After I posted the White Rabbit and Humpty Dumpty puppets I made for a production of Alice in Wonderland… I’m back with my imagining of the Cheshire Cat!
Before I terrify you all with what it started out looking like, enjoy this production photo from our wonderful photographer! (You’ll also notice our Alice is played by a senior – she had a lovely take on the role).
Now here we are… this was the first time it came to a rehearsal 
It started as a pair of (moving!) eyes, built based off of a YouTube tutorial I found. My husband built most of the mechanism after I tracked down those clear Christmas ornaments which are IMPOSSIBLE to find in Ontario in May. I ended up buying some from a woman on a local craft buy and sell!
Here's a brief video of the eyes
Then he (the cat, not my husband) got padded up and I started putting on more fabric and foam. Sadly not many process photos. I’m bad for that.
About four days before opening night I panic sewed some paws and a tail!
I also made a “toy” version to appear in Alice’s non-Wonderland life.
On stage, the mouth and eyes were manipulated by the person doing the voice, another person puppeted one paw (the other was left limp), and the tail was puppeted by a third person. It had quite the lovely effect, especially as the scene was lit in blacklight! Gave it a really cool vibe.
I would have liked to have had a little more time to touch up some bits. I planned to remake the nose as the rough edges bothered me, and touch up some seams, but honestly – once I saw it on stage it didn’t even matter!
And here I am with my new pet 
While it was fun to see all of these characters come together, I am definitely looking forward to a bit of a break! I’m in a short play showcase coming up in a couple of weeks, but I’m acting so there is minimal prop building for me to do, though I’m sure I’ll find something. I’m already plotting a wearable window frame, haha. We’ll see!
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