Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Willy Wonka Jr.

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Topper
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Posted: 1/24/08 at 4:02pm

To zap Mike Teavee, you could rely on the cheap trick of blasting bright lights directly at the audience. This would force everyone to blink and turn their heads, while the actor ducked behind a scrim or set piece.

Then, use a strobe light and electronic SFX for the transfer and -- once the lighting has stabilized -- have a small marionette, hand-puppet or finger-puppet inside the hollowed-out fake TV with the actor's voice from a tape or microphone offstage.

(A finger puppet would allow Mrs. Teavee to remove the child and stuff him in her purse, as well).

"None of us really grow up. All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone

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alleah13
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Posted: 2/04/08 at 6:20pm

We're working on Wonka Jr as well... The one thing I highly recommend is a moving platform (we are building two 4x4foot platforms with casters) that we can use for the grandparents bed, and then the pink candy boat.

We're going to do the chocolate river with the fabric as well and either use a fans or 2 stage hands on either wing billowing it up and down.

Violet: Inflatable Sumo Suit with blue/violet light hitting it. I think we're going to slip her into it during her song while Wonka is singing his part.

Veruca: Don't know how we're doing that yet.

Fizzy Lifting Sequence. One of the Dad's is pretty handy so we're going to fashion a "backdrop" scene that comes down from the ceiling to simulate them floating. We're going to combine it with lighting (spot?) with a paddle in front of it so it keeps shading the light to simulate the fan they're getting sucked up into. Combine that with the bubbles and I'm hoping we get a pretty good effect. Also, we're going to make Charlie & Grandpa "teeter" a little like on a mini seesaw so it looks like they're flying. If you can't bring them up to the ceiling, we're going to bring the ceiling down to them.

Pink Candy Boat: We're going to use the platform I mentioned above and make the side/front of the boat with cardboard. The kids that will be on the open sided end will be able to keep their feet on the floor to help scoot it along, or we'll put a hook on the bottom so we can pull it back.

Mike: PVC frame with cardboard around the edge to make it look like an oversized tv with fabric for the screen (big enough that a kid can jump into it) on one side of the stage. And then a "Ken doll" outfitted the same as our character inside the "little tv" on the other side of the stage.

I'm up for more ideas. Our show isn't until the end of April.

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Nyria
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Posted: 2/18/08 at 5:35pm

This thread has me a little freaked out! I was thinking of doing this show next year, thinking that the Jr. version would be a little easier... perhpaps not.

We did Willy Wonka (full version) when I was a teen and all I remember about the blueberry was that they rolled a giant earth ball onto the stage. I don't know how they did it - - if they took her off and then put it on - if they had fake arms, legs and head coming out? I remember it looked cool but I don't remember why - soory =)

NYRIA

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sawith2000
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Posted: 2/19/08 at 8:04am

I recently posted a question asking for suggestions on how to do the special affects for Willy Wonka Jr. First off, thanks to everyone who weighed in, all of your suggestions were creative and helpful.

Second, I thought I would share what we have come up with...I have a great team of folks who have really embraced this project.

For Violet, we got a child size blow up sumo wrestlers suit and cut the legs down to the knees. One of my stage Dads hobby is flying radio control airplanes and he has rigged up a remote control to inflate the costume from the audience. We will be testing it this thursday. I will let you know how it turns out.

For the Mike Teavea scene, we are building a huge tv for him to jump into and then we are using a big flat screen tv that we are going to record the rest of the scene and play it. We will then pick up a barbie sized doll of him and carry him off.

The chocolate river will be long pieces of brown fabric controlled by Oompa's.

Hope this inspires all of you to get creative!

Thanks again for all of your advice and suggestions.

Susan

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oldwestend
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Posted: 2/21/08 at 10:07pm

In my google search for Wonka Jr. costumes, I happened upon this forum. Thanks for the great suggestions. I am producing Wonka Jr. (first time flying solo on this) for a middle school. I am going to try the sumo outfit for Veruca. A local costume shop had an inflating innertube dress- and it looked awful, didn't lay right- not at all cute.

Here's what we have come up with:

For fizzy lifting- we are building a platform that is on a flat. It will have a back wall attached to it. I found "bubble" wallpaper (from Disney- just google disney bubble wallpaper) and we are papering the back wall and the front of the platform. With the addition of a bubble machine, I think we will get the desired effect.

