The Dragon

The Dragon was definitely the biggest worry of the production crew, excluding myself. I had wanted to do something like this for a long time and with the budget of a community theatre, it was a great challenge. The body of the Dragon is fabricated from PVC plumbing pipes that have been cut and heat formed accordingly. The articulated wing skeleton was calculated for each pipe length requirement, and built with PVC pipes as well. The body form was then built using strips of cardboard covered with several layers of plastic or suran wrap to give the illusion of a leathery/reptilian skin. Paint and fabric patches were added to match the color and aesthetic of the front/vocal performers dress. The head of the Dragon was supported and puppeteered through the use of PVC pipes connecting the base of the dragon head, to the corset on the front/vocal performer. The dragons eyes were also wired with LED lights to give an extra bit of pop to the dragons entrance on stage. She also has accents of EVA foam for her ears and cheek spikes, as well as the spikes down the tail.

Humpty Dumpty

The Humpty Dumpty costume was one of the biggest challenges during the Shrek the Musical show at the Palmdale Playhouse. It was constructed out of cardboard and hot glue. The pattern was made custom by creating a miniature surface pattern on a styrofoam egg, and scaling it using an old fashioned lamp projector. Fabric shorts and a woven beanie completed the look for our Humpty Dumpty.

Gingy

Gingy from Shrek the Musical was created as a hand puppet that appears in three different forms throughout the show. The main body of the puppet is made from EVA foam, with a softer foam surrounding the mouth to easily actuate. The eyebrows are puppeteered through a cable system that routes to the performers opposite hand. After the mechanical were set-in, he was then covered in brown stretch fabric and accented with foam and lace for the look of frosting and gumdrop buttons. Don’t forget the gum drop buttons. The first two scenes that Gingy appears in, he is carried on a cookie sheet which provides great cover for the puppeteering. His last scene, he is accompanied with a pair of candy cane crutches. These are made with scraps from a plastic hanger, heat formed and glued into place with CA glue. Red pinstripe tape gives the look of candy cane and foam was added for gumdrop bottoms and cotton candy tops.

Pinocchio

During the pre production of this show, Pinocchios nose went through many iterations and designs. We finally settled on this design, which is a cable driven system connected into a spool of thin paper wound around a small section of straw. The straw is affixed to the face of the performer and the cable is routed through the hat, and down the costume to the performers left side. During the scene when Pinocchios nose grows, The performer uses a wire key to push the cable out which stretches the paper spool into a cone. The paper that becomes exposed was masked with makeup matching the performers face.