Betsy Stewart
Properties Coordinator and Fabricator
The Fantasticks
El Gallo - Josh Smith The Mute - Suzie Baer Luisa (The girl) - Rachel Williams Matt - (The boy) Ben Peter Bellomy (The girl's Father) - Kirby Wood Hucklebee (The boy's Mother) - Cathy Berggren Henry (The old actor) - Ian Wallin Mortimer (The man who dies) - Zach Sain
The umbrella for this scene had streamers attached to look like rain.
This crystal ball was one of the many props pulled from storage.
El Gallo - Josh Smith The Mute - Suzie Baer Luisa (The girl) - Rachel Williams Matt - (The boy) Ben Peter Bellomy (The girl's Father) - Kirby Wood Hucklebee (The boy's Mother) - Cathy Berggren Henry (The old actor) - Ian Wallin Mortimer (The man who dies) - Zach Sain
Photos by Crystal D Photography
This show was produced in the spring of 2019 at The Duluth Playhouse Underground Theater. For this show, most of the props needed to be grabbed from the prop closet as is to give the show the feel of a low budget and being thrown together. However, I was able to be creative with fabrication with props like the umbrella for the song Soon it's Gonna Rain and the and the purple mask for Round and Round.
Director and Music Director: Christine Winkler-Johnson
Stage Manager: Sarah Phillips
Piano: Nathan Olson and Beth Brophy
Choreography: Suzie Baer
Prop Design: Betsy Stewart
Costume Design: Cheryl Skafte
Scenic Design: Collaboration
Lighting Design: Patrick Mulcahy
The mask is made of brown construction paper and wallpaper glue for a light, paper mâché feel. multiple layers were set on a life cast which I adjusted with clay to make it fit the actor's face. Once the eyes were cut outing a smiling shape, more paper and glue was added around the seams to prevent fraying and give a smooth finish.
The mask was lightly sanded and primed with white acrylic paint.
The final product! The mask is designed to make the wearer look overwhelmingly happy so I made sure the eye holes were the eyebrows were raised and the cheeks were a vibrant pink shade. The stick and feathers are added with hot glue which somehow survived being swung around during the song. The actor claimed the mask fit her well which is exciting!
The mask is made of brown construction paper and wallpaper glue for a light, paper mâché feel. multiple layers were set on a life cast which I adjusted with clay to make it fit the actor's face. Once the eyes were cut outing a smiling shape, more paper and glue was added around the seams to prevent fraying and give a smooth finish.
Interesting Challenges
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A mask for the song Round and Round was constructed from scratch using techniques I learned from a Costume Construction project.
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Various other props were creatively altered including adding streamers to the umbrella.