Tag Archives: Emily DeCola

Friday Rehearsal Notes

Tony Swatton, who we’ve seen on this blog before, has a new video where he builds a set of Wolverine’s claws from scratch. They are 18-gauge steel, and they are SHARP!

Vermont Public Radio has a story on 50 years of the Bread and Puppet Theatre. I first saw these guys around 1998 or so, and again just last year. Their performances are fun but compelling, and the design and construction of their puppets have almost certainly influenced many contemporary puppeteers.

Speaking of puppets, a few months ago, puppeteer Emily DeCola, of Puppet Kitchen, was struck by a cyclist while crossing the street. Her injuries left her with crazy medical bills and the loss of her sense of smell. Her fellow puppeteers have organized a puppet cabaret fundraising event for her TONIGHT, so if you’re in New York City, why not check it out? If not, you can always donate to the cause. Emily worked on a number of shows while I was at the Public Theater and Shakespeare in the Park, and her work is always amazing.

Propnomicon pointed me to this great two-part tutorial on making a shrunken head. It steps through the molding, casting and finishing of a clay model.

Finally, enjoy this small collection of 19th-century collector cards featuring various trades, such as woodworking and blacksmithing.

In the Wings – Props

American Theatre Wing, the organization best known as the founder of the Tony Awards, has an ongoing feature called “In the Wings“. It’s a series of short videos which highlight people in different backstage roles. The latest video highlights a prop master.

Desiree Maurer
Desiree Maurer

Desiree Maurer is the prop master at Playwrights Horizon here in New York City. Incidentally, she had my position as Assistant Props Master at the Public Theater before that.

The video series are a great look on all the different aspects of what goes into making a theatre run. I also suggest checking out the one on Ruth Sternberg, production manager. Ruth is our production manager at the Public, and the video shows a lot of clips from shows I’ve worked on there. You can also catch a brief cameo of me in this video when she is checking out the bird puppets for Winter’s Tale.

Ruth Sternberg
Ruth Sternberg

Martha Donaldson is a frequent stage manager here as well, and in the “In the Wings” episode on stage management, we see her working on our production of The Bacchae from 2009.

Martha Donaldson
Martha Donaldson

Finally, I’d like to point you to the episode on puppetry design with Emily DeCola. Not only is she part of the fantastic Puppet Kitchen and great fun to work with, but she’s one of the puppeteers on our upcoming production of Compulsion, which starts tech today.

Emily DeCola
Emily DeCola