Life of Pi cast gives puppet vocal tutorial ahead of shows at Denver Center for the Performing Arts

CBS News

06-03-2025

First a novel, and then a film, the story of Life of Pi is now coming to life on stage at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Life of Pi is scheduled to open shows at the Buell Theatre later this month.
The cast of the play welcomed CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas for an advanced preview of the production during their stop in Cincinnati, OH. There, the cast members who help bring "Richard Parker" to life each night explained how they make a puppet look and sound realistic.
Toussaint Jeanlouis, Anna Leigh Gortner and Shiloh Gooden are a trio of actors who operate the puppet known as Richard Parker. Richard Parker is a tiger that is stuck on a life raft with the main character of the show, a teenage boy named Pi.
The trio works together each show to not only operate and mobilize the puppet, but to also create sounds that a tiger would make in real life.
"Because we cannot speak throughout the show in human language, we have to find ways of using our breath to speak. Which could be a yawn," Jeanlouis said. "It is a really interesting way to find ways of communicating as an animal that is relative to human beings."
Jeanlouis makes many noises like grunts, growls, moans, and sighs to give audible life to the puppet. He also operates the puppet's head and eyes.
Gortner spends much of her time on stage hunched over while operating the hind legs of the puppet and more.
"I show emotion through the tail," Gortner said.
Gooden also remains hunched over most of the time on stage, moving not only the front legs of the puppet but also giving an appearance of the tiger breathing through the ribcage area.
"I play the heart of the tiger. I carry some of the weight and show the breath of his body," Gooden said.
The trio said the smallest of physical actions or vocal cues can immerse the audience into further imagining the puppet as a real animal.
"We can communicate to the audience what the animal may or may not be thinking," Jeanlouis said.
"How long does that take you to perfect?" Thomas asked.
"I think it will never be perfect, but we can continue to try every night," Jeanlouis said.
Because the three cast members cannot talk to each other on stage, they have to learn each other's cues and feed off of their peers in the puppet.
"To keep it alive I have to be listening and in-tune," Gortner said.
"You have to remember he can't speak English and tap into your animal side to make him come to life," Gooden said.
Life of Pi plays the Buell Theatre March 18 through March 30.
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