CAMELOT Theatrical Special Effects

Now and then, a show calls for some macabre body parts. Yes, Hamlet needs Yorick's skull for that scene and I'm off next weekend to see a midnight performance of "Sweeney Todd" at CLC's Chalberg Theatre. Legend tells us that the meat from his victims went into Mrs. Lovett's pies while the bones were scattered about in the catacombs of London. The show is certainly enhanced by a few stray arms and legs.

I once dated a surgeon who had a real human skull on her bookshelf, a leftover from medical school where the students had to purchase them from a skeleton supplier in Bangladesh. Creepy, yes, but the poor decedent had no idea that his cranium spent most of its time with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth or as a prop at numerous costume parties. "I'm Henry the Eighth, I am. Allow me to introduce you to my ex-wife, Anne." Then the skull, which we naturally named Yorick, would appear from a shoulder bag and get a good scream. Horribly irreverent, eh what? Med school must be a lot of fun... imagine the practical jokes.

In Greece, where I lived for many years, the cemeteries are small and bodies are only allowed to be buried for five years. Then the relatives have to dig them up and transfer the bones (if they're ready) to a box in the ossuary, a small building in each cemetery. Wealthier folks have metal boxes with their names engraved but a poor person is just as likely to end up in something from the supermarket; many an indigent is memorialized as "Corn Flakes." As for the "agnosti," the "unknowns," their skeletons pop up from time to time and are usually dumped in a burlap sack in the corner of the ossuary. Need a skull? Help yourself. (Is this grossing you out? Hey, different cultures, different customs, and real theatre special effects folks love stories like this!)

Okay, where do you get this stuff if graverobbing is frowned upon in your neighborhood? You want it to look real but, with a limited budget, not cost an arm and a leg. (Hahaha! Good one, CJ.) Well, take a look at the CreepyFX website where you can get anatomically perfect parts for quite reasonable prices. Need some arms? They're $19.99 each and whole skeletons are only $128.98. They'll be happy to give you a hand or a "leg up" with your show. (I crack myself up!)

posted by C. J. # 2:12 PM