Author Topic: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange  (Read 39040 times)

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ChaCha

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Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #15 on: Oct 20, 2008, 11:04 am »
champagne - mix any clear bubbly substance (lemonade, tonic water, sparkling mineral water, etc) with a little coca cola. While I hate coke as a drink myself it is readily available, requires no preparation and most people do drink it. Also ok for mixing flat 'drinks' like wine, etc
ChaCha

loebtmc

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Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #16 on: Oct 20, 2008, 12:45 pm »
speaking of which, flat coke makes great coffee. I know I know, why not just use cold coffee. Sometimes access to a coffeemaker is harder to come by, and you can just use room temp flat coke to stand in.

And re the nose issue - have you asked a local magician for help? they specialize in instantaneous transformations of this kind -

ScooterSM

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Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #17 on: Oct 20, 2008, 02:30 pm »
For champagne I have also used diet ginger ale.  No sugar or caffeine, and ginger naturally calms the actors' nervous stomach.  It works pretty well for beer also.  For darker beer I just add as much caramel coloring as I need to get the darkness that I want or use diet root beer for something like Guiness.
You can refill beer/champagne bottles with the soda and then recap them and get a realistic opening.  Most restaraunt supply places will have bottle foils/cages.
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Michael

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Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #18 on: Oct 20, 2008, 10:10 pm »


We may need to think out of the box as this effect just may not be possible.



Some playwrights must hate stage managers.

groovygert

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Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #19 on: Jan 03, 2009, 04:41 pm »
i know cola seems to be a favored stand-by for fake food props/beverages... but make sure that of you use it that you are aware of what things your cast can and can not consume, just like when food props of other types. cola has a caffeine and no all actors can consume it. before you use any food or beverragse remember to check with the needs of the actors and actresses than must consume them.

i do a lot of shows in the general area on and off stage. at some point or another i have done pretty much every aspect of theater, it helps as a SM b/c i know first hand want the other aspects of the production go through whether it is wardrobe, tech, construction, or onstage. over the years i have come across lots of different situations where actors have allergies or something similair... a loctose intolerant actress that must drink a glass of milk or allergies to chocolate or a ban of caffeine (that is in chocolate and cola). from persona experience, i can not have caffeine and was recently given an entire glass of cola with a touch of lemoade from an SM that did not check with me or the older lady who also had to drink large amounts of it before hand. we were told before hand that it would be something else, but found out on stage that it was not. as much as i would like to have just sucked it up and gone on, i knew that drinking all of it (instea of the sip that made me realize what it was) would make me sick the rest of the show and have made things more difficult for everyone else.

loebtmc

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Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #20 on: Jan 03, 2009, 11:19 pm »
Cast food allergies and preferences is part of my first rehearsal info collection. I always check, esp w the actors who have to ingest the items on stage. We have had some creative slight of hand in that territory - I think I noted on this board the swap for OJ we used in "The Real Thing" where the actress was deathly allergic, and the glassware was all clear, so we made a bizarrely tasty orange liquid by juicing yellow and orange sweet peppers, which were then mixed with the "champagne" for mimosas in the scene. Worked beautifully.

RuthNY

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Re: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #21 on: Oct 12, 2011, 02:23 pm »
From Eric Hart's Props Blog Oct. 12, 2011

http://www.props.eric-hart.com/

    “As a substitute for tea, wine, whisky or brandy he serves to the actors water colored with a piece of toasted bread to suit the shade of the desired liquid and then strained. This, by the way, is not a device of modern times.

    It comes from the days of Shakespeare, according to stage tradition. Sometimes ginger ale or tea is used, but these are not favored generally because they will not suit all tastes.

    To one actor the ale is too pungent, to another the cider is too sour, while the third may not be able to take tea without milk, which, of course, could not be used without impairing the color of the drink. So toast-water has been accepted as the regular thing, agreeable to every palate.”

    -The Morning Call, San Francisco, December 25, 1890, pg 19.

A toast to drinking! Playwrights love to make their characters drink. More popular than eating on stage, drinking on stage can be found even in plays where it is not directed by the text; a bottle of booze or well-concealed flask is a common comedic bit or a way to add layers to a character. It’s not surprising; nearly every culture through the history of civilization has had some form of fermented drink.

