 |
|
|
| |
Tales From Inside the Foam Head - Suffering for Art at Universal Studios
|
6027 Reads
|
|
|
|
| |
Depending on where you spent your weekend, it was either hot (westside), damn hot (downtown), bloody hot (the Valley) or blindingly suffocatingly dangerously hot - inside a foam-headed character costume at Universal Studios.
I spent the afternoon at Universal - dumbstruck by the love of show business and disregard for pain that drives perfectly talented, intelligent L.A. actors to put on thick, heavy costumes and dance around like mad in the brutal 105-degree heat.
Why? What's it worth, besides a line on your resume, the risk of heatstroke and weak applause from sweating tourists?
|
|
It can't be the money: Here's what costumed characters deal with daily, from a career standpoint. Don Mirault's "Dancing ... For a Living" says that if you're lucky enough to pass an audition, you work your way up a "stepladder system" of costumed dance shows, starting with rehearsal pay of $9 to $12. Eventually, you may be talented and hardworking enough to full pay of up to $38 per show. Each show has 6 or 7 separate casts. When you’re hired, you may be placed in cast 6 or cast 7 and as you train, perform and gain experience you’ll move up to casts 1–3. This is very important since only full time casts 1–3 receive total health care benefits. Universal benefits include full medical benefits, a dental plan, a 401K retirement plan and free massage for performers in the park. That’s right free massage! What did we, the sunbeaten audience, get in return?
The Blues Brothers Revue boogied for 20 minutes solid, as though their sun-blasted little outdoor stage was the sweetest air-conditioned club in Chicago. Two capable, energetic song-and-dance men in full-on Jake-and-Elwood black suits and fedoras chugged through barrelhouse blues stage numbers, backed up by a Cab Calloway wail-alike and a sassy Aretha Franklin stand-in wearing an overstuffed waitress costume. No trace of sweat, not a missed step or note and they looked like they were having fun.
Actors playing the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 in full toe-to-giant-head fursuits, mugged tirelessly for snapshots in 100-degree-plus temps as kids hauled on their tails and threatened to knock them over.
A musical trolleyload of characters - Crash Bandicoot, the Rug Rats and more - frugged through the park non-stop in the oven-like heat - stopping their bright-eyed gyrations only long enough to pause for an array of tourists cameras.
A tall actor encased in a huge "fat suit" topped by Shrek's massive foam-rubber head, shoulders and hands, hugged, shook hands and posed with tourist after tourist after tourist with never a sign of discomfort. At his side worked Princess Fiona, her smile unfalteringly sweet as she chatted up sticky, cranky toddlers and goofy, distractable teenagers despite what looked like a velour dress made of inch-thick theatrical drapery and thick layers of pancake makeup.
Across Southern California, their costumed brethren toiled away in the heat, breaking sweat, but never character. From velvet-robed royalty and buskin-clad swordsmen at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire jousting, sparring and wenching in the sun-baked Inland Empire to Inky the Octopus, the immense-headed mascot of Pacific Park, wading through swarms of birthday-partying toddlers at the Santa Monica Pier.
What do the parks get out of it? Reinforcement of brands and untold good will, acccording to the site for Dreamation, a Yucca Valley theme charactercostume shop:Though mascots require only a minimal investment, even the best accountants cannot put a price on the free advertising and positive public relations the characters create for parks and attractions"-Funworld Magazine
At Dreamation, we take pride in producing character costumes of the highest quality and craftsmanship for a reasonable price. The durability and good looks of our costumes makes them an outstanding value, providing long lasting returns on your investment and years of enjoyment for your guests.- Tough ABS plastic vacuum formed head. Lightweight & extremely durable.
- Adjustable padded inner helmet.
- Exhaust fan in head keeps actor cool and comfortable.
- Costumes are easily dry cleaned to keep your character looking fresh.
- Feet are very durable, featuring tough rubber soling.
And what do the actors take home? Creds that may add up to very little in the casting office; a small paycheck; and - one can only conjecture - immeasurable nobility for daring to slip on a 10-pound foam head, full-body fursuit and playful attitude (for 7 shows a day) when the weather gets like it did on Sunday.
The whole thing's put me in mind of lyrics to Wayne Kramer's "Back When Dogs Could Talk" : THIS GOES OUT TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE THEIR MONEY
BY THE SWEAT OF THEIR BROW
THIS GOES OUT TO ALL MY BLUE COLLAR WORKERS,
ALL MY LOADING DOCK WORKERS,
ALL MY CARPENTERS, MY PLUMBERS,
MY ASSEMBLY LINE WORKERS, MY UNITED AUTO WORKERS,
POSTAL WORKERS, CITY SANITATION MEN,
CAB DRIVERS, BARTENDERS, WAITRESSES,
ALL MY STATE AND FEDERAL EMPLOYEES,
MY FOOD SERVICE WORKERS, GARDENERS,
DAY LABORERS, TOOL AND DIE WORKERS,
AUTO MECHANICS, CHILD CARE WORKERS,
MUSICIANS AND ROAD CREWS,
YOURE THE SALT OF THE EARTH,
AND I LOVE YOU.
YOU ARE SOMEBODY. Let's add a coda: This goes out to all my big-headed theme park characters. Maybe you've got dreams. Maybe you've got to pay the bills. But you've definitely got soul.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Posted by: mack_reed on Sunday, May 02, 2004 - 11:26 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
