I started a thread years ago about the different ways to do the Nightengale and one suggestion was to use a stuffed animal. I really like that idea, but it's supposed to sing, so the toy should look like it's moving. What would be some inexpensive ways to make a stuffed animal move but at the same time not look too cheesy?

I like when the nightingale is a singer - one of the cast.

The Nightengale is a performer though, not a prop.

If I was directing the show, I would want to save the actress the humiliation of looking like Elton John on withdrawal. At least by using the toy, it looks like what it's supposed to be.

I love making a fool of myself. I think that's a part of the fun of acting, you're pretending to be someone your not so you can do whatever. I think it would be much better for a person to do it.

I know some people who think that the Lullaby Nightingale scene is stupid and would rather cut it completely. Personally, I would like to do that scene in that way it was done in the TV movie starring Tracy Ullman. For those of you that haven't seen that version, the Wizard is wheeled in in a cage dressed as a bird. He sings a more upbeat version of the lullaby by cawing, sounding anything but lovely; and he gets progressively worse. I think that is the only way that that scene is funny.

Well, then I would just as soon cut the scene. When I did the show, most of our audiences thought it was boring. I'm just shocked that so many people on this forum aren't on board with me about using a stuffed animal. Dressing an Ensemble member in feathers for a throwaway joke is embarassing for the performer and turns the show from a safe and cute satire into camp territory.