Details - Makeup, etc.

Once you have your costume ready and checked off, here are some more details to consider as the performance gets closer...

Skeletons - Girls, please have your hair pulled back in a low pony tail and out of your face. Wear black shoes and come ready to have your face painted. (o: (We will not do the face paint for dress rehearsals, except one or two for practice.) We will need our skeletons to come a little earlier than everyone else to the performances so we can have plenty of time to get their makeup done. PLEASE let me know if you can help apply makeup on our skeletons for the performances! (jen.t.preece@gmail.com)

Mesopotamian Farmers and Two Rivers scene - See the note about "stage" makeup at the bottom. Wear neutral colored sandals or slip on leather-looking shoes. Try to avoid running shoes, bright colors, or anything with laces.

Tomb Builders - Dirt smudges would be great, not too over the top. Wear neutral or brown colored sandals or shoes. Old, dirty, worn out is good - but try to avoid anything with shoelaces.

Peasants - Brown shoes or neutral-colored sandals. You can do "dirt" on your faces for makeup if you like. Don't go too crazy, just enough to look pathetic. (o: You may also have your hair a little messy for the same reason.

Mummies - As with the skeletons, please pull your hair back in a low pony tail and out of your face as mummies are usually pretty bald. (o: Wear shoes that are as close to the color of your costumes as you can. (White shoes are fine.) If you would like, you may wear a little makeup like gray circles under your eyes, and maybe some wrinkles around your eyes and mouth. You could also make your face look a little pale. Keep the look fairly subtle and NO blood. If you plan to do a little makeup for the performances, it would be nice if you could wear it for one of the dress rehearsals or at our Wednesday afternoon performance so we can have you make changes if necessary.

Greek Choristers - If you would like, you girls could wear a little more bright makeup since we are going for the "pretty" look. I've talked to the girls about this, but just FYI for parents, I told them that it would look great if they had a pretty up "do" with loose curls. The look below is kind of what we are looking for. It doesn't need to be exactly like this. I may or may not have a gold headband or ribbon for them at our dress rehearsal on Monday. I'm having a hard time finding something and may just not worry about it. Have your daughter wear a white short-sleeved shirt and leggings under their dress as it is fairly see-through material. And don't forget sandals.

Toga Wearers - Wear neutral colored sandals and if you want you can do some "stage" makeup as mentioned below. No special instructions for your hair. Just remember you'll be putting on a toga and a ponytail or other up "do" may get messed up.

As for everyone else, we've talked to the kids a little bit about wearing "stage" makeup. If you would like to put on a little bit of blush and mascara or eyeliner and a little lip gloss or chapstick to make your child's face stand out on stage a little bit that would be great. Most of the boys cringed, understandably at this, so we aren't going to be strict about it by any means. Please keep it subtle - we don't want the girls getting all painted up like they do for dance recitals with bright lipstick, etc.

If your child has a more specific role that I didn't mention, you may e-mail me at jen.t.preece@gmail.com. Basically, just try to keep the details in "tune" with the rest of your child's costume and or scene they will be in. (They know what their scene is.) We will let you know if there are any minor changes that we need after our first dress rehearsal.

Props for the Musical

There are a few cast members who will be using props in the musical. Our Mesopotamian farmers will all have a small prop. Last week we let the student's pick what they would like to bring to pantomime in the background during their song. They chose small items like: a basket, a washboard, a piece of cloth to pretend to wash, a stick to pretend to beat a rug, a small shovel (not bright colors), a leather pouch that holds seeds (not really, but they will be reaching in to grab invisible seeds pretending to plant them).

We also have some cast members in charge of bringing items like a wheel, money holder, a crook, sandwich, a stone with hieroglyphics, etc. We will try to communicate these specific needs to the parents of the characters using them.

We would like to have the props checked off along with the costumes by January 15th.

Egyptian Peasants, King Zoser, and Imhotep

Our Egyptian peasants can have a little fun with their costumes. We're looking for earthy brown tones, ripped, "dirty" looking costumes; big, ill-fitting clothes with a rope (or similar) belt. You could use some sackcloth/burlap if you can get your hands on some to make a vest or shirt. You could also get a king sized pillow case and stain it in tea, then rip out a hole for the head and arms. An over sized tea-stained T-shirt and sweats ripped into shorts would also work. These peasants are on the brink of starving and need to look really pathetic. (o: Dirty faces would be a great touch. Their hair could be a little messy as well. They could be wearing a ripped square piece of fabric on their head (similar to the shepherd look in the nativity). Leather-looking sandals without socks or other non-modern looking shoes should be worn. Here's another picture for some inspiration:

King Zoser, on the other hand is going to be the polar opposite of his poor, starving peasants.

We would like King Zoser's costume to be this regal black and gold. This draped crown (not sure what it is called) is just the shape we are looking for. We don't want his head wear to be too over the top and huge like some costumes are. He will have to be wearing this in the chorus during the whole play and we don't want it to block anyone behind him or be cumbersome to wear. Leather looking sandals would look best for all of our Egyptian footwear. 

Imhotep is King Zoser's advisor. He or she should be dressed far above the peasant look, but not nearly as fancy as the king he/she serves. A nice white, medium length garment for underneath (similar to what the Pharaoh above is wearing, but white and not floor-length). We would like Imhotep to have a similar belt and round collar like the examples below and a little more conservative head piece like the men on the right and left of the king below. (The headpiece on the bottom photo is a bit much, as it is probably a king's costume, the shape is fine if it is half as tall.) And, of course, leather-looking sandals would be a good touch.

A hat this shape would work as well.

King Zoser will also have a wife and a guard. King Zoser's wife is an Egyptian queen so a pretty costume would be great. There are lots of options easy to find on Amazon or to borrow from friends. The guard could wear something similar to Imhotep, a mid-calf, white "dress/robe" with a smaller, round, gold collar and a simple gold belt that hangs down similar to the three men above.