GIA VAINISI

Big Fish book by John August, music & lyrics by Andrew Lippa
Love and loss come together in this tear-jerking, outlandish, wild ride of a musical. The struggle between Will Bloom and his father, Edward, is told through extravagant and heartfelt numbers. What is real and what is fake? Will tries to figure out who his father really is as his wife and him get ready to welcome a son into the world. Edward, a traveling salesman, tells extravagant stories about his travels to inspire his son to be the hero of his story. Ending in Edward's death and Will's acceptance that his father was a good man, even if he made mistakes in his past.
Catfish puppet
This catfish puppet was meant to symbolize Edward's soul/essence during his funeral. Honoring Edward's request to "remember [him] as something bigger than [he] was," this catfish totaled out at 6'-5" in length-- 5" taller than our actor.



Materials
luan
purple foam
muslin
dowel rods
chicken wire

Sketches to get an idea together
The structure ended up changing drastically
build process
not pictured: purple foam used to bulk up tail
skinning & painting

I starched the muslin to allow the chicken wire texture to peak through and give a bit more structure
styled after a catfish


red ribbon on tails to match ringmaster's coat
Elephant butts
The main attraction for Calloway's Circus: dancing elephants!

Materials
plywood
chicken wire
muslin strips
glue/water mix
grey fabric
red ribbon
acrylic paint

build process
structure sketches
attached fabric and painted it with dark grey for wrinkles
watered down some brown and spray bottled it to emulate dirt
added feeties for actors to be able to maneuver legs

removed some plywood to make it lighter
not pictured:
arm straps to move weight distribution from arms to shoulders/back
Handheld highlights

