Tuesday, December 17, 2019

5 Musicals That Take Place In or Near the Water

I needed to take a break from how-to articles. However, I still wanted to post a blog post.

Being that I've been concentrating on underwater set pieces, I figured I'd give a list of musicals that take place in or near the water.


An image of water


  1. The Little Mermaid
    You can order and listen to the Broadway cast recording: The Little Mermaid: Original Broadway Cast Recording
    You can always watch the original movie: The Little Mermaid
  2. The Pirates of Penzance
    You can watch this on Amazon: The Pirates of Penzance
    You can watch it on DVD: The Pirates of Penzance
    You can listen to the soundtrack: Gilbert & Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance
  3. Spongebob Squarepants: The Musical
    You can listen to the soundtrack: SpongeBob SquarePants, The New Musical (Original Cast Recording)
  4. South Pacific
    You can watch the movie: South Pacific
    You can listen to the soundtrack: South Pacific (Original Soundtrack Recording)
  5. Anything Goes
    You can watch the movie on Amazon: Anything Goes
    You can watch the movie on DVD: Anything Goes
    You can listen to the soundtrack: Anything Goes (New Broadway Cast Recording)


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Sunday, December 15, 2019

How to Make Seaweed Out of Plastic Tablecloths - Scenic Artists' Tips and Tricks

Maybe you are preparing sets in case you can get rights to Sea Ya Later: An Underwater Musical! by STAR Theatre. In that case, you might need huge set piece that is supposed to be seaweed. If this is what you need, you can make seaweed out of plastic table clothes. This is somewhat similar to making seaweed out of trash bags, but plastic table cloths do not stretch like trash bags do.


An underwater view of seaweed, especially on the right side of the picture.


In order to make these seaweed set pieces, you need the following items:
  1. Scissors such as CCR 8-inch Scissors with Soft Comfort-Grip Handles
  2. Plastic table cloths such as White 12 Pack Premium Disposable Plastic Tablecloth, though you may want to get colors such as brown or green.
  3. Brown spray paint such as Krylon Leather Brown COLORmaxx Spray Paint
  4. Green spray paint such as Krylon Hunter Green COLORmaxx Spray Paint
  5. A way to hang your seaweed outside
  6. A way to hang your seaweed as the set piece or pieces


In this tutorial, only one tablecloth will be used to make seaweed. If you need more than one table cloth for your set, repeat the process with more tablecloths.

In order to make the seaweed:
  1. Unfold the tablecloth and make sure that the longest side is at the top while the shorter sides are at the sides as it is likely that this is the way you want it (though, if your measurements are different, then position the tablecloth for your measurements).
  2. Cut vertical strips about two inches wide, starting from the bottom and leaving about two inches uncut at the top. None of this has to be completely perfect because if it is perfect, it is likely that it will not look like seaweed.
  3. Once the strips are cut, the they can be twisted lightly by hand. Do not try to stretch the tablecloth.
  4. Take the tablecloth outside and hang it up.
  5. Spray paint the tablecloth with brown and green spray paint. You want to make sure that this covers all the seen parts well.
  6. Let the paint dry. If this looks good, you can leave it.
  7. You can twist the strips of the tablecloth more if you would like.
  8. If the paint did not cover well, you can spray paint again.
  9. Repeat the process of twisting and painting until you are happy with your results.
  10. Once happy, the seaweed can be hung as a set piece.


If you enjoy my content, please consider becoming one of my patrons through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheatreGeek where I will be sharing more in-depth content, answering your questions, sharing which types of software I use and how to find them, and more. By becoming my patron, you allow me to create more content about theatre and more theatrical content.

You can also give a one-time support by tipping at my my Ko-fi page. It is much appreciated and allows me to continue writing my blog instead of doing drudge work in order to make the little bit of money I can to afford to take time to write.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and as an Amaazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am also a Wal-Mart affiliate and in the rare case I cannot find the product on Amazon, I can earn from those links. Please consider purchasing from my links as they help me to live and help me be able to write more content for you here.

Saturday, December 14, 2019

How to Make Seaweed Out of Trash Bags - Scenic Artists' Tips and Tricks

You may be preparing props and set pieces for underwater musicals you are waiting for to have licensing options such as Spongebob: The Musical. If this is the case, you may need to make seaweed for your set. While it seems like seaweed would be a difficult set piece to make, it is actually very easy.


