Nintendo Pokemon Live Musical Tour Costumes
There were so many elements to Pokemon Live it is hard to know where to start.
Yvette was hired by Radio City Entertainment to design the costumes and puppets for this
live touring musical show. Her shop made the majority of the work, the rest was contracted
out to other shops, among them Eric Winterling and Geppetto Studio.
To follow will be a smattering of the photos of some favorites. There were over
260 outfits and puppets built for the show in a short time frame. It was very challenging
for all. This will be a long scroll down, so beware!
Above: Jesse and James were wonderfully played by Lauren Kling and Andrew Rannells.
On the left is Meowth played by Kathy Roche, Drowsee (puppet), Dodrio (puppet) and to
the right is Brock (Dennis Kenney) and Mistly (Heidi Wehymueller).
Lauren Kling and Andrew Rannells as Jesse and James "Team Rocket"
Psyduck played by Leah Smith performs a stage crossing
Pikachu, (Jennifer Risser) Ash (Dominic Nolfi) , and Mew Two
(Shaun Bradley) meet Mecha Mew Two, an enormous
Mechanical prop revealed by Giovanni (Darren Dunstan)
Shaun being fit at Yvette's studio for his Mew Two Costume
The Dancing Pikachus!
These foot and arm operated puppets were in our opinion one of the best acts of the show.
In the scene, the real Pikachu runs about as the puppets dance and Team Rocket tries to
catch t
he real Pikachu. The mobility of the puppets allowed for a lot of great dancing.
Below dancer Shawn Bradley rolls on his back with Pikachu puppet in the air!
Below: Ksenia assembles one of the six pikachu puppets
Nurse Joy (Natalie Weld) and Officer Jenny (Suzanne Wogisch)
Officer Jenny's outfit
Nurse Joy's outfit
Above: Yvette's sketch for Jigglypuff's costume
Jigglypuff (Leah Smith) backstage at Radio City Music Hall
Fitting Jigglypuff at Yvette's Studio
Meowth (Kathleen Roche) on stage with Jessie (Lauren Kling)
Kathleen in fitting for Meowth at the Studio
Veronat in the Studio.
Many Pokemon characters were made and installed on rolling stands
that could hold up to four puppets. Above is Veronat on a partial stand.
These stands allowed for an actor to roll the stands on the stage.
There were six of these units which would allow for an additional
24 characters to be present on stage.
Above: Pigeot puppet during rehearsals
Below: Pigeot in the Studio being covered in fabrics
Above: Zaptos puppet being built in the Studio
Below: Golbat is taken for a test drive outside the Studio
Below: Alejandro assembles Butterfree Wings
Above: Alakazam on Stage
Below: Alakazam in fittings at the Studio
Below: Misty, Pikachu, Ash, and Brock pose for Press Photos
Above: Lara makes some final adjustments to Dexterette
Below: Fittings for Dexterettes at Eric Winterling's studio
Above: Carmel works on Horsea's puppet head at the Studio
Below: First review with the Pokemon makers being set up in Studio
Yvette makes a call to studio from the terrace at Radio City.
Now photos can be dated by the type of cell phones. Can you
guess what year this picture was taken?
Yvette Helin 1205 Manhattan Brooklyn NY 11222 yvette@yvettehelinstudio.com