Many of the fake drink recipes I’ve come across over the years deal with alcoholic drinks. Very few plays feature characters drinking fruit juices. Further, drinking real beer, wine or liquor on stage is mostly a bad idea for your actor’s health and for the integrity of the show. You can find anecdotes of great stage thespians who drank real spirits while performing in a play, but these are the rare exception rather than the rule. Other drinks need stage substitutes as well. Sweet or syrupy drinks cause phlegm, which affects an actor’s vocal performance, in what some call “frog throat.” Milk or chocolate–based drinks can do the same. Coffee or tea is sometimes used if it does not need milk added, or if a milk-substitute can be found. De-caffeinated versions are preferred because most shows commence in the evening.

A number of other factors can affect your fake drink recipe. The stage lighting of the scene it plays in can alter the look of it; what looked good in the prop shop may look wrong on stage. It is often helpful to have a bottle of the real stuff on hand for comparison. Other times, the director or designer may want to veer away from complete accuracy and request a whiskey which is darker than real whiskey, or a red wine that is redder than real red wine. The recipe you come up with needs to be economical and consistent. It is no good to come up with a complicated method which either takes too much preparation time or results in every batch looking different. You must also consult with your costume department if the drinks are spilled or splashed, or if they are strongly-colored, as is the case with red wine. Some recipes stain more readily than others. Finally, pay attention to the packaging and accoutrements surrounding your liquid; drinking has a lot of accessories and rituals which, if done properly, can help sell the idea more effectively than endless experimentation with your recipe. I should also mention that if a drink starts in an opaque container and is poured into an opaque cup, you may not even need to use anything other than water.

It should go without saying that gin, vodka or any clear liquor can be imitated with plain water. If you wish to serve a gin and tonic though, a tonic water would be better than plain. A vodka and Red Bull requires just Red Bull (or a non-caffeinated/unsweetened look-alike).

I’ve never run across or used the “burnt toast” method mentioned in the quote above, but another old standby in the prop person’s bag of tricks is using cold brewed tea for various dark liquors and even some wines. I’ve seen it mentioned in texts as early as 1907. The varieties of teas available gives you an endless selection of colors and opacities, and further looks can be achieved by varying the amount of time the tea seeps or by diluting the tea afterwards. Whiskey, scotch, bourbon, sherry and others can all be made. We’ve even found “red zinger” teas which can pass for red wine on stage. Though neutral on the vocal cords, some actors dislike the taste. In some cases, this may be preferable, as it forces the actors to sip their drink in a realistic matter, rather than chugging down enough whiskey to kill a horse in a single scene.

Another old trick for these drinks is using a small amount of burnt sugar solution in water. Caramel coloring is a form of burnt sugar; you can buy it on its own or use diluted caffeine and sugar free colas which have gone flat. Some props masters have even diluted these ingredients enough to make a white wine substitute. You can also find cola concentrates for use in home soda makers, like a Sodastream, though be aware that the plain versions will still contain sugar and caffeine. A small amount is all that is necessary for a convincing whiskey, while a few drops may be all that is needed for a white wine.

Cheap and/or watered-down apple juice has found its way as a substitute for whiskeys and white wines as well. I have also heard of cranberry juice, blackcurrant juice and cherry juices used for red wine, and diluted grape juice or weak lime juice substituted for white wine. Experiment with combinations of ingredients; many a prop master has found success by mixing one of the above fruit juices with a bit of flat cola for the perfect blend of color and translucency.

Food coloring can be an economical solution, particularly when crafting fake beverages in great quantity. A bit of red and a touch of blue can appear to be red wine. One drop of green may be all that is needed for a convincing white wine. Again, success may be found by adding a touch of food coloring to one of the above recipes.

Champagne is a bit tricker, especially when the director wants to see the bubbles, or worse, when they want a bottle to open with a convincing “pop”. The mechanics of pressurizing and corking a champagne bottle are beyond the scope of this article, but in many cases, ginger ale is the closest substitute. I’ve run across some older recipes that call for using either charged water or a bicarbonate of soda with similar coloring as the white wine recipes above, but this may be adding a layer of complexity which is unnecessary.

