Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Props Mistress

Jacket, swap. Blouse, Jovovich-Hawk for Target. Jeans, Lucky. Ballet flats, Steven Madden. Headband, Forever 21. Beer, Miller Lite. (And that’s Sammy the Cat in the background licking his unmentionables.)

Being props mistress is a tough job. For instance, I’ve had to drink all this beer in order to refill the bottles with water to use as props. It’s a real hardship.


This is the first time I’ve done props for a show, and it’s given me an appreciation for grumpy props people I’ve dealt with in the past. In Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge, our props lady started the run by bringing in fresh hamburgers and fries for a scene in which we ate McDonald’s Happy Meals. Now, eating on stage is tough. First off, you’re simply not hungry. Secondly, you really have to watch how much you put in your mouth so that you are ready to deliver your next line (although that didn’t stop our Tiny Tim). After Mrs. Props yelled at us for not eating the food, we got buns only and cold fries for the rest of the performances. Yum.

Now I’m grumpy props lady. I want the actors to DISPLAY my props. Especially the tabloid covers I just whipped up:


I’m hoping the next show I do props for requires an empty ice cream carton or pizza box. I’ll gladly take care of the contents. (That's of course, assuming, they'll have me back as props mistress. I'm such a diva.)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

your tabloid covers are fabulous. and oh, the terrible job of emptying out those beer bottles! i was a stagehand once in a playhouse play (pretty much, the stagehands all served as props masters, since the playhouse was so tiny) and i can understand how it is to spend time creating something that's whole entire purpose is to go unnoticed!
you make me want to get back into theater...now, if only i knew how!

GeminiJulia said...

Hahaha-I know what you mean. I have to bring in empty wine & liquor bottles for our show we're currently in production with, (woe is me). But for our last show I had to create a Civil War era newspaper and was SO proud of my brilliant work of digging up actual Civil War newspapers online and tediously putting them together, but nobody appreciated it.

emily said...

i think it's hilarious how you put yourself on one of the tabloid covers. way to get out there and promote your blog! ;) and i really love your orange jacket.

Anonymous said...

I love the covers! I remember doing a show where I had to eat a pot pie on stage. I wasn't that big of a fan of pot pie, but they did let me pick the kind I wanted, and I was usually too busy for dinner during that show so it was always a challenge to wolf down as much as I could and still deliver my lines.

Just had to share. The outfit is adorable too! :)

Audi said...

Love that floral top! Oh, and if you need any help with that beer, just let me know. ;-)

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