SCENERY: Making a Boulder

[colum07]

Im doing a production on "Wizard of Oz" this summer and the director informed me that he would like me to make a boulder for the Wicked Witch to stand on- and it has to make her taller than everybody else on stage. And, since it will only be used in the one scene and the show has a very, very small tech crew, it has to be very mobile (wheels preferred). Any ideas???

[McShell]

How big does this boulder have to be?

For a small one, my mind went to a stepstool, cardboard, and a bucket of model magic.  Doesn't have wheels, but it would be very light and inexpensive.  Does it have to have wheels?  IMHO wheels/breaks add a whole lot of time in the end as opposed to if someone can just set something if it's compact enough, if that's an option.

[colum07]

wheels arent necessary if it is light. just needs to be cheap and easy. THANK YOU.

[Mac Calder]

Chicken wire to make a frame, then paper mache and paint. Will weigh next to nothing. To allow someone to stand on it, put something like a chair or stool inside, as recommended by McShell

[Tempest]

Get a nice big chunk of white foam and have lots of fun with a Saws-all.  Then paint a voila!  Just check with cosutmes that she's not wearing spike heel shoes.
We did three GINORMOUS boulders for an opera this way.  Like chaise lounge size.  And each one could be carried off stage by one person, and could support as many people as would fit on it.  Obviously, it can be as big as you can find whitebead foam, or as small as you like.
Added bonus you now have a sturdy boulder in stock that can be repainted for other shows, or carved into something else.

[Maribeth]

i've used the foam method before. blue foam, which is not beaded like some white foam, works fairly well. if you coat it with something like foamcoat or crystal gel before painting, it will be less likely to get beaten up with use.

you can also use a hot knife to carve it if you have one.