Easter Bunny

[vslg1]

I've been asked to perform as the Easter Bunny...From what I understand...the previous Easter Bunny that this company has used...talks in costume...and does magic tricks for the kids...

How does one do this in a costume with big furry mittens on...And for some reason I think its just not a good idea to talk as a character such as this...

Any ideas...this would be for a preschool ages 2-5

[saphireSue]

I have no idea... but I do think magic would be difficult in that type of costume.

What about bubbles and doing things to music, wouldn't need to talk but dance, and try to get the kids to join you. Hokey Pokey, Chicken dance, train. What about games?

[Chance Marmalade]

Will you be wearing one of those full bunny costumes with the big head and everything? If so I would definitely not talk in it as the children will hear the voice of someone coming from inside the easter bunny! Also, in mask class they taught us never to speak in a mask that covers your whole face. I think it would be cool if you painted your face to look like a bunny and then did the same for the kids! I imagine magic tricks in a big mitted costume would be tough but you could do some easy ones like the self coloring coloring book etc. Sounds like a fun gig though!

[Jolly Well]

Concealment is going to be a major issue if you're going to be in a fur suit. You simply won't have the pockets or pouches to hide load or ditch, and as chance mentioned, the gloves will make it difficult to handle anything small or intricate.

Some really basic magic that might work:

Stiff rope
Magic coloring book + vanishing crayons
Hot Rod/Flip Flops
Flower from wand

[vslg1]

Yeah it'll be a full bunny costume...I'll probably do the dances already...but I have to be leery about spacing...it's a preschool and I think they're going to have all of the classrooms in the same room for the bunny...

[Mr. Dazzle]

When I was youger our local mall easterbunny always talked to everyone (my dad used to be a security guard at he mall) Later as I got older he explained to me that the girl playing the Easterbunny was the Mall Santa's daughter.

The first few tims I remember seeing her you could look in side the big open mouth and see her face... Then after a few years they put black cloth inside the mouth part of the bunny so you couldn't see inside. Our bunny always talked... Much like Santa it was the same patter "Are you looking forward to Easter, Have you been a good little boy/girl, leave me some carrots out etc"

You might consider a change bag ... I love the one that Fitz mailed me...

[Fitzwilly]

I really don't see aproblem with talking for this age group. It helps keeps them focused and entertained. As far as the magic tricks... How are you with simplt white gloves? If the rest of the costume was big and furry but the hands were just white gloves it might work.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Dan has a point about the gloves... A few years ago I did "Fairy Tale Theatre: Alice in Wonderland & Cinderella" with my community theatre. The first act was traditional Alice in Wonderland and then the second act was Cinderella with a twist. I played the White Rabbit in the show and I was the twist in Cinderella. Cinderella started with the Fairy Godmother and I bumping into each other... by my falling into the wrong rabbit hole and entering the wrong story. Since the story had already begun I couldn't back out now so she made it to where the only person that could see me was the Prince but he didn't see me as a White Rabbit (which I stayed costumed as the whole time) he just saw me as his Prime Minister 'Charles' ....

Anyways my point is for Alice in wonderland I didn't have to do as much with my hands so I wore these big furry mitten type hands much like what I'm assuming your Bunny costume has...

But Cinderella required me to do a lot more with my hands... so At intermission I changed into simple white gloves and they helped me control props and other things better.

Pardon the quality of makeup in these first two pics... they were from a rehearsal where I found out at the last minute that they were taking publicity shots... so two mins before starting I quickly smeared on some white grease and whiskers the last photo is one staged after one of the shows and it shows the makeup after more planning and a longer applying time.

This picture shows my rabbit mitten


This picture shows the gloves


This picture is a shot of me and the queens 'Ladies in Waiting' from the Croquet scene of Alice in Wonderland (better makeup)

[Chance Marmalade]

That is a great suggestion Fitzwilly. White parade gloves would be perfect! That is so cool that you played the White Rabbit RD. Alice in Wonderland is one of my all time favorite stories and I have never been able to catch a live performance of it. Also, I think you look like an awesome white rabbit in all the pictures (which are really professional too, great to add to your portfolio!)

[Willace-the-Clown]

I really need to get a bunny suit i will once i get enough money since the ones here are only 100 bucks