Costume fittings were held during a shared rehearsal. The director broke the actors up into groups and one at a time those groups would go to try on costumes. At the same time Amy the choreographer was conducting a dance rehearsal in the same Hall and for this reason the director stressed that everyone had to remain quiet.
The first group to try on outfits was Egypt, then came the Germanic tribe, Britannia, Africa, the Shepherds and finally India. There was alot of mixing and matching that had to be done, and the director was actively involved in the process.
In another rehearsal the entrances of this whole entourage had to be timed and blocked out. The director had Egypt, Africa and India enter the theater from the back of the hall. The Germanic Tribe and Britannia entered from the halls directly next to the stage called “The Bombs”. She had different tribes start down the isles at different times trying to get a feeling for when each tribe should arrive at the main stage. Time and again the tribes had to restore and walk their entrances at different paces until their movements felt perfectly choreographed to the music which was “O Holy Night“. After many takes, the director said to herself, “I’m starting to feel something, it’s starting to get there, slowly.” Once again she shouted out “Restore!” The actors of the tribes shouted back “Thank you Restore!” as they rushed back to the back of the hall and the bombs. Then she said “Thank you, thank you.” I had to leave before the timing was finalized but with the music it was starting to feel reverent.