For the boat- we built an open bottomed frame, then cut the shape out of luan for the front and back. It looks like a long chinese junk. It is on wheels , and the cast "walks" it across the stage. It sounds weird, but they have their behinds resting against a wooden brace so it looks like their sitting. With so many of them in the boat, they just shuffle their feet and it moves.

Has anyone attempted the Light boxes that the director's script calls for?

I have always loved this book, but this is one of the most difficult builds we have ever done. Last year we did Seussical- very easy-

Good luck to everyone

new2thescene

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Laurie Eager
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Posted: 2/22/08 at 11:57am

For the light boxes we painted light-weight wooden signs black and had a sign shop cut the names out of gold lettering. We drilled evenly spaced holes around the edges and screwed in a strip of 1" lights (Christmas ball lights from Target) They are suspended above the stage by chain and our stage crew lights each one on cue. They look great.

For the bubble room: We painted our backdrop silver and glued on circles cut from bubble wrap, circles cut from silvery wrapping paper and silver Christmas balls of various sizes along with tiny "bubbles" that are those flat-sided glass stones you get at the craft store. We have Charlie and grandpa on a teeter-totter (loved that idea from another post) and 6 Oompa Loompas on stage hand-blowing bubbles into the scene. We are an elementary school and the effect is just right for our cast.

Laurie

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oldwestend
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Posted: 2/23/08 at 12:02pm

Love the teeter totter idea, and the bubble wrap- thanks!

new2thescene

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dwhitson
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Posted: 2/26/08 at 4:11pm

Hi, Everyone,

We are almost to "Heck Week" and I thought that I would post the solutions we came up with. If anyone is in Hartland, MI on March 14th or 15th, come see the show.

Violet- The sumo suit didn't work for us. We couldn't find a costume material light enough to allow the sumo suit to inflate underneath. My brilliant costume designer, and her engineer husband, used (of all things) large, black, duct taped garbage bags and a pancake air compressor. We fill the compressor before the show so it's ready. We then attach the "suit" to the compressor via a hidden Oompa. I don't know if the connector is a bike valve or what. I'll find out and post again. We are then hitting her with a blue spot.

Fizzy lifting- We are renting a bubble machine from another local theater group. We are liffting the kids with harnasses and a pulley. Fun!

The boat- Is on a rolling platform with framed sides that are covered with muslin and painted. We used LOTS of heavy duty, ball-bearing casters underneath. That was the key to it all because of the weight of the kids. There are two oompas sitting backwards and hidden in the back of the boat that push the boat with their feet. We used the front tire and handle bars from a bike in the front to steer the boat.

Light boxes- I wish I would have read the previous post earlier! I would have used your idea. We have built boxes and put plexi glass in the front of them. We have Christmas lights inside to light them up. This took way too long for the effect.

Our gobstopper machine is amazing. We have a dad in the pnuematic industry who built a machine that moves via pnuematic cylinders. It even has a conveyor belt that pops out the gobstopper with the press of a button. Way cool! We covered it with fabric like the original movie. It occured to me, however, that we could have put a few small Oompas under there with sticks and had the same effect. But, it was fun to do.

It's so great that we get such creative minds in community theater!

I hope this post helps. Good luck, everyone, with your own productions. Break a leg!

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machines01
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Posted: 2/28/08 at 9:13am

Hi-

For Verucas costume we found a blowup halloween costume called the Wacky tourist and it has it's own battery operated fan to blow it up. It owrks in about 30 sec. We are using a big powderpuff to apply the blue eye shadow during the choreography of the Chew It! Song.

Also I am needing a good suggestion for the nut room. We have built a platform about 4' tall and 40' long with stair on either and and a ramp in the middle for the kids to access the stage floor. This gives us heighth for "falling" in to the choco river and for Veruca and Mr Salt to fall in the chute. I have the choco river done, I am stuck on how to create the "floor" for the chute.

We have a VERY large stage so most of my set is big! But cool!

I am up for suggestions!

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Laurie Eager
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Posted: 3/03/08 at 12:26am

Our show ran 2/28 and 2/29 and was a grand success. For the pink candy boat - we just had the kids stand behind the boat and sway as if it were moving - also added moving lights to enhance the effect. We had dozens of Oompa Loompas and divided them into 4 "teams" each done in its own color. Good luck to all the other chocolate factories out there!

