From THE LION KING to LIFE OF PI: A Recent History of Puppets on Stage

Threre are so many ways to tell a story on stage. From costumes, to set, to lighting, to sound, each element of a production helps bring the words off the page, immersing the audience into the world of the show. One of the most innovative and creative ways to tell a story on stage is through the use of puppets! From the hand puppet in Hand to God, to the life-like horse in War Horse, BroadwayWorld has your roundup of a recent history of puppets on stage!

The Lion King

The Lion King features co-puppet design by Julie Taymor and Michael Curry. There are more than 232 puppets in the show, including rod puppets, shadow puppets and full-sized puppets. The Lion King features 25 kinds of animals, including birds, insects, and fish. The expression of the animals is amplified by what Taymor referred to as the "double event", in which the animals are represented through puppets, costumes, and masks, while the actor still remains visible to the audience. The actors operate as one with the puppets; the actors playing giraffes walk on stilts, and the acotrs playing Mufasa and Scar wear mechanical headpieces that can be raised and lowered. Characters including Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu and the hyenas, are portrayed by actors in life-sized puppets or costumes.

Avenue Q

Avenue Q consists of three human characters and 11 puppet characters who interact with them Sesame Street style. The puppets are animated and voiced by puppeteers who are on stage and visible to the audience. The illusion that the puppets are "alive" is generated through the puppeteers' plain gray clothing, contrasted against the human characters' colorful costumes, as well as the human characters and the puppets ignoring the puppeteers onstage. A puppet might be operated by different puppeteers in different scenes, and the actor voicing the puppet may not be the one animating it. One puppeteer sometimes voices two or more puppets at the same time.

War Horse

War Horse featured life-size horse puppets by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa. The movements of the horse was choreographed by Toby Sedgwick. The puppet that represents the horse, Joey, was operated by three puppeteers, with the puppeteers creating the horse noises themselves. The puppeteer at the head of Joey used bicycle brake levers to rotate and move the ears of the puppet to indicate when the horse is afraid or angry, the puppeteer at the heart controlled the up and down movement expressing the breath of the horse, and the puppeteer at the hind operated the tail using a lever.

Frozen

In Frozen, Kristoff's lovable reindeer Sven was designed by Michael Curry. Sven is portrayed by one actor at a time, though due to the toll the role takes on the body, Sven is played by two actors who rotate performances. The actor operates Sven from inside the puppet. Sven's head is made out of carbon-fiber composite, his body is shaped by foam covered with silk, and his hooves are a rubber-coated foam sculpture mounted around aluminum and stainless-steel orthopedic braces. The performer inside wears a full-body wicking suit, a carbon-fiber head mount, knee and elbow pads, biking gloves, and a mouth guard. The performer moves on all fours, and is onstage for 40 minutes of the show. Sven's head pivots thanks to a system that connects to the peformer's head and body, and his eyes move due to a cable that connects the performer's hand. The performer's left hand is connectedd to a cable that moves Sven's ears.

King Kong

The puppet Kong was designed by Sonny Tilders. The puppet was 20 feet tall and weighed 2,400 pounds. Engineered, designed and built by Global Creature Technology in West Melbourne, Australia, it was the largest puppet ever created for the stage. The puppet, held up by a 17-ton crane above the stage, contained 16 microprocessors that gave Kong motion and emotions. His limb were made of inflatable tubes, and his chest was made of an airbag-like material. 13 perfomers controlled the puppet; 10 on stage, and 3 off stage controlling his larger facial movements and voice. The performers wore black and were hidden from view of the audience, operating ropes which were connected to Kong's limbs.

Hand to God

Puppets are a central part of the plot in Hand to God: In the religious, small Texas town of Cypress, Margery, a recent widow, is asked by her minister, Pastor Greg, to run the puppet club. The members of the club include Margery's teenage son Jason, Jason's crush, Jessica, and neighborhood trouble maker, Timmy. But things get out of hand when Jason's puppet, Tyrone, takes on a life of his own, announces that he is Satan, leads them into sin, and expresses the characters' secrets. The hand puppets in Hand to God were designed by Marte Johanne Ekhougen.

Little Shop of Horrors

Little Shop of Horrors features Audrey II at its center, a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. In the original 1982 Off-Broadway production, the Audrey II puppet was designed and operated by Martin P. Robinson. The current Off-Broadway production is based on designs by Nicholas Mahon, and is formed from fiberglass, foam, and fabric. Audrey II features an Audrey II voice actor, puppeteer, and manipulator. Four plants are used onstage, and as the play progresses Audrey II goes from a foot tall to the size of a small car.

Spirited Away

The stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki's iconic 'Spirited Away' in Tokyo featured puppets designed by Toby Olié to recreate the creatures and characters from the world of the film. More than 20 performers animated the puppets. There were many puppets created for the show, but the most complicated puppted was Haku's dragon form, which was nearly 20 feet long, and featured a trigger for a snarl and another to pull his ears back.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi is centered around a shipwrecked teenager, sharing his lifeboat with animals from his family's zoo in India. All of the animals in Life of Pi, species of which include hyena, rat, zebra, orangutan, and tiger, are brought to life with puppets, designed by Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell. The puppets are based on driftwood, and are made from the lightweight material plastozote. Research included watching videos of the animals that were going to be animated on stage, and learning why and how the animals made the sounds they make, as well as animal psychology, and their emotional responses. Three puppeteers control the tiger Richard Parker, and at one point in the show, 11 puppeteers are used in one sequence.