Seaweed


You will need the following items:

  1. Small Trash Bags such as Hefty Small Trash Bags, 4 Gallon.
  2. Scissors such as AmazonBasics Multipurpose Office Scissors
  3. Green and brown spray paints such as Rust-Oleum 6 PK Specialty Camouflage Spray Pack
  4. A flat surface such as scrap wood or old cardboard.
  5. Pins or tape to hold the plastic trash bag material to your flat surface.


In order to make the seaweed:

  1. Start by taking your trash bags and cutting 2" wide strips. Of course, the measurement doesn't have to be perfect, but this is about the size that you want.
  2. Once the strips are cut, hook your index and middle finger underneath both sides of the shortest width at the top, holding them with your thumb.
  3. Stretch the bag, but do not pull so much that the bag tears.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, moving down the long part of the strip until you reach the end.
  5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each strip until you have enough pieces of seaweed for your set.
  6. You are now going to need to put the strips onto your flat surface. Secure them at the top and bottom. They do not have to be held tightly.
  7. Once your strips are secured to the flat surface, use your spray paints to paint the seaweed the colors that you would like them to be. You do not have to be careful about where the spray paint goes on the strips as seaweed comes in different colors and varieties to where the colors can be uneven.


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Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am also a Wal-Mart affiliate and in the rare case I cannot find the product on Amazon, I can earn from those links. Please consider purchasing from my links as they help me to live and help me be able to write more content for you here.

Friday, December 13, 2019

How to Make a Crawfish Hole Out of Clay or Playdough - Scenic Artists' Tips and Tricks

Sometimes you may be putting on a musical such as Oh, Jonah where you want parts of your set to look like they are in a wetland setting. Because of this, you may want to have some crawfish holes. It is easy to make crawfish holes with playdough or clay.


A crawfish hole


You will need the following items:
  1. Playdough such as Play-Doh Modeling Compound 10-Pack or clay such as Natural Clay, 10 lb
  2. Optional: Earth toned paints such as Jacquard Products Textile Color Paint Set, Earth Tones
  3. Optional: Paintbrushes such as BOSOBO Paint Brushes Set, 2 Pack.


Crawfish live on every continent of the world, so there should be no worry about the location of your play. Fake crawfish holes are very easy to make.

  1. If you are not going to paint your crawfish holes, choose the color of playdough that you are going to use. If you are using clay, it is probably already brown and it will stay that way unless you are going to have somebody fire it.
  2. Once chooseing the playdough or clay that you are going to use, instead of making a mound, make small balls and ovals of different sizes.
  3. Put these circles and balls in a circle with a diameter of 3"-5". Again, this does not have to be a perfect circle.
  4. Stack the balls and ovals on top of each other, tapering them so that they get thinner towards the top.
  5. Let the playdough or clay dry.
  6. If the crawfish hole is the color that you want it to be, you are done.
  7. If you used clay and are going to have somebody fire it, have somebody fire it once it is dry.
  8. If the crawfish hole is not the color you would like it to be, paint it the color that you'd like.


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Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and as an Amaazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am also a Wal-Mart affiliate and in the rare case I cannot find the product on Amazon, I can earn from those links. Please consider purchasing from my links as they help me to live and help me be able to write more content for you here.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

How to Make Black Coral Out of Expanding Spray Foam - Scenic Artists' Tips and Tricks

There are some sets, such as the one for Rainbow Fish Musical that require coral as set pieces. There are many types of coral and various ways to to make the different types of coral. This blog post is about making black coral with expanding spray foam.


A drawing of black coral


First, despite the name black coral, this coral comes is various colors. These colors include red, green, yellow, white, and brown. Sometimes black coral is black, but that is actually rare.

In order to make black color for the stage set, you are going to need the following:
  1. Flat surfaces like scraps of cardboard or cardboard boxes. If you don't have any scrap cardboard, you can buy Corrugated Cardboard Sheets.
  2. Wax paper such as Reynolds Cut-Rite Wax Paper.
  3. Craft wire such as BENECREAT Aluminum Wire
  4. Expanding spray foam insulation such as Great Stuff Gap Filler
  5. Spray paint such as Moneysworth & Best Brillo Leather/Vinyl/Plastic Color Spray Dye/Paint 12 oz, Black