Laurie

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Set Design and Construction
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Set Design and Construction

Topic: Willy Wonka Jr.( Topic Closed)
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Author	Message
Topper Celebrity Joined: 1/27/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 543	Posted: 1/24/08 at 4:02pm
	To zap Mike Teavee, you could rely on the cheap trick of blasting bright lights directly at the audience. This would force everyone to blink and turn their heads, while the actor ducked behind a scrim or set piece. Then, use a strobe light and electronic SFX for the transfer and -- once the lighting has stabilized -- have a small marionette, hand-puppet or finger-puppet inside the hollowed-out fake TV with the actor's voice from a tape or microphone offstage. (A finger puppet would allow Mrs. Teavee to remove the child and stuff him in her purse, as well).
	"None of us really grow up. All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone
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alleah13 Walk-On Joined: 2/04/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/04/08 at 6:20pm
	We're working on Wonka Jr as well... The one thing I highly recommend is a moving platform (we are building two 4x4foot platforms with casters) that we can use for the grandparents bed, and then the pink candy boat. We're going to do the chocolate river with the fabric as well and either use a fans or 2 stage hands on either wing billowing it up and down. Violet: Inflatable Sumo Suit with blue/violet light hitting it. I think we're going to slip her into it during her song while Wonka is singing his part. Veruca: Don't know how we're doing that yet. Fizzy Lifting Sequence. One of the Dad's is pretty handy so we're going to fashion a "backdrop" scene that comes down from the ceiling to simulate them floating. We're going to combine it with lighting (spot?) with a paddle in front of it so it keeps shading the light to simulate the fan they're getting sucked up into. Combine that with the bubbles and I'm hoping we get a pretty good effect. Also, we're going to make Charlie & Grandpa "teeter" a little like on a mini seesaw so it looks like they're flying. If you can't bring them up to the ceiling, we're going to bring the ceiling down to them. Pink Candy Boat: We're going to use the platform I mentioned above and make the side/front of the boat with cardboard. The kids that will be on the open sided end will be able to keep their feet on the floor to help scoot it along, or we'll put a hook on the bottom so we can pull it back. Mike: PVC frame with cardboard around the edge to make it look like an oversized tv with fabric for the screen (big enough that a kid can jump into it) on one side of the stage. And then a "Ken doll" outfitted the same as our character inside the "little tv" on the other side of the stage. I'm up for more ideas. Our show isn't until the end of April.
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Nyria Celebrity Joined: 1/20/05 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 157	Posted: 2/18/08 at 5:35pm
	This thread has me a little freaked out! I was thinking of doing this show next year, thinking that the Jr. version would be a little easier... perhpaps not. We did Willy Wonka (full version) when I was a teen and all I remember about the blueberry was that they rolled a giant earth ball onto the stage. I don't know how they did it - - if they took her off and then put it on - if they had fake arms, legs and head coming out? I remember it looked cool but I don't remember why - soory =)
	NYRIA
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sawith2000 Walk-On Joined: 1/09/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/19/08 at 8:04am
	I recently posted a question asking for suggestions on how to do the special affects for Willy Wonka Jr. First off, thanks to everyone who weighed in, all of your suggestions were creative and helpful. Second, I thought I would share what we have come up with...I have a great team of folks who have really embraced this project. For Violet, we got a child size blow up sumo wrestlers suit and cut the legs down to the knees. One of my stage Dads hobby is flying radio control airplanes and he has rigged up a remote control to inflate the costume from the audience. We will be testing it this thursday. I will let you know how it turns out. For the Mike Teavea scene, we are building a huge tv for him to jump into and then we are using a big flat screen tv that we are going to record the rest of the scene and play it. We will then pick up a barbie sized doll of him and carry him off. The chocolate river will be long pieces of brown fabric controlled by Oompa's. Hope this inspires all of you to get creative! Thanks again for all of your advice and suggestions. Susan
	Susan
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oldwestend Walk-On Joined: 2/21/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/21/08 at 10:07pm
