King Kong arrives next month as the title character, and the one constant, in a $35 million musical which has been in development for nearly a decade, churning through scripts, songs and creative teams as the producers try to shape a show worthy of their title character.
7 comments:
I recently saw the video clip of King Kong on facebook and was really impressed. This article includes many beautiful pictures of the puppet, but also the description is really interesting to read. I like that instead of using the term puppet designer, they called the creator the creature designer. King Kong is clearly more than just a puppet, so the term creature designer, even though a little different than the standards, is fitting. I think the way puppetry has been used in theater is really incredible. I saw Warhorse when it was at Lincoln Center and the horses were really magical in the way they were so life like. With how well that show did with puppets I do think this is going to be a good production. Seeing images of King Kong really shows how well it has been created because of the level of detail, and the range of movement it has. I think this for sure has a great opportunity to take place onstage even though the thought of showing a giant monkey scaling a building on stage is a little crazy.
I am so excited to see King Kong. While am I unsure whether the actual script will be good or not, I am so excited to see it for this puppet. I am very into big spectacles and this is 100% a HUGE spectacle. Just like Spiderman, this show will have huge publicity for the puppet. I think that King Kong being operated by people instead of just automation will change the show. The shows puppetry is sorta of similar to war horse and just with that show you saw people controlling the puppet. Another impressive feat is that the show played in Australia but they decided to change the show and work on Kong even more. This show will be making history for what they are doing with Kong and I’m so excited to see what they come up with. One major question I have is where is Kong going to be set backstage? Also what will happen if they have to stop the show, can Kong just stop? I cannot wait to see this.
I saw a video of the King Kong puppet on Facebook earlier this week and was blown away. The performers that make up the ‘King’s Company’ definitely add to the puppet’s energy, and I loved watching them work. The detail that went into creating such an important piece of this show is astounding, and they are completely right about his eyes. King Kong does have very sad eyes that pull you in. The fact that he has such realistic expressions deepens this. It almost feels weird for me to call him a puppet because he looks so lifelike. I was never a huge fan of the movie, but now seeing what a magnificent puppet these designers have brought to life, I am eagerly anticipating the opening of this production. What intrigues me the most is that apparently the puppet can do everything it needs to in order to carry out its role, including lifting people and climbing. How will it do this? If we’re lucky, Playbill.com will do a behind the scenes vlog and they’ll spill more secrets there. I can’t wait to see how this goes!
I find it so interesting that this huge, 20 ft puppet, which is supposed to be a huge, terrifying wild beast has been so beautifully crafted and made to showcase very real emotions, and bring more depth to the classic King Kong story. I have always been so incredibly fascinated by puppets, and especially how creators opt into using puppets in order to better convey a story or character. In ninth grade I had to learn about Bunraku puppetry (one of the influences mentioned in the article) and I remember being very interested in the fact that a single puppet would be controlled by so many people, and these people were incredibly well trained and were as much of the puppet as the object itself. Watching the videos of the Kong puppet, and seeing the ensemble dash in and out of the puppet body made me really appreciate the work that puppeteers do. Their work is an extension of themselves, but they remain invisible to the audience's eye: all they can see is the puppet. Not that it would be very difficult for Kong to maintain attention from the audience at all. I hope that all audiences who go to see this performance can not only appreciate the music, and storyline, but the hard work of the puppeteers that bring this modern Kong to life.
Wow. Honestly, I don’t really even know what to say about this. I cannot believe the creativity and craftsmanship that went into creating such a wonderful character for this show. Every day I see theatre artists pushing the boundaries of what everyone thought was possible and when they do they come up with incredible results. Kong is a perfect example of the way technology and art and coming together and the results of that are amazing. This giant puppet has introduced the world to so many skilled artists both those that created it and those that are operating it. The amount of people that went into making it come to life is astonishing, and the recognition that all of them have that it is not a one-person job and they are all working together to create something great is so important. Watching the operators work and move the puppet is incredible, it is very much a choreographed dance combined with the technical operation from off stage. After watching it a couple times I stop noticing the people and only notice the movement of this creature that they have created and it is incredible.
How life-like this animatronic looks and moves is insane! Everything from the eyelids, to the brow ridge, and mouth articulation is incredibly expressive and must’ve taken an insane amount of work to get it to appear so fluid and natural. Even the way the body moves with the use of human puppeteering on the rest of the creature. It reminds me a lot of a video I saw a while back (and some picture of that which Tsu showed in class) of a tall puppet of a young girl who was moved by a bunch of people running around pulling ropes and making her walk and move around she was alive. Of course, it didn’t have the same kind of facial advanced animatronics as this King Kong puppet, but it was similarly realistic. Now, the idea of taking a gigantic monster of a puppet and putting it onstage in a musical is crazy! Like they said in the article, “it doesn’t look like it belongs in there” and I think that just adds to the effect of the huge ape. Watching the video amazes me every time, and just makes me think that maybe someday I’ll be able to be a part of the creation of something as impressive like this too.
I'm EXTREMELY impressed by the construction and craftsmanship behind the King Kong puppet they're created for this show. I have always been a huge fan of The Lion King, because of the props and puppets the incorporate into the show. Kong, however, looks so much more realistic and I'm really amazed at how the built him. Not only do I think they achieved their goals of keeping him "animal-like," but they were able to give him so much emotion (especially in his eyes) which, on a large scale, is so important. I can’t help but wonder what it would have been like to be apart of the creative team that had the opportunity to design and construct this giant puppet—that is literally my dream! I’m interested to see how the puppeteers are incorporated into the show/how obvious it is that they are there. I really want to see this show to be able to see how the Kong puppet looks and interacts with the rest of the cast and set.
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