In order to make the black coral:
  1. Prepare as many sheets of cardboard that you want as many pieces of coral. If you do not have enough cardboard for all of the coral that you want to make, you may need to make the coral in batches.
  2. Line your pieces of cardboard with wax paper. It is probably best if it is wrapped around the cardboard so it can be taped to the back, but do what you can.
  3. Lay the cardboard flat.
  4. Use the craft wire to make a general outline of the way you would like your coral to point. You can make various paths with the wire. Use pictures of black coral to lay out wire patterns generally copying those patters. Make sure to leave at least a little bit of a stem made from wire at the bottom.
  5. Spray the foam onto the wire, making sure to follow the patterns of the wires and not spray it in other directions. Stop spraying when moving the foam from one piece of wire to another piece. Do NOT spray any foam onto the stem you made with the wire.
  6. Let the foam dry on the flat surfaces. DO NOT MOVE THE SURFACES WITH THE FOAM ON THEM.
  7. While the foam is drying, you can choose the different colors of spray paint that you would like to paint each piece of coral.
  8. Once the foam is dry, remove them from the wax paper.
  9. Take the pieces of coral outside or to a well ventilated area and spray the spray paint on them until well covered on one side, making sure to get into all of the little cracks and crevices.
  10. Let the paint dry.
  11. Once the paint is dry, turn the coral decorations over.
  12. Spray paint the backs of the coral with your colors of choice, making sure to get into any little cracks and crevices.
  13. Let this paint dry.
  14. Once dry, you should have coral that has a stem that can easily be stuck into cardboard or Styrofoam on the stage in order to add to the scenery.


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Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and as an Amaazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am also a Wal-Mart affiliate and in the rare case I cannot find the product on Amazon, I can earn from those links. Please consider purchasing from my links as they help me to live and help me be able to write more content for you here.

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

How to Make Blue Coral Out of a Pool Noodle - Scenic Artists' Tips and Tricks

There are some sets, such as the one for The Little Mermaid that require you to have coral as set pieces. There are various ways of making coral. In this blog post, we are going to concentrate on making blue coral out of pool noodles.

Real blue coral.


This post focuses on making the blue coral out of pool noodles only. It does not focus on making the rest of the coral reef. You will need the following items.
  1. Blue pool noodles such as Fix Find 5 Pack of Blue Flexible Foam Pool Noodles.
  2. Heavy Duty Scissors such as Wiss Heavy Duty Scissors


  1. Using one pool noodle, decide how many parts you want the top to split into (kind of like deciding how many petals you'd want on a flower).
  2. Make one less vertical cut than the number desired all around from the top of the pool noodle down. You want to make sure that the pool noodle is never cut horizontally.
  3. Once this is done, use your hand to press down and spread the cut part of the pool noodle so the pieces stick out and spread out wider than the rest of the pool noodle.
  4. Now you can decide on the length that you want the rest of the coral to be and cut the pool noodle horizontally for where you would like so it is at the length you desire.


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Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and as an Amaazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am also a Wal-Mart affiliate and in the rare case I cannot find the product on Amazon, I can earn from those links. Please consider purchasing from my links as they help me to live and help me be able to write more content for you here.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

How to Create a Brick Wall Using Rectangular Sponges - Scenic Artists' Tips and Tricks

There are times that a set may need a brick wall. There are various methods to make this, but one of the easiest ways is by using rectangle sponges and paint.


A brick wall behind Paulina handing Gus Perdita in Leo's office from Yet Another Shakespeare Rewrite or The Winter's Tale for a Modern Day Audience.
  1. Make sure that your scenery is laying down flat. You want to lay your scenery on a flat surface so none of the paint drips downward.
  2. Use some scrap or a paint tray to create a place where sponges are dipped into paint. You may want to use a paint tray like Wooster Brush 11" Deluxe Plastic Tray.
  3. Decide on your paint colors and make a puddle of the colors together. Start with the color you want the most of and put that into a big puddle in the tray. Afterwards, drizzle amounts of the other colors that you want included in your bricks. If you want brick colored paints, you probably want to choose reds and browns and maybe some whites and grays. However, you may want some odd colored bricks.
  4. Dip your rectangular sponge (or sponges of the same size) into the paint. If you don't have any rectangular sponges, you may want to buy some like Blue Panda Synthetic Craft Sponges.
  5. Carefully apply the sponge or sponges to the scenery in a straight line with each sponge evenly spaced. If you don't want the wall to look perfect, you do not have to be extremely careful withthe placement of the bricks.
  6. On the next line, repeat the same process, but with the sponges starting at about the middle of the bricks above them.
  7. On the line after this, go back to the starting spot in distance from the edge of the scenery was from the first line and repeat the process on the third line.
  8. Repeat the process with this on the second line.
  9. Keep repeating the process for each line until the bottom of the scenery is reached.
  10. Add the grout color if desired. If you want it to look like grout is between the bricks, paint lines with the color paint of your choice between the sponge markings.
  11. Let the scenery dry.


