So you want to make a 15-foot Devil puppet?
Opening night performance of Steel Petunias - photo by Giancarlo Osaben
When you think Steel Magnolias, a 15-foot Devil puppet controlled by four actors probably doesn't immediately jump to mind, but when we set out to adapt the beloved 1989 "chick flick" into a parody musical, we decided to testosterone it up a bit.
To answer your first question, don't worry. Everything you know and love about the movie is still there in our version. There's still the love and bond between those six beauty shop frequenting friends. There's still the witty southern quips. There's still the diabetes-induced pathos.
We just added a little b-plot. That's all.
We just added a little b-plot featuring an epic battle between six southern women and Lucifer himself. That's all.
Question 2: Why not just don an actor in a normal old Devil's costume you can easily purchase at Party City?
Answer: You obviously haven't experienced an Unauthorized! Parody Musical yet. Most people go big or go home. We go really really big ... and then go home and store a gigantic devil puppet in our living room until the next show!
Question 3: So ... how did you build that thing?
Answer: I thought you'd never ask...
Building a 15-foot Devil step by step (with pictures!)
^ This was the basic design i came up with. The puppet's torso would rest on the actor's chest, held in place with ropes attached to the puppet and secured around the actor's shoulders.
The legs (in two parts) would be attached to both the torso and the feet (which are secured to the actor's feet. Thus, as the actor walks, the puppet walks with him.
The actor wearing the puppet holds a pole that controls the devil's head movements, and the arms and mouth are manipulated by three other actors (one for each arm and one for the mouth).
^ Believe it or not, this is how the whole thing began. I cut a piece of cardboard to the general size and shape of the torso and loosely taped a series of plastic bags and crumpled up papers to create the general shape of a chest.
^ After I loosely taped up the general chest shape, I began rolling up pieces of paper (from old abandoned scripts - rather cathartic, I must say), and taping them into a general alien abdominal/skeletal shape. I was imagining a sort-of praying mantis physique.
^ Here's the front of the torso once it was all completely covered in tape. Place the tape down gently to follow the contours that you're trying to create. After a few layers, you'll be surprised how sturdy the packing tape feels. The paper and plastic bags are merely there to help create the structure. It's the layers of packing tape that really create the final shape.
^ An angled view of the front breast plate. It was about this moment (like most any project I begin) when I started to have my doubts. "Is this really going to work and look decent?" I asked myself. Any time I have these doubts, there's a solution that generally eases any concerns I have...
^ I took the torso outside and gave it a quick coat of spray paint to see how it looked. You can see how the shape of the piece really became clear. I was also pleasantly surprised when I saw how all the tape's wrinkles looked like veins and scales. Those kind of accidents become unintentional blessings. I decided to use those wrinkles to my advantage moving forward.
^ I still wasn't completely sold on the torso, so I decided to get to work on the head. I found a small trash can that seemed like a good size compared to the body I already created. As you can see here, the face was created the same way as the body. I rolled up sheets of paper and started playing with a design, securing them in place with packing tape.
^ I'm pretty sure the Predator movies were my inspiration as I began work on the snout.
^ The general head's shape was complete. The mouth was a colander I found that fit the bottom of the waste basket. it was secured in back with a couple of zip ties. A length of elastic on each side stretched from the colander to the underside of the waste basket. The elastic held the mouth closed. A string would be added later to make the mouth open and close.
Oh, and those horns, just more paper rolled up and taped. More layers of tape later would really reinforce the shape and make them very sturdy.
^ The completed head after all the layers of tape have been added. I added a couple of tusks to the colander to hide that obvious colander look in the previous photo.
Again, this was the point when the concern crept in. So ... PAINT TIME!
^ The answer to all life's problems. If your not sure something's working, add a little spray paint. Reinvigorated due to how the head turned out, I decided to get back to work on the body.
^ To 3-D-ify the torso, I tape a couple of cardboard boxes to the back. The rest was more paper (more old scripts!) and packing tape. I think I see a cracker box in there too. Memories.
^ The legs and arms were built pretty much the same way. I rolled pieces of poster board into tubes and secured them with tape. Some more balled up pieces of paper helped to give each arm/leg section some muscular definition. I intended to build hands the same way but got lucky. It was Halloween, so i was able to find a pair of plastic hands that were the perfect size!
^ Once all the body parts were complete, I secured rings (I used binder rings) to each body part with ... you guessed it, more packing tape! Lots and lots of packing tape to make sure they were super-duper secure. All the separate body parts were connected with zip ties and screw-locking metal chain links like the one in the photo.
^ This is Ryan. He's the composer of Steel Petunias and all the Unauthorized! Parody Musicals. He's 5'9", he enjoys warm baths before bed, and he's a Virgo. You should mainly be concerned with the 5'9" part. To give you an idea of how big this thing is going to be. I remember looking at this scenario and thinking a mixture of, "Jeez Louise, what have I gotten myself into?" and "Yeah, this is perfect!"
Next came the trial runs...
^ This is the neck, head, and mouth movement. That neck by the way is another small wire trashcan that I cut and formed to shape (with more packing tape, naturally). Oh ... and that's me! I'm 6'2" so once the neck was added, Bob (as we began to lovingly refer to him as) got even taller!
^ Next was a trial to see how the ropes threaded through the torso (the cardboard boxes used to build the shape added extra thickness for the ropes to go through) worked to secure it in place onto my chest. To give you some perspective, not only is Ryan 5'9", but that ceiling is about twelve feet tall. I had to bend over in order for Bob to fit inside.
^ And finally the leg trial. Those feet pieces are permanently glued onto a pair of old dress shoes. My legs move Bob's legs, so by simply walking myself, I control his walking.
^ It was finally time to bring Bob to rehearsal to put all the pieces together, a feat that was impossible in the small space of a living room. I'm talking about an average living room in a New York City apartment. I'm lucky to have one at all. But it ain't big. I digress. Above you can see Bob sans head splayed out on the floor in a rehearsal room. He was ready and waiting to come to life for the first time with the actors.
^ We basically spent thirty minutes of that rehearsal making Bob dance, attack the women in the cast, and say stupid things. The rest of us ... we watched and squealed.
^ One thing you'll notice when you spray paint packing tape is lots of flaking and peeling. I thought a coat or primer as a base would prevent it but no luck.
^ So the almost final step was a coating of this black Plasti Dip. It's a Rubber Coating that, according to the photo, a woman (or possibly a man, no judgements) with very well manicured and painted nails uses. That seemed to do the trick. Once that layer was applied, the spray paint on top of it stopped flaking off.
After some final touch-ups with the paint, a couple of battery-operated votive candles for eyes, stage lighting, and a fog machine, Bob was finally ready for his theatrical debut.
Bob was so excited. He kept saying to everyone in the cast, "It's the day of the show, y'all!" Bob loves Waiting for Guffman.
So there you have it ... 372 easy steps is all it takes to build a 15-foot Bob of your own! And when you're in New York City, come check him out live in all his gigantic glory every Sunday, 7pm at the Peoples Improv Theater (124 E. 25th Street) in Steel Petunias!
For tickets to Steel Petunias visit www.ThePit-Nyc.com
Steel Petunias was originally presented as part of the Unauthorized! series of Parody Musicals. Audiences vote between two classic movies and the winner is then turned into its own parody musical by writers Ryan Mercy and Christopher W. Barnes. Other Unauthorized! productions include That 80s Time Travel Movie and Ghostblasters. Visit www.ThePit-Nyc.com for more information on all Unauthorized! shows.
