Top Designers Team Up for Big Party in Times Square
By Cristine Gonzalez
The Associated Press
ST. HELENS, Ore. - In a cavernous warehouse,
creatures from different times and cultures lurk
under the rafters: floating Balinese hands in
delicate dance poses, purple-patterned elephants
from India, and a Chinese dragon, whose red, silk
body shimmers in a breeze.
Crowded in a place that once stored canned
drinks, these immense beasts of cloth and metal
appear otherworldly. Strapped to the backs of
puppeteers - some reaching two stories high -
they will enchant and entertain millions.
They are among a herd of creations by Michael
Curry who, in collaboration with creative
producer and former Disney Imagineer Geoff
Puckett, is making 160 oversized puppets for what
promises to be the biggest New Year's bash ever
in Times Square. The puppets will join a cast of
thousands to celebrate the world's cultures, time
zone by time zone, in an unprecedented, 24-hour
countdown.
At Curry's workshop 25 miles north of Portland,
he and a crew of 57 painters, engineers and
craftspeople draw from unlikely sources of
inspiration. The paper used in Federal Express
envelopes makes great fish skin, or dangling
jungle vines. Silk, draped over a wire frame,
perfectly mimics the movements of a jellyfish.
Red feather boas make exquisite legs for a
geometric, killer ant.
The end result: puppets that are larger than
life, but nonthreatening, easy to manipulate and
representative of an international audience.
The show - which relies on the collective vision
of top designers in theater, video, dance, music
and theme-park entertainment - starts at 6:15
a.m., Dec. 31, before an expected audience of
millions.
Every hour, the music, dance and puppetry will
change to reflect a particular country or time
zone. For example, at 10 p.m., to signal a
segment called "rain forest adventure," jungle
sounds and samba rhythms will bounce off a
surround-sound system in Times Square. Hundreds
of butterfly puppets will "fly" into the space,
while cannons launch animal-shaped confetti into
the crowd.
To prepare for a production of such magnitude,
Puckett began recruiting designers years ago. He
traveled to outdoor festivals around the world to
mine ideas. And he brought in two
anthropologists, an ethnographer and a
world-music expert for feedback. Working across
more than a year of development, he penned a 42
page script from which the 24-hour production
will take its cues.
The biggest challenge he faced was finding a way
to communicate without narration. Puckett found
that an elaborate soundtrack and live performers
would help. But he knew the eye-catching, mobile
puppets would be critical.
"The advantage of using human-manipulated
puppetry is that it allows the imagination to
fill in the blanks," said Puckett, founder of
EffectDesign Inc., based in San Francisco.
More than half of the millennium puppets are
completed. But Curry's crew of artisans are
frantically working to finish the remainder with
enough time for a quick dress rehearsal before
the big day. Puckett assures us all that the show
will go on.
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