I have just started a project for a local school wanting to stage Little Shop Of Horrors. I have been tasked with building 4 Audrey II from small seedling to fully grown human eating plant. So far I have done plenty of research and have a good idea how to go about it. There is just a few things I am stuck on

1) How to make the leaves wilt by pulling on a string? And have them spring back up when released.

2) How best to construct a lightweight framework for Audrey II number 3 with suitable hand holds for puppeteer to hold, that I can attach foam to to make the head.

I have had some help from Swazzle and found some good referance from www.hexlee.com. Any advice would be greatly appreciated on this project, I will be documenting this project and will post pictures as the puppets develop from design to completion as there does not seem to be much info on how to build a good Audrey II.

I've seen a few sites that reference how to build an Audrey (well, maybe two), but never seen Hexlee before. That's a really awesome site and definitely worth bookmarking. I'll be curious to see your process, I've never made Audrey puppets before but always wanted to try.

My son built all the Audrey puppets when he was employed one summer by a university that was doing the show. He was also the puppeteer so he learned quite a bit through the process.  I could give you his email address if you like.

Wilting leaves.... zip tie hands.... Ok there is an image in the Gallery that shows the zip tie hands and how they are done... I just saw it the other day.... now who's was that?  Any how they glued a long zip tie to the foam and then at each "knuckle" they glued a small piece of tubing about 1/2".  You run a line/string through these tubs and when you pull on it the piece of foam "wilts". Ahhh... I found the picture! Thought it was from Out of the Box Puppets.


I know a lot of folks use pvc pipe to make the base structure of Audry because it is cheap and easy to find at the hardware store. About the only other thing I can think of would be aluminum pipe or strips but it is hard weld and work with and cost more.

Thanks Shawn will have a play with this idea and will post my progress.

I went to look at the site you linked to after I replied.  It looks like they did use aluminum tube for Audry 3.  You could accomplish something similar with PVC.

I had another idea on the wilting leaves, in case you wanted a different action.  If you wanted the leaf to collapse at the base you could put a spring along the spine and then into the base of the plant. Then attach a string to the end of the leaf to pull it down.  The only problem with this is your string is on the outside instead of contained on the inside of the puppet.

hey tom, its jeezbo,
concerning the wilting leaves effect, i have also done that and i found that the best way was not to 'pull' a string to make them wilt, but rather to construct a button in the base of the plant pot that you push up and the leaves are upright and healthy looking, then when you release the button, the leaves wilt, this is achieved by the same sort of string pulling action, except there is a spring inside the plant pot that the string runs through and attaches to the bottom of the spring, much like the bending fingers on the hand that was shown in someone elses post, but the spring closes the 'fingers' and there are also elastic or weak springs running down the back of the fingers that allow them to straighten up once the button is pushed up into the base. i hope that this is making sense, it really isn't as complicated as it seems and not at all expensive to make. you are welcome to give me a call and ill explain it a bit better, my number is 07928363972 and my name is Ben.

ill p.m. you with the explanation to the third arm on the plantpot, although you are welcome to call and have a chat about that also, i achieved that entire plant and third arm within two evenings after work, so its a very easy thing to do!!

so just remember, its like on of those funny little wooden toys you used to get where they 'collapse' when you push up into the base, but straighten up once you release the base, push up-healthy leaves, release-wilted leaves!!

good luck, gimme a call,


Ben.

Out of curiosity, did the production not supply you with "How To Audrey II". That's issued to every production that licenses the show from MTI and is a book of plans by Marty Robinson explaining how to build the plants. It provides very clear diagrams for the #1 pod with wilting leaves.

I hate to argue with you Jeezbo, but I'm not sure about the approach you describe. That sounds like as much (or more) work as the way the mech usually works. Although everyone of course has their own way of building, I really strongly suggest taking a look at How To Audrey II. The mech design in it is very simple and straight forward to build and easy to perform.

Have not seen script yet, the show is not until april but I want to get a jump on things. Also the show is only 99% garanteed but as a personal project I wanted to see if I could do it. I will use any reason to build a puppet. Man eating plant why not.