	In my google search for Wonka Jr. costumes, I happened upon this forum. Thanks for the great suggestions. I am producing Wonka Jr. (first time flying solo on this) for a middle school. I am going to try the sumo outfit for Veruca. A local costume shop had an inflating innertube dress- and it looked awful, didn't lay right- not at all cute. Here's what we have come up with: For fizzy lifting- we are building a platform that is on a flat. It will have a back wall attached to it. I found "bubble" wallpaper (from Disney- just google disney bubble wallpaper) and we are papering the back wall and the front of the platform. With the addition of a bubble machine, I think we will get the desired effect. For the boat- we built an open bottomed frame, then cut the shape out of luan for the front and back. It looks like a long chinese junk. It is on wheels , and the cast "walks" it across the stage. It sounds weird, but they have their behinds resting against a wooden brace so it looks like their sitting. With so many of them in the boat, they just shuffle their feet and it moves. Has anyone attempted the Light boxes that the director's script calls for? I have always loved this book, but this is one of the most difficult builds we have ever done. Last year we did Seussical- very easy- Good luck to everyone
	new2thescene
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Laurie Eager Walk-On Joined: 1/19/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/22/08 at 11:57am
	For the light boxes we painted light-weight wooden signs black and had a sign shop cut the names out of gold lettering. We drilled evenly spaced holes around the edges and screwed in a strip of 1" lights (Christmas ball lights from Target) They are suspended above the stage by chain and our stage crew lights each one on cue. They look great. For the bubble room: We painted our backdrop silver and glued on circles cut from bubble wrap, circles cut from silvery wrapping paper and silver Christmas balls of various sizes along with tiny "bubbles" that are those flat-sided glass stones you get at the craft store. We have Charlie and grandpa on a teeter-totter (loved that idea from another post) and 6 Oompa Loompas on stage hand-blowing bubbles into the scene. We are an elementary school and the effect is just right for our cast.
	Laurie
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oldwestend Walk-On Joined: 2/21/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/23/08 at 12:02pm
	Love the teeter totter idea, and the bubble wrap- thanks!
	new2thescene
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dwhitson Walk-On Joined: 1/20/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/26/08 at 4:11pm
	Hi, Everyone, We are almost to "Heck Week" and I thought that I would post the solutions we came up with. If anyone is in Hartland, MI on March 14th or 15th, come see the show. Violet- The sumo suit didn't work for us. We couldn't find a costume material light enough to allow the sumo suit to inflate underneath. My brilliant costume designer, and her engineer husband, used (of all things) large, black, duct taped garbage bags and a pancake air compressor. We fill the compressor before the show so it's ready. We then attach the "suit" to the compressor via a hidden Oompa. I don't know if the connector is a bike valve or what. I'll find out and post again. We are then hitting her with a blue spot. Fizzy lifting- We are renting a bubble machine from another local theater group. We are liffting the kids with harnasses and a pulley. Fun! The boat- Is on a rolling platform with framed sides that are covered with muslin and painted. We used LOTS of heavy duty, ball-bearing casters underneath. That was the key to it all because of the weight of the kids. There are two oompas sitting backwards and hidden in the back of the boat that push the boat with their feet. We used the front tire and handle bars from a bike in the front to steer the boat. Light boxes- I wish I would have read the previous post earlier! I would have used your idea. We have built boxes and put plexi glass in the front of them. We have Christmas lights inside to light them up. This took way too long for the effect. Our gobstopper machine is amazing. We have a dad in the pnuematic industry who built a machine that moves via pnuematic cylinders. It even has a conveyor belt that pops out the gobstopper with the press of a button. Way cool! We covered it with fabric like the original movie. It occured to me, however, that we could have put a few small Oompas under there with sticks and had the same effect. But, it was fun to do. It's so great that we get such creative minds in community theater! I hope this post helps. Good luck, everyone, with your own productions. Break a leg!
	IP Logged

machines01 Walk-On Joined: 2/13/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/28/08 at 9:13am
	Hi- For Verucas costume we found a blowup halloween costume called the Wacky tourist and it has it's own battery operated fan to blow it up. It owrks in about 30 sec. We are using a big powderpuff to apply the blue eye shadow during the choreography of the Chew It! Song. Also I am needing a good suggestion for the nut room. We have built a platform about 4' tall and 40' long with stair on either and and a ramp in the middle for the kids to access the stage floor. This gives us heighth for "falling" in to the choco river and for Veruca and Mr Salt to fall in the chute. I have the choco river done, I am stuck on how to create the "floor" for the chute. We have a VERY large stage so most of my set is big! But cool! I am up for suggestions!
	IP Logged

Laurie Eager Walk-On Joined: 1/19/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 3/03/08 at 12:26am
	Our show ran 2/28 and 2/29 and was a grand success. For the pink candy boat - we just had the kids stand behind the boat and sway as if it were moving - also added moving lights to enhance the effect. We had dozens of Oompa Loompas and divided them into 4 "teams" each done in its own color. Good luck to all the other chocolate factories out there!
	Laurie
	IP Logged