Dinosaur Roar, Dinosaur Bitch
I have been living the dream...at least the dream of every 4 year old: I've played a DINOSAUR in Applause Community Theatre's "The Skin of Our Teeth."
Okay, I'll admit, the role of the dinosaur was not necessarily my first choice or something I ever aspired to. But as a friend pointed out, once I knew I'd be able to have a "flamboyant" costume-- including shiny tights and sparkly green eye shadow--I warmed up to it. Thanks to the our very talented costume designer, I had an amazing costume that totally conveyed "dinosaur" but allowed me to easily move (and breathe!) and interact with others. Thankfully, no huge team mascot furry costume for me. (While my costume headpiece does remind me of a 1970's-era Doctor Who Time Lord get-up, that's just my geek background I can't escape).
I do have a little regret that I'm not still doing storytime. I'm sure Applause would let me borrow my headpiece so I could totally rock any dinosaur theme storytime. Hmmm, maybe I should try and do some moonlighting at library kids' programs this summer. And one of my Painted Birds bandmates is trying to talk me into drumming in my dinosaur costume. Perhaps if I can get enough people to come to our next show if I do I'll consider.
One of my go-to dinosaur storytime books was "Dinosaur Roar" by Paul Strickland. This delightfully simple books shows us how dinosaurs roar and squeak, and are fierce and meek, etc. Turns out, in my case, they also complain and drink.
My only real challenge with my costume was wearing a leotard. My leotard was slightly too big, and as I quickly (and slightly alarmingly) learned during the first time wearing it during rehearsal, didn't stay on my shoulders when I am doing all my dinosaur cavorting (yes, "cavorting" is the very used in the script). So my answer was to safety pin it to my bra. Which was fine, and even slightly meaningful and inspiring now that safety pins are a symbol of post-election solidarity and support (seriously, this dinosaur has your back) but having a leotard pinned to your bra made going to the bathroom a lengthy process.
And yes, "The Dinosaur" is the official name of the role, although the daughter of the family in the play, Emily Antrobus, does call the dinosaur "Frederick." Hmmm, I'm just assuming that's short for "Fredericka." Or maybe dinosaurs and/or prehistoric people were much more enlightened about gender than I'm giving them credit for.
Although I didn't have to worry about memorizing any lines, I did give a lot of thought about how my dinosaur should move and sound. Since my dinosaur was kind of a stegosaurus/t-rex/etc. hybrid, my movement had bird and lizard elements. I was also inspired by our dog Olive and her crazy sideways glances and snarly face, and how our cats knead soft things. Deciding what dinosaur sounds to make was tricky too…even if I could physically roar convincingly, that would probably get annoying quickly. And it turns out that dinosaurs actually probably quacked (http://nerdist.com/dinosaurs-didnt-roar-they-cooed-or-quacked-like-ducks-says-new-study/). Anyway, I settled on hissing and some screeches.
It's actually kind of surprising how many animals I've played in my community theater career: pregnant mouse, rebellious cow, psychologically damaged squirrel.
Okay, I'll admit, the role of the dinosaur was not necessarily my first choice or something I ever aspired to. But as a friend pointed out, once I knew I'd be able to have a "flamboyant" costume-- including shiny tights and sparkly green eye shadow--I warmed up to it. Thanks to the our very talented costume designer, I had an amazing costume that totally conveyed "dinosaur" but allowed me to easily move (and breathe!) and interact with others. Thankfully, no huge team mascot furry costume for me. (While my costume headpiece does remind me of a 1970's-era Doctor Who Time Lord get-up, that's just my geek background I can't escape).
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| With the awesome Debbie Schneider, my woolly mammoth buddy |
One of my go-to dinosaur storytime books was "Dinosaur Roar" by Paul Strickland. This delightfully simple books shows us how dinosaurs roar and squeak, and are fierce and meek, etc. Turns out, in my case, they also complain and drink.
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| An awesome book by Paul Strickland, still available at your local library |
My only real challenge with my costume was wearing a leotard. My leotard was slightly too big, and as I quickly (and slightly alarmingly) learned during the first time wearing it during rehearsal, didn't stay on my shoulders when I am doing all my dinosaur cavorting (yes, "cavorting" is the very used in the script). So my answer was to safety pin it to my bra. Which was fine, and even slightly meaningful and inspiring now that safety pins are a symbol of post-election solidarity and support (seriously, this dinosaur has your back) but having a leotard pinned to your bra made going to the bathroom a lengthy process.
And yes, "The Dinosaur" is the official name of the role, although the daughter of the family in the play, Emily Antrobus, does call the dinosaur "Frederick." Hmmm, I'm just assuming that's short for "Fredericka." Or maybe dinosaurs and/or prehistoric people were much more enlightened about gender than I'm giving them credit for.
Although I didn't have to worry about memorizing any lines, I did give a lot of thought about how my dinosaur should move and sound. Since my dinosaur was kind of a stegosaurus/t-rex/etc. hybrid, my movement had bird and lizard elements. I was also inspired by our dog Olive and her crazy sideways glances and snarly face, and how our cats knead soft things. Deciding what dinosaur sounds to make was tricky too…even if I could physically roar convincingly, that would probably get annoying quickly. And it turns out that dinosaurs actually probably quacked (http://nerdist.com/dinosaurs-didnt-roar-they-cooed-or-quacked-like-ducks-says-new-study/). Anyway, I settled on hissing and some screeches.
It's actually kind of surprising how many animals I've played in my community theater career: pregnant mouse, rebellious cow, psychologically damaged squirrel.
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