicate.

    Also, we ordered our puppet through MTI and were shocked by the weight of Pod 4; we ended up recruiting the captain of the boy's swim team at the last minute for the sake of having someone with better upper body strength.  Heads up! :)

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    Chelsea Haaland
    Speech/Drama Director
    Waukee IA
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