American disco-glam group, Scissor Sisters, regularly team up with Area 51 to help create stunning show costumes and props for their extravagant live performances. Among the commissions we were asked to create giant caricature dolls of each band member for photo opportunities. Scissor Sisters asked also Area 51 to design, build and supply a pair of giant Beefeater dance characters to join them on stage for the finale of their show at the BT River of Music Festival staged by the Tower of London. Standing at nine-feet tall, the characters needed to be based on the historic Yeoman Warders, custodians of the Tower.
On top of this we created walking Scissor characters for 2 national tours, and created an entire Frankenstein’s Lab stage set for their showpiece Halloween performance at Brixton Academy – complete with giant Tesla Coils, and a creature table for Jake Shears to make his appearance on. We also made a team of giant Killer Clowns for their notorious Bestival headline slot – the year Bestival banned clowns as they were too scary!
“There are times in one’s life when one meets somebody, and an audible click is heard. When Scissor Sisters met Area 51, that click was the thunderous roar of two galaxies colliding and forming an all-consuming super-universe: one where every star is a sun, every sun the center of its own menagerie of orbiting planets, and each planet teems with strange, magical life. This otherworldly collision has not only produced some of the most amazing musical and foam-rubber collaborations the world has ever seen, it has resulted in the deep and enduring friendships between the members of Scissor Sisters and Area 51. I am proud to be a part of their family, and for them to be a part of ours. Can’t wait to hitch our circus wagons together again soon!”
– ANA MATRONIC
