The design for this production of The Wizard of Oz was extremely unconventional. Every item on stage was as bright and loud as possible, many of them being repurposed toys. As such, professor Marvel advertised their fortune telling with a bright neon sign.
To create this sign I used Neon Flex, a type of LED rope light specially designed to emulate neon tubing. It is shaped and affixed with plastic clips. I nailed dozens of these clips to a sheet of plywood that I had traced the sign layout onto.
In designing the Psychic sign I chose to circuit each section of Neon Flex is parallel. My primary goal was to avoid long runs that could cause overheating, but also to allow for individual control of each element.
In the end it was decided that all the elements would operate together, but I still got in lots of valuable soldering practice.
Scarecrow’s Disembodied Legs
When Dorothy and her friends are attacked by flying monkeys, Scarecrow is torn to pieces. To achieve this, the actor laid down with his legs obscured and the Lion walked on with a fake set of legs.
I built these legs out of pool noodles, gaff tape, raffia, and nylon leggings. Once I had a rough musculature of pool noodles and tape, I covered them with leggings that matched the actor’s skin tone. I then affixed raffia to the openings of the pants to finish the look.
