Avenue Q in the Making for Adelaide

Avenue Q in the Making for Adelaide

When Adelaide theatre entrepenuer Matt Byrne went looking for puppets for his July production of Avenue Q, he decided to go local.

He found “an amazing puppet lady” called Sue Dosset who jumped at the challenge to create the cast.

"When Information Night came I thanked a packed crowd of interested actors for coming, and said I would like to introduce them to the cast. The lights went out and when they came up the puppets were sitting there on stage. The reaction was electric," he said.

Sue Dosset spent four months on the project.

“Our first hurdle was to work out a pattern for each of the characters. Due to each character having a different shaped head, this was quite difficult,” she said.

“Once the head, body, arms and hand patterns were made, it was time for the foam to be cut, glued and shaped and the mouths added. This gave us the base of the puppet.

“Sourcing out fleece in certain colours was made easier due to the current winter selection and there was an enormous amount of colours to choose from.

“With fleece patterns cut and sewn, covering the puppets was next. Time consuming as this is due tothe amount of hand sewing, the puppet starts to resemble the character.

“Just like the head shape of the puppets, the eyes were also different on each puppet.

“With noses, eyes and ears made, it was time to add their facial features (my favourite part).

“To achieve the desired look, human wigs were used on some and fur on the remainder.

“Finally after some stressful times, and a wonderful supportive family, the puppets were completed.”

Byrne said the puppets have now been joined by some very talented actors, "all willing to put their hand up."

"We got a great cast, who have worked very hard for several months of puppet workshops with another puppet lady called Sue Harris," he said. "Then we had three months of usual rehearsals.

"The puppets and their alter-egos have become very close, and we're looking forward to a great season."

Byrne said the puppets were keen to star in future productions around Australia.

"I imagine they will prove pretty popular with other companies looking at staging this wonderful show," he said."And our singing boxes are pretty fabulous too!

Avenue Q will run at the Arts Theatre from July 6 to 16 and Shedley Theatre from July 21 to 30.Bookings online at www.dramatix.com.au, or MBM on 8262 4906.

 

 

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