Into the Woods

Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine at Colorado State University, Fall 2024

Milky White

Milky White in Movement, tech week. Puppeteer: Lana Greeness

Milky White getting dug out of her grave by the Baker (Robert Longo) and Baker’s Wife (Ash Campbell) and greeting Jack (Ryan Terry), tech week. Witch: India Thompson. Puppeteer: Lana Greeness

To design Milky White, I wanted to strike a balance between realism and cartoonish-ness so that it would fit in our theme of Act 1 like Disney and Act 2 like the Brothers Grimm; depending on the lighting and puppeteering, Milky White could fit seamlessly into the world. I used wooden boards to create her ribs and legs. I wrapped the ribs in chicken wire so that it was solid but hollow. Her head was first carved out of foam, then wrapped in chicken wire to hold a solid shape, then I applied papier-mâché and fabric-mâché with muslin to match the fabric used for her body. A flexible tube attached her head and body. I learned to weld to create solid handles for the puppeteer. I painted her with acrylic to look alive. Her limbs fully articulated, her tail swung, her ears flopped, and her mouth could open so that the actors could feed her the shoe, hair, corn silk, and cape, and stage management could retrieve it nightly.

Pyrotechnics

India Thompson as the Witch with an Electronic Flash Gun in one hand and her cane with pyro effects in the other

With the help of Melissa Centgraf, the Head of Props, we created 3 pyrotechnic effects for the Witch and her cane. Due to the complex nature of the timing and scenes, we could only pick 3 crucial moments, and lighting represented her cane effects otherwise. 2 of the pyro effects were done with flash cotton, slow cotton, smoke powder, and sparkle additive that were activated with batteries with the flick of a switch. She had one cane for each effect, and the second one had a break in the middle for the Witch to snap her cane in half. She also had an electronic flash gun in hand for the opening number. All of these effects were thoroughly troubleshot, and we had many meetings between the actress, Melissa, stage management, and myself to ensure safety and consistency.