Confession: Dress Rehearsal is my FAVORITE!

 Granted, it is stressful and chaotic and sometimes I just need to step out into the hall and take some deep, cleansing breaths—but it really is my favorite part of being a costume designer.

It just thrills me to see all my designs and creations on stage with the lights, set and music!

My most recent project was costuming Aladdin, Jr and Aladdin, Kids. 

Yes, you read that right.

TWO shows.

At the same time. 

You might think it would be easy since they’re basically the same story.

You might also think it would be easy since it was one class that was split, so theoretically the same costumes could be used for both productions.

And if I told you that I costumed Aladdin, Jr a few years ago, you might think that I could use the same costumes for this production, thus reducing my workload.

You would be wrong on all three counts.

Aladdin, Jr was the 4^th show I ever costumed.  It was during the very first season at On Pitch Performing Arts in Layton.  We had practically no resources and even less budget.  If I remember correctly, there were around 16 kids in the class, and I constructed part or all of each of their costumes.  And the only kid who had a costume change was Aladdin when he changed into Prince Ali.

Fast forward 5 years and I am costuming the same show (plus a shortened version) with around 35 kids—

In.  Each.  Cast.

Roughly 70 kids.

That’s 70 Agrabahns.

So.  Many.  Harem pants.

But I digress…

It turned out that the average size of the younger class (8-10 year olds) was youth 8/10, while the average size of the older class (11-18 year olds) was adult medium. 

Oof.

So basically, every kid needed a costume.

70 costumes.

Well, 70 base costumes, and then the costume changes…

Here’s the long and the short of it:

After 350 hours

Constructing 94 costumes

For 65 kids

Sewing 60 harem pants

Making 18 turbans

Working for 5 months

Costuming 2 casts

                                                                           I did it!

And I love it!!  This project was such a labor of love, and it was so satisfying to see all my hard work on the stage.  The kids get so excited when they get their costumes and their characters really come to life on the stage during the dress rehearsals.

So, even though I have spent many late nights sewing—

My family hasn’t seen me in weeks—

Sometimes the kids aren’t as careful with their costumes as I would like—

And I leave the first dress rehearsal with a long list of things to be tweaked, adjusted, pulled, or fitted—

 Dress rehearsal is my FAVORITE!!