Tag Archives: Guthrie Theater

Useful Sites

A Special Tuesday Props Links

You may have noticed these posts have gotten a bit sporadic lately.  I’m not busier than before, but my mornings have become much less predictable, which is when I do most of my writing. I should be getting back on track soon as I adapt to my new life.

From Goodwill to Home Depot: Where the Guthrie Theater gets its props – Fantastic little article about Rebecca Jo Malmstrom, the Guthrie’s props shopper and fabricator. It’s always nice to see the different roles and in a props shop get some attention.

R is for Robot – Cinefex blog takes a look at the history of robots on film, from early costumes and stop motion, to today’s marriage of motion-capture and CGI.

30 Days Until Halloween: The Home and Family Yard Design – Though we’re already halfway through October, it’s not too late to catch up with Dave Lowe’s Halloween project. Every year, he creates a massive outdoor Halloween display for the Hallmark Channel’s Home and Family show, filled with dozens of handmade props.

They Don’t Make Theatre Sets Like they Used To – MessyNessy talks about when shows used to have hundreds of props, and has pictures to prove it. I think we can still find contemporary examples of set designs with intricate detail and an antique’s store worth of dressing, although none of it comes close to the Hippodrome in the early twentieth century.

Fit Irregular (Impossible!) Shapes with ‘Ticking Sticks’ – This is a ridiculously useful trick that I wish I had known sooner. It’s kind of hard to explain, but if you check out the pictures, you can see exactly what a “ticking stick” does.

Useful Sites

Land of Props Links

Backstage and Now the Boss: ‘The Only Girl in the Building’ – The New York Times takes a look at Jennifer Diaz, the first female head carpenter in IATSE Local 1. Besides exploring her career, it is also a great look at the inner workings of the most famous stagehand union.

Behind the Scenes at the Guthrie for “Sense and Sensibility” – Twin Cities Live talks with Patricia Olive, the prop master at the Guthrie Theater and fellow S*P*A*M member. They also talk with Linus Vlatkovich, the props carpenter for the show, who has been at the Guthrie for 44 years.

Scare Trick or Treaters with a Pneumatic Moving Box – Make Magazine has this great little tutorial on using two syringes to make a pneumatic opening box. There’s no air compressors or electrical parts here, just cheap, simple trickery.

The History of Wine Containers: Featuring Guest Writer Emily Kate – Your play takes place in the past; what kind of container does your wine come in? Emily Kate looks at the history of how wine was stored. You don’t want to make the anachronistic mistake of using a box of Franzia in your Ancient Egyptian show.

Sine Curve Tutorial – Finally, Lost Art Press shows us how to draw a smooth sine curve, which is a little detail often found on period furniture.