Beer can be even trickier. Often, the only convincing substitute is a low-or-no alcohol beer if your actors are okay with that. A convincing head can be achieved with cocktail foam, such as Frothee Creamy Head. You can find recipes to make your own using egg whites (or powdered egg whites if you are squeamish about consuming raw eggs) and an acid such as lemon juice, but again, this adds to the complexity of preparation.

Milk can be tricky as well. I mentioned above that milk fat can lead to frog throat, so skim or nonfat milk can be substituted. Some actors are lactose intolerant, so a non-dairy alternative is called for. Some prop masters have used powdered non-dairy creamer in water, others have used baking soda in water, though I imagine that must taste unpleasant. Diluted milk of magnesia has been used in the past, though if too much is consumed, it can have, er, dire side effects. Unsweetened coconut or rice milk may also serve as suitable substitutes. These days, your health food store may have all sorts of convincing, albeit pricey, lactose-free milk-substitute drinks.
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Bwoodbury

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Re: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #22 on: Feb 28, 2012, 07:22 pm »
I'm looking to mix something the color of Sherry for an opera, but the singer doesn't want flavor, so no caramel coloring. Has anyone mixed anything that dark with just food coloring?

babens

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Re: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #23 on: Feb 28, 2012, 09:54 pm »
In my experience caramel coloring has been pretty flavor-free.  For a production of A Raisin in the Sun a few years back I made coffee out of decaf tea and a very tiny amount of caramel coloring that did not seem to impact the taste of the tea at all.  However, I do know that caramel coloring can be derived from many different sources, so it could vary based on what sort of carbohydrate is used as the base for the caramelization process from which it gets its name.

ScooterSM

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Re: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #24 on: Feb 28, 2012, 11:28 pm »
As babens says, caramel coloring doesn't really have any flavor.  It is only the coloring.  (Soda, etc has both caramel color and caramel flavor...)
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Re: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #25 on: May 12, 2012, 05:03 pm »
I'm a firm believer in gravy browning to create brown liquid if the actor does not want flavour.  I just used it for Jack Daniels, and I got the colour I needed from 3 drops, and it has no taste.  You can get so much colour out of just a few drops!  A bottle lasts forever.  Awesome!

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joannamblack

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Re: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #26 on: May 25, 2012, 03:23 am »
Does anyone use peanut butter in their blood? I've done that before, as well as Simple Green (for non-edible), which is an amazing recipe and came out of a white dress shirt every single night without bleach.

Now if i could just find it...

With peanut allergies being so common these days, you;d probably be hard pressed to find a company that didn't have a member with allergies. I found that liquid soap based bloods come out of EVERYTHING - it's just not consumable.

As long as it's not consumed; Liquid dish soap, chocolate sauce, corn syrup and food colouring (red as well as green to counteract the soap) came out of everything it ever touched - I will admit it never got on anything white, but it definitly got all over my personal clothing including light yellow and it came out easily because it's soap!

On_Headset

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Re: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #27 on: May 25, 2012, 07:18 pm »
Beer: there's a product on the market in North America called Kola Champagne. It's a soft drink of Puerto Rican origin, and it looks exactly like beer. (Same colour, it fizzes and bubbles when poured, it comes in bottles and cans...) It doesn't give you a lovely thick head like you would with real beer, but one must make do. The taste is rather sweet (sort of like cream soda), but the look is spot-on perfect.

I've been using a brand called Grace, which seems to be stocked at most supermarkets.

joannamblack

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Re: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #28 on: May 27, 2012, 05:42 pm »
How carbonated is it? Most actors I've worked with hate drinking pop onstage

On_Headset

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Re: PROPS: Prop Recipe Exchange
« Reply #29 on: May 27, 2012, 05:48 pm »
How carbonated is it? Most actors I've worked with hate drinking pop onstage
About as much as a Sprite or Coke. We aren't talking champagne, but there's a definite fizz.