Bright Lights, Big Creations

Bright lights, big creations from Newhouse School J-Camp on Vimeo.

By Arielle Kaigler-Hall

Andrew Benepe is in love with a cow.

But this cow is no ordinary cow. “Milky White” is the life-size puppet Benepe handmade painstakingly from foam and wire.

Benepe is a sculptor, fabricator and special effects expert for television, theater and film. He creates his cows and monsters in his home near Syracuse University. He built Milky White from scrap material for the Broadway revival of “Into the Woods.”

Milky White stole the show.

Benepe has built other things besides cows.

Benepe originated various designs for theater productions including Disney On Ice’s “Little Mermaid”, the Broadway production of “The Lion King” and Broadway’s “Little Shop of Horrors.” He has worked for the films “Kate & Leopold” and “Everyone Wins.”

Benepe constructed “Pumbaa,” a warthog from Broadway’s “The Lion King.” Pumbaa was designed from scratch with Benepe’s hands.

“Pumbaa from Lion King is one we really had time to work out the bugs,” Benepe said. “ That one definitely has enough difficulty but enough fun to it.”

Not all of Benepe’s work was as amusing as Pumbaa.

“Two years ago we built a three-story bunny rabbit,” Benepe said. “We had to set up it up in the hurricane.”

Benepe began his dream of designing monsters at an early age.

“Around 9, I started building puppets and stuff,” he said. Many were based on “the Muppets, monsters and anything I could copy,” Benepe said.

Benepe’s mother introduced him to art.

“My mom was an artist, so I was surrounded by art arsty-farty stuff all the time,” Benepe said.

As a teenager, Benepe spent one summer at a camp meant for older students. At the age of 13 he was working at a semi-professional level.

“In one summer I learned cast-stepping, wrought-iron work, wood carving and marionette work, all in about two months,” Benepe said. “That was probably the biggest ramp-up as far as my own technique.”

Benepe received hands-on skills by piecing materials together. Soon after graduating high school, Benepe attended a technology school that specialized in theater.

Benepe applies many inspirations into his work.

“Inspiration can come from anywhere,” Benepe said. “We’ll get reference materials, pictures of sculptors of the mood, books, pictures, museums.”

Research takes up to a week to produce a representation of a monster model, Benepe said. He starts with a miniature structure of the design. For Disney On Ice’s “ The Little Mermaid”, Benepe sculpted a 12-inch clay version of the villain, Ursula, before building the life-sized costume.

His job is draining at times, Benepe says.

“Exhaustion comes towards the end. There is a certain amount of stress,” Benepe said. “I have this looming sense of total disaster at all times. But other than that there is comradeship.”

Benepe’s upcoming projects will be featured in the films “Sherlock Holmes” and “Salt,” starring Angelina Jolie.

Despite working long hours, Benepe’s job is beneficial to his creative passion. “If anyone is thinking of this as a career choice,” he said. “I would totally endorse it.”

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