the beast

This project was one of the more interesting challenges. I was bright eyed and bushy tailed visiting the theatre I would eventually call home, ready to volunteer doing the things I love. Ten minutes into my tour of the space my mentor said “alright, you’re going to work on the beast.” I was very nervous but hit the ground running. The Beast’s horns were sculpted using scissors and two cylinders of medium density foam. They were given a metal wire core and bent into the shape we needed. I mocked their attachment to the wig using the body of a baseball cap and once the position was final, the horns got a few layers of paper mâché. The paper mâché gave a very nice texture to the horns and made them much more real. They were then painted to match the colors in the wig and permanently attached to the baseball cap body.

The facial appliance was purchased online (no budget to sculpt a custom one) and shaped/trimmed to isolate the parts we needed. Once affixed to the actor, it was blended and highlighted with makeup.

The wardrobe

The wardrobe was the most technically involved costume we made for this show. It required a drawer that could open and close on the front side for Belle, the main character, to retrieve a dress from it. I am very disappointed I could find more pictures of the build process of this piece as it was quite a fun journey. The main body has a skeleton of heat formed PVC with the front face constructed from cardboard. This allowed for the mechanical drawer to be slowed into the front half, also constructed from cardboard. Once the costume was working and fit the performer, it was covered in upholstery looking fabrics and embellishments.

The cheese grater

The Cheese grater was the fan-favorite of this show, she stole the stage when she entered for the big “Be Our Guest” number. This costume body was built completely out of flat cardboard (one of my favorite techniques). Once the body had been constructed, holes were cut in the front face and filled with paper bowls that had been cut in half. This gave an awesome 3D effect to the blades of the cheese grater. Silver spray paint was sprayed on everything to wrap up this fun, cute, costume.