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Sid & Marty Krofft
My break into network television came in 1984, after veteran
designer Rolf Roediger hired me to help fabricate the masks and puppets for Sid
& Marty's all new stage production 'A Broadway Baby'. This led directly to 'Pryor's
Place' staring Richard Pryor which aired weekly on Saturday mornings for CBS -TV.
'A Broadway Baby' was a wonderful concept for a live stage
musical. Wherein, all of the adults are seen as life-size caricature puppets. Set in the
1930's, the show is about the trials and tribulations of producing this all-new musical
extravaganza featuring child actors. The puppet cast included a flamboyant choreographer,
a rich ambitious stage mother, a blue-collar worker, the producer, and his loyal
secretary.
Rolf had an innate ability for simplicity of design that made the
shop a refreshing one to work in. He was directly responsible for handing me several
assignments to produce on this production including Maria.
Maria was the only animal puppet designed for 'A Broadway Baby'.
She had to be convincing yet simple enough for a child actor to operate. Here is a look at
some of the techniques I used to create her:
Below you will find a series of production photos of
some of the human puppet caricatures I was designing for A
Broadway Baby.
These mock ups were created using Polyurethane sheet foam for later pattern
fabrication: Millie - the Black Waitress, was slated as one of the characters in
A Broadway Baby. Unfortunately, she was cut from the show with no further development.
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