Looking at these images, you may be asking yourself “What the hell?”
I would encourage you instead to ask “What IN Hell?” For that is a question I can answer:
The Devil Herself!
Not only the Devil herself, but also her many devoted minions! Including the adorable Clementine (myself), the orange little weirdo from the Sixth Circle of Hell, and Squee (the bubblegum pink demon puppet), the demented and power hungry low life in service to her majesty.
Heck is an original musical from the mind of Kathryn Cesarz, assisted by Jesse March and Sarah McKinney. This vaudeville style musical is larger than afterlife and asks the audience to consider the power dynamics of a realm often overlooked. As a twice member of the demon chorus, I got to have twice as much fun developing a physical language for my silly little demons.
Squee is a Bunraku style puppet created by Michael Pettit (as well as a very adorable marionette) who was manned by myself, Lindsey Fry, and Evan Grande who also voiced Squee. The three of us breathed life into this freaky guy, giving him spunk from tip to toe. The process of learning how to tune into the puppet as one entity was laborious, but absolutely worth it. Squee lives outside of the three of us, but boy I hope you never meet him, he’s a real piece of work.
Photos by Dan Norman
Outside Eye by Sarah McKinney
Composition by Pete Irving
Musi Direction by Sky Yela
Lighting Design by Lane Bode
Set Design by Walter Lab
Puppet Mastery by Michael Pettit
Costume Design by Emma Kravig
Starring Alexandria Neyhart, Evan Grande, Jesse March, Kathryn Cesarz, Lindsey Fry, Mary Margaret Hughes, Nick Miller
Music by Dan Adair, Dan Rosen, Peter Clare, and Sky Yela