Kyle Pasciutti Design

Dracula: The Musical Project Page

Dracula: The Musical? stands as my largest scenic design project to date. The rear wall of the set spanned the entire width of the 50' outdoor theater and was made up of 16 flats, a set of french doors, two archways and six risers. Also included into the design were two hidden entrances/exits for Dracula's disappearing act, a rear balcony area with built in walkway to make it look as though Dracula was walking along the top of the railing, a fake mirror gag, wilting flowers gag, and a track line for the Dracula-bat to travel from stage right up to the hole above the french doors. Furniture for the design included a full couch, rear bar, side tables, desk & chair, flower table, phone table, and an armchair with footstool next to a fairly realistic looking fireplace. The dressing for the sets really added to the mood and on top of the usual lamps and books and bottles and whatnot, included a taxidermied raven, working telescope, and six framed paintings borrowed from the collection at a local library. In the end, I was incredibly pleased with the design, especially when one audience member had to ask because he couldn't tell if I had used wallpaper or not. My one big regret is not having better pictures of the completed project.

Little Shop Audrey II Puppets Project Page

For my latest and largest puppet project, I actually developed an entirely new design process. Little Shop of Horrors is one of my favorite shows, and the puppets for the show are almost as important as the acting talent. With that in mind, I set about creating a process utilizing 3D design software which would allow me to show the director exactly what I wanted the puppets to look like, then create and shape those puppets from printed designs that would vastly reduce the time spent on guess & check work. As with all puppets, the designer must be thinking about how the final product will move during the entire creation process, and Audrey II here was truly a wonder to see in action! The first puppet starts out at about 1' tall, but had a stalk that extended out another 18" at the end of the scene. The second was about 1 1/2' in length and included a hidden shoulder strap and fake hand so that the Seymour character could work the puppet with the audience none the wiser. The third puppet fitted overtop the puppeteer who sat on a large padded flower pot and used his legs as the animated roots. The fourth and final puppet raised up almost 7', extended out about 6' and included a mouth width & ramp of almost 3' to facilitate the eating of a rather large actor playing the part of Mushnik.

Fitted Masks Project Page
Neoprene Maskmaking Sample Page
Neoprene Fitted Mask Test Blog Entry

Unlike many others out there, I don't subscribe to one particular method of maskmaking. I have used an incredible variety of materials in my designs, including: latex, neoprene, burlap, muslin, cheesecloth, sharkstooth scrim, foams of many varieties, paper products, cotton, various metals, leather, acrylic, paper-mâché, etc. In the various design processes I've utilized over the years, I've made full & partial plaster head casts of numerous people, used clay & plaster casting techniques quite extensively, and created masks that can actually double as prosthetics. My highest profile project to date, was a terrifying burlap mask that I created for the 2009 Halloween episode of Connecticut Style on WTNH News Channel 8 featuring Sonia Baghdady and Desiree Fontaine. More recently, I was asked by Critical Coatings (a new and quit excellent neoprene supplier) to test out a custom neoprene blend for possible use in my "fitted sock" style masks. The testing and experimentation went quite well, and I am looking forward to working with the company and utilizing the new blend in future projects.

Assorted Makeup FX Page
"Fans Too Far" Photo Set Page
Wolfe Brothers Makeup and Special FX Page

Makeup and special effects may be the latest skill to officially make it's way into my repertoire, but it is far from a new subject to me. I started doing my own Halloween makeup somewhere around the age of 9, and have been improving since. I began to take the art of makeup fx seriously when I jumped into the roll for Fright Haven Haunted House in 2008. Befriending Ezia Leech, an amazing local makeup artist who was also working the haunt, I was invited in the summer of 2009 to train with the world renowned makeup & effects artists The Wolfe Brothers (now Evil Twin FX). The Wolfes gave me a whole new appreciation for the discipline, took my skills to a new level, and pushed my expectations of what is possible. I've worked with various types of makeup, latex, silicone, paper products, cotton, various fake blood formulas, prosthetics, contact lenses, rock salt, etc. I've worked with ages ranging from 12 to 50+ on projects ranging from films to theatre to photo shoots.

Mr. Stay Puft Costume Project Page

Costume design is not something that I strongly advertise as one of my skills, though it is a skill I am happy to have under my belt and do fully utilize when the occasion calls for it. I wouldn't sign on to create any renaissance style gowns, but if a puppet design comes up that needs a body suit, or an interesting mascot-style costume comes my way, I jump at the opportunity to put my sewing machine to work. The costume depicted here which has been BY FAR my most popular, is that of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man character from the movie Ghostbusters. The costume became so popular on the web in fact, that I ended up making and selling a few of them upon request. I have since stopped making the costumes, but have added some of the designs along with some helpful hints to the Stay Puft page on this site for people interested in creating their own. The costume was created out of hand-sewn polyurethane foam and was designed off of scaled dimensions taken from the movie version of the character. I created an updated and far more accurate version of the costume's head of which the clay model can be seen here.

"Frustration" (an audio concept)

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Touch to Sound Converter Project Page
Assorted Sound Projects Page

Obviously pictures have little to do with sound design, but the two you see here are of my audio invention, the "Touch To Sound Converter". The rig picks up the vibrations passing through a material using contact microphones, converts the pitch and volume information from that signal into MIDI information, then runs that out through a synthesizer program. Originally created for an advanced sound design class I was taking with Obie Award winning sound designer Robert Kaplowitz, the rig has yet to see full performance utilization, but has been used for a few demonstration installations. "Frustration" (the piece included here), is an audio concept created to instill in the listener the essence of what it means to be frustrated. It is not meant to make the listener feel frustrated with the piece, as that would retract from the audience's appreciation and possibly pull them out of the moment. I have been told that this piece might actually be contest worthy. Created using Pro Tools, Reason, Fruity Loops, & my M-Audio KeyRig 25 USB keyboard.