I asked Szandora LaVey to play the part of Cherry Darling before she lost her leg. This would require her to dance for more than half the piece, until she was taken offstage and replaced by me, playing the part of Cherry Darling after her leg removal, and with a machine gun prosthetic. We would dress as 'twins' to create a seamless effect for the audience. With the help of my talented seamstress, we created the tops for both roles, and I worked with Olga of Decadent Designs to create the same skirt for both of us, but with very specific instructions and alterations to the skirt that would be worn with my prosthetic. Sight unseen, with a few measurements, Olga made this happen without a hitch, and had it shipped to me extremely fast. I can't say enough good things about working with Decadent Designs.
Photo: Howard Gold
Next I needed dancers portraying Zombies- hot, beautifully disturbing Zombies. I was very fortunate to have Candy Pie, Roxanne RedMeat, and Trixie Fou Laurant play these roles. Candy Pie did the most gorgeous, gruesome Zombie makeup with wounds of shimmery shades of glitter- horrifying and stunning. She is also a wonderful costume engineer and Producer- you can find more of her at candypie.me
Photos: Cody Molica
. We all worked to choreograph a background portrait for Szandora to dance in front of.....until the point where we had her lifted off the stage and the Zombies displayed the leg they ripped off her body.
.......enter me, to shoot down the Zombies with my machine gun leg.
So......how did I do it?
Pics are taken from my Instagram: Beaucoupburly
1- Order casting tape.
I used about 5 rolls of 4" x 4 yrds Techform Premium Casting Tape
2- I decided to cast my left leg, so I bent my leg back, and secured it with the following, in order:
-Support hose
-Black fishnet stockings
-Ace bandage
-Compression booty shorts, cut to hide under miniskirt
-Heavy Duty Black Gorilla Duct Tape
3- Once in place, I found a semi comfortable spot at the edge of a soft couch, wrapped a soft cotton fabric 'sock' that fit over my knee and thigh, and had a friend help cast- Sporting latex gloves, and a large mixing bowl of warm water, he dipped the tape and began rolling the outside of my leg, 4- 5 layers, until I could pull my leg out and wait for the cast to set.
4- While the cast set.....I found an M16 toy machine gun that had lights and sound in the barrel- this is key. I split the gun in half lengthwise to remove the insides, or 'guts' of the gun, and replaced it with an adjustable crutch for Juveniles, that I sawed off to fit the height of my other leg (including the cast)
5- Now to attach the gun/crutch to the cast...... I used metal strips from Home Depot and snapped them through the cast.....
6- I added one more roll of casting tape over the top of the metal strips
7- High Gloss Harley Davidson Spray paint in black coated the gun, and was highlighted by silver paint and shards of glitter for stage presence.
8- Basking in the glory of the first dress rehearsal, post-leg, with my dog playing the part of the audience! You can see the craftsmanship of Decadent Designs....even better in the video below
