SHOWS: Little Shop of Horrors - Puppeteers/Training

[ReyYaySM]

I will be working on a production of Little Shop of Horrors this coming season.  If you have worked on a production of Little Shop, I am interested in learning about your experience with the following:

How many puppeteers did your production use for the manipulation of the Audrey II puppet?
Were they actors (AEA or non-AEA) or technicians?
If they were actors, did you also use them as ensemble?
How much training time was needed for the puppeteer(s) to learn how to manipulate the puppets?
How much of that training time was part of the rehearsal hours?
Did you hire an outside company to train the puppeteer(s)?  If so, who? 
 
Any other helpful hints or information that you can provide is appreciated.  Thank you in advance for your responses. 

[hbelden]

We had one puppeteer, who had done the show before.  He was an AEA actor and was on contract (if I remember correctly).  He and the voice actor worked together closely, with sychronization being a big issue.  I'm pretty sure we did use the puppeteer as ensemble in "Downtown" but I could be mistaken.  Pretty much, he was called for every rehearsal all the time and if we weren't actually using any of the big Audrey IIs in the rehearsal hall, was working on his own or with the props people. Of course, we only had a two-week rehearsal process.  Our voice actor wanted to be in the wings with a sight-line to the puppet, rather than watching a monitor, and we were able to accommodate that; sound built him a booth to protect his mic from backstage noise.

Since both the puppeteer and the voice were veterans, I'm sorry, but I don't have real answers to your training questions.  Hope the others help.

[Jessie_K]

I did Little Shop at University.  We too had 1 puppeteer for all incarnations.  She had spent several years working as a puppeteer before.  She was instrumental in the designing and creating of our puppets as well.  (Luckily we built our own as opposed to renting).

She did not attend all of our rehearsals, only the ones using the puppets (mocked up version for rehearsal).  She did however do a lot of physical training on her own (meaning just plain exercise to get strong enough).

We did not use her in the ensemble.

Our voice actor was also hidden within the set within eyeline of the puppet rather than using monitors.

Most artists (including the puppeteer) were undergrad or grad students, so AEA wasn't an issue.

Given what a central role this puppet plays and all the sizes and styles used, I'd really recommend hiring an experienced puppeteer to play the role.  And if you can't do that, hire one to train the person.  I'd say at least 3 session of at least 2 hours each per week.

[drewski91]

I directed a community theatre production a few years back. Because this was small town community theatre, I added an ensemble of three. They, along with the actor who voiced the puppet from a microphone in the booth, were in "Skid Row." They each played one of the three visitors in "The Meek Shall Inherit." One played Skip Snip at the end, and they other two served as puppeteers.

There are usually four puppets: the first one just wilts, if I remember correctly. The second was controlled by Seymour, and I used two different performers for #3 and #4, just because it was SO hot inside the puppets, I didn't want one person inside them for 1.5 hours. The puppeteer who was not controlling the puppet helped set the puppet during the shift, get the other puppeteer safely inside, and help pull actors though the puppet while they were being eaten.

We rented our puppets, and they arrived a few days before tech. We dedicated an evening to puppet rehearsal-- getting the actors used to manipulating it, then adding the voice, then adding the actors who get eaten. It went pretty smoothly. The puppet that required the most rehearsal was actually pupptet #2, because it was controlled by Seymour's arm while he is singing.

[ReyYaySM]

Thank you everyone.  This information will be very helpful. 

[nick_tochelli]

Back in the dark ages when I did Little Shop we had 2 puppeteers and one voice. Our seymour played the youngest incarnation of audrey ii (small hand puppet in a pot). Then we had one puppeteer play the other two sizes and that was his only role. Never seen onstage except curtain call. He walked out of Audrey ii's mouth....drenched in sweat

[BayAreaSM]

Heath - Was that the AMTSJ Little Shop? If so, I thought Gregg did a great job!

[VilleSM]

I actually did Little Shop as an actor a few years ago, as the voice of Audrey II. We had one puppeteer for the baby AII, Seymour does the second incarnation, a second puppeteer as the third (The "Feed Me" AII), and three running the huge AII. The two smaller puppeteers did the arms/vines, and the strongest performed the mouth/body.

All of our puppeteers were (essentially) untrained technicians, but the two puppeteers for number 3 and 4 were also used as ensemble for Skid Row scenes.

We only used the puppets for about two or three weeks before opening. However, we did have several Audrey II-only rehearsals learning the basic movements of the puppets. The hardest puppet to learn was actually Number 4, because of its size and the strength required for it.

These rehearsals were mostly rehearsals added onto the schedule.

Break legs!

[hbelden]

Heath - Was that the AMTSJ Little Shop? If so, I thought Gregg did a great job!

Yes, Les, that's right.  Glad you saw it!  Yep, Gregg worked his butt off and really nailed the performance.  Certainly got him into shape!

Edited for language-Rebbe

[Jessie_K]

I actually did Little Shop as an actor a few years ago, as the voice of Audrey II. We had one puppeteer for the baby AII, Seymour does the second incarnation, a second puppeteer as the third (The "Feed Me" AII), and three running the huge AII. The two smaller puppeteers did the arms/vines, and the strongest performed the mouth/body.

All of our puppeteers were (essentially) untrained technicians, but the two puppeteers for number 3 and 4 were also used as ensemble for Skid Row scenes.

We only used the puppets for about two or three weeks before opening. However, we did have several Audrey II-only rehearsals learning the basic movements of the puppets. The hardest puppet to learn was actually Number 4, because of its size and the strength required for it.

These rehearsals were mostly rehearsals added onto the schedule.

Break legs!

Ok, yes this has jogged my memory a bit.

Our Seymour controlled a potted version during the visit to radio station scene.  He had a jacket with a false arm holding the pot and then his hand inside the puppet.

We also had two of the ensemble dancers be the arms/vines of AII in the final act.