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You can also give a one-time support by tipping at my my Ko-fi page. It is much appreciated and allows me to continue writing my blog instead of doing drudge work in order to make the little bit of money I can to afford to take time to write.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and as an Amaazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am also a Wal-Mart affiliate and in the rare case I cannot find the product on Amazon, I can earn from those links. Please consider purchasing from my links as they help me to live and help me be able to write more content for you here.

Monday, December 9, 2019

How to Figure Out How Many Stripes Are Needed on a Wall - Scenic Artists' Tips and Tricks

There may be sets when you need a striped wall. Sometimes, the number of stripes doesn't matter and they are only supposed to be a certain width. At those times, it doesn't matter if you know how many stripes are on the wall. However, there are times that you need to figure out how wide stripes should be for a wall because there are a certain number of stripes. If you need to do this, here is how it is done.


A striped wall.


Of course, this trick only works if you want your stripes to be of equal width. If you want stripes of different widths, that will take some more calculating.

Let's say that a script says that there are a series of pink and purple stripes on a wall with there being 11 pink stripes and 12 purple stripes.

  1. Find the total number of stripes. 12 pink stripes and 13 purple stripes give a total of 25 stripes.
  2. Find the height of the wall Use a tape measure such as the Komelon SM5425 Speed Mark Gripper to measure your wall from top to bottom.
  3. Divide the height of the wall by the number of stripes. If your wall happens to be 8' high, you then divide 8' by 25. This results in 0.32 feet. This value can be multiplied by 12 in order to get inches. That results in 3.84". You now know that each stripe will be 3.84".
  4. Mark your stripes with a pencil before painting them. Measure 3.84" from the top of the wall and make a straight line with a pencil such as these AmazonBasics Pre-sharpened Wood Pencils.
  5. Paint your stripes. Make sure that you paint the color of the odd numbered stripe at the very top of the wall. You can then skip the stripe afterward and continue the pattern. If you have more than one person painting, you can have that person start on painting the other color from the opposite side, making sure to start painting on the second stripe down.


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Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and as an Amaazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am also a Wal-Mart affiliate and in the rare case I cannot find the product on Amazon, I can earn from those links. Please consider purchasing from my links as they help me to live and help me be able to write more content for you here.

Sunday, December 8, 2019

How to Create Patterns with String and Paint Rollers - Scenic Artists' Tips and Tricks

Have you ever needed to paint a wall or a set piece with a pattern? You can always buy patterened paint rollers like this one: Garosa Texture Pattern Paint Roller Brush

However, if you have a paint roller and string, you can make your own patterned paint roller.


A textured wallpaper pattern
  1. Start with your basic paint roller. One like this will do: KingOrigin premium 4 inch Paint Roller Kit
  2. Next, wrap string or yarn around the paint roller in any pattern that you would like. You can make it evenly spaced or create odd patterns. You might want some yarn such as Lion Brand Tweed Yarn or string such as T.W Evans Cordage 12-250 Number-1 Braided Nylon Mason Line
  3. Once the string is wrapped on ther paint roller, put paint on the surface. Don't force it into places, but do make sure that it covers the roller and the string enough that it will paint. You may want to use paint such as Mshzf DIY 5D Diamond Painting Kit.
  4. You can put more than one color on the roller if you would like to have different colors. If not, stick with one color of paint.
  5. Make sure that you test out the pattern on a scrap of scenery or paper to make sure it turns out how you would like it to look.
  6. Now that you have made a patterned paint roller, you can paint walls or furniture with different patterns. You can always rearrange the yarn or string to make different patterns or create your own patterns with multiple paint rollers and not be limited to those that are on the market.


If you enjoy my content, please consider becoming one of my patrons through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheatreGeek where I will be sharing more in-depth content, answering your questions, sharing which types of software I use and how to find them, and more. By becoming my patron, you allow me to create more content about theatre and more theatrical content.

You can also give a one-time support by tipping at my my Ko-fi page. It is much appreciated and allows me to continue writing my blog instead of doing drudge work in order to make the little bit of money I can to afford to take time to write.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and as an Amaazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am also a Wal-Mart affiliate and in the rare case I cannot find the product on Amazon, I can earn from those links. Please consider purchasing from my links as they help me to live and help me be able to write more content for you here.

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Black Market Theatre Has Inchchieved Again

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is in Lake Charles for Two More Performances

A blonde woman stands on stage performing a concert. She gets angry at her backup singer and she spits in his face. This woman is named Hedwig and the backup singer is her husband, Yitzak.


