Meet the woman behind the eyes of the tiger in Broadway’s ‘Life of Pi’

Cindy Adams

opinion

For Cindy Adams

May 3, 2023 | 21:00

Betsy Rosen’s B’way debut requires little makeup in the new hit “Life of Pi.” Schoenfeld Theatre.

“I am the puppeteer inside the life-sized tiger. His body is flexible. hard work To do this I do yoga, pilates, sculpture, body exercises.

“Two hours of physical training every week because of the body tension. To be able to stretch out my hands.

“Don’t get tense, stretch. You can end up with bruises, aches and pains.

“There are many types of puppets. ‘Pi’ are not marionettes. Not hand puppets like ‘Sesame Bar’. We are life-sized animals. Mine takes three people inside to operate it.

“A trigger makes the head. Attaches the tail and legs. I’m folded inside.

“The womb is open. The tiger sits on my back. Things happen very quickly. Lots of action. Fight scenes. Three of us inside it. Once he grabbed my foot. I went down and hit the ground hard. And fast The audience reacts to the tiger, not me.

“My two companions held the tiger on top of me and I was able to hold its paws up. Finally, I crawled back.

“The tiger feels real. It’s larger than life. Its limbs are mobile. Legs are mobile. It shows so much action.

“When animals tear apart other animals, the blood is shown as a red stretchy tissue.

“My mom in the audience looked away once because those fight scenes look so real.

“When the animals are not working, a maintenance team looks after the tiger, hyena and orangutan.

“They are all protected, hanging on the wings behind the rack.”

zero hour

Now I leave information about all the news: the television series “Bupkis” (this is a Yiddish word that means “Nothing…nothing”) premiered on Apollo.

Producer Lorne Michaels plus — ugh — Pete Davidson.

Called “raw and semi-autobiographical,” Edie Falco plays Mom and Joe Pesci’s.

Critics can score it with four colored pencils.

Play in the gallery

Some “abstract shorts” debut Tuesday at the Achille Salvagni gallery, which sells tchotchkes to Tom Ford, Paul Simon, maybe a princess or two.

Andrea Marini’s new film “Shapes in the Echo of Time” premieres.

Why they didn’t try a theater I have no idea.

Uplifting news

A pneumatic vacuum lift. Powered by air.

Are age or injuries relegating you to a single-level space, causing pain in the wallet? Well, listen:

Neil Cornfield of Custom Renovators in New York is making pneumatic vacuum lifts. Low electricity Installs easily. Design to save space.

Ecological (no heavy equipment, oils, lubricants, gases). functional portable

He says that fundamental physics created this vehicle inside a bubble.

Minimal footprint, quick installation, unique design, perhaps a game changer.

Now you don’t have to move a muscle, just stay parked in front of the tube, ready to watch the coming Tonys, usually as exciting as a wart on your foot.

Memorable days at the beginning of the life of what has lately become our country:

Nathan Hale: “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” . . Patrick Henry: “Give me liberty or give me death.” . . John Hancock saying, “I’ve got a policy for you!”

Only in Boston, New York and everywhere, children, only in Boston, New York and everywhere.