Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup: Charlie Brown's Kite

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Charlie Brown's Kite

Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup
Forum Discription: For how-to's and where-can-I-find
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4664
Printed Date: 5/13/25 at 7:31pm
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Topic: Charlie Brown's Kite

Posted By: pused
Subject: Charlie Brown's Kite
Date Posted: 6/13/10 at 8:34pm

Any ideas for how to "magically" get Charlie Brown's Kite to fly without using any rigging?

Maybe a stiff wire attached to the cross of the kite and take off for the end of the song?

Gina

Replies:

Posted By: David McCall
Date Posted: 6/14/10 at 6:53am

Don't they usually pantomime the kite? I would think the choreography that the kite needs would take an awful lot of rigging.

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David M

Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 6/14/10 at 4:33pm

I have never seen the play performed with a real kite. It's always pantomined, with the "kite" somewhere over the audience's heads.

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http://tristanrobin.blogspot.com

Posted By: pused
Date Posted: 6/14/10 at 6:39pm

We have great choreography for the "limp" kite, but wanted to "send" it up...We are trying starched rope or a fishing pole now...if those don't work we will likely just pantomime... just wondered if anyone had done it...

Posted By: Spectrum
Date Posted: 6/14/10 at 10:10pm

Unfortunately pused needs it to work WITHOUT rigging, but I have set up the kite flying gig several times to limp along the ground until the moment in the song calls for it to whoosh upward. Our kite rigging (very small gauge monofilament or black fishing line - depending on the background) has a tiny quick disconnect on the back of the kite that when pulled (with very little extra tension on the string by Charley Brown) will separate the kite from the rigging and the kite free falls down to the stage, precisely on cue. Be sure to use piano wire with bows for the tail of the kite. Otherwise it hangs wrong and doesn't look like the wind has caught it, and the bows give it more of a "comic strip" look. With a little rehearsal, the effect looks pretty good, and I have been complimented on it many times. I only mention this now in case someone else would ever care to do it with rigging. Sorry I don't have any good solutions for you, pused, but hopefully someone will come up with something.

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Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.

Posted By: BelizeAA
Date Posted: 6/28/10 at 11:56am

We had to do this for a different show. A Techie was on a ladder, just off in the wings. Who handed the actor the kite as they walked onstage. We had the actor come out of the wings with a kite in a basket.

There was a good amount of slack on the fishing wire. So when it came time to release the kite, the actor threw it into the air and it cascaded up at a sharp angle and off into the wings, with the ribbon tail following.

It got great applause and a few "ahhs". The actor mimed holding onto an imaginary string the rest of the time on the stage.

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Friendship is the wine of Life.

Posted By: pused
Date Posted: 6/28/10 at 2:28pm

We ended up using a piece of copper wire with the actor pantomiming the kite being out of control. At the end the copper wire had enough stiffness for him to hold it up in the air. It worked pretty well...

Thanks for all the ideas!!