This is not Hedwig, but it comes close to how she might look on some days.


However, not all is as it seems. At the beginning of the play, we learn that Hedwig wasn't originally a women. Hedwig was born a boy and named Hansel. Hansel only went through the sex change because at the time, when in love with an American soldier named Luther Robinson, but in communist East Germany, a full physical examination was needed for two people to get married. It was required that the couple was one male and one female. The doctor that performed the sex change operation botched it, so Hansel was now Hedwig, but everything was botched. On their first aniversary, Luther left Hedwig for a man who was still physically in tact.

As the audience, we are watching Hedwig tell her story in a concert on stage. She is following a rock star, Tommy Gnosis, who she helped with his career by writing good songs. He never gives her any credit at his concerts.

It works as long as you remember that in theatre, you have to have a willing suspension of disbelief. In this case, you have to believe that you could hear a crowd all the way from the Isle of Capri casino in Westlake to downtown Lake Charles.

Joey Boyette plays Hedwig. He is amazing as a performer, always engaging with the audience. If nobody knew that it was Joey playing Hedwig, it would be extremely believable with the person being seen before hearing the story is actually a woman. There is a backup band and I am sorry that I do not have the names of the people in the band.

The venue of Crystal's Downtown works well for the play as it is perfect for a place where a little concert might take place on a little stage. The one problem, which tends to be a problem in all venues where theatre is held and there is not a proper place for a band such as an orchestra pit, is that the music from the band often overpowers the person or people who are speaking or singing.

However, with the basic knowledge of the play and watching Hedwig, it is fairly obvious what is happening the entire time. The play was directed to Jessa Theriot Lormand and it can be seen two more times in Lake Charles.

The play can be seen at Crystal's Downtown (720 Ryan St. Lake Charles, LA 70601). There is parking in the lot on Broad St. which will have a back entrance to Crystal's. This show is only for those who are 18 years of age and older. You can get tickets at Black Market Theatre's Yapsody Site. The two times that the play can be seen again are as follows:
  • Friday, December 13, 2019 at 7:30pm
  • Saturday, December 14, 2019 at 7:30pm


If you enjoy my content, please consider becoming one of my patrons through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheatreGeek where I will be sharing more in-depth content, answering your questions, sharing which types of software I use and how to find them, and more. By becoming my patron, you allow me to create more content about theatre and more theatrical content.

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Thursday, December 5, 2019

Schlepitchka - Scenic Artists' Tips and Tricks

Have you ever needed to create a quick background for wallpaper or greenery? Has it been difficult to find the exact technique to accomplish this?



What you probably want is schlepitchka. This technique uses a feather duster to create the background for the wanted scenery. If you'd like to create your background fairly quickly, you are going to need the following things.



Now you can get started:
  1. Pick your three base colors of paint. These will most likely be in the same color family, but that will be up to you and the design that you want.
  2. Start by dipping your feather duster into the darkest color paint
  3. Flog the duster on the scrap plywood two or three times to remove excess paint.
  4. Apply the feather duster to the scenery by lightly dropping or dainbbing the feathers onto the background and turning the feather duster in your hand each time you drop it and each time you pick it up.
  5. Make sure that you move the feather duster to a different spot each time.
  6. Cover as much of the scenery as wanted and needed.
  7. If you only have one feather duster, you may want to wash it.
  8. When done with the darkest color, repeat steps 1-7, with the middle color.
  9. When done with the middle color, repeat steps 1-7 with the lightest color.
  10. Let your scenery dry.
  11. Once dry, you should have scenery that has the start of your wallpaper or plant background.


You can see the technique in the following video.

Schlepitchka from Jeff McLaughlin on Vimeo.



You can read more about using the technique of schlepitchka at this article by Jamie Clausius at Rosco Spectrum.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate and as an Amaazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am also a Wal-Mart affiliate and in the rare case I cannot find the product on Amazon, I can earn from those links. Please consider purchasing from my links as they help me to live and help me be able to write more content for you here.

If you enjoy my content, please consider becoming one of my patrons through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheatreGeek where I will be sharing more in-depth content, answering your questions, sharing which types of software I use and how to find them, and more. By becoming my patron, you allow me to create more content about theatre and more theatrical content.

You can also give a one-time support by tipping at my my Ko-fi page. It is much appreciated and allows me to continue writing my blog instead of doing drudge work in order to make the little bit of money I can to afford to take time to write.