Dress Rehearsal

It was after school only a week before the day of the production and everyone was racing to get things finalized. The stage crew was setting up the main auditorium for the performance and had moved most sets there over the last week. Mrs Bell had set up a small dressing area for the actors which included one section for makeup and small booths for changing. The auditorium was usually the gym but for tonight's rehearsal and next week’s performances it was their theatre. Today was the last opportunity to fix anything with the sets or costumes which is why they were doing a full dress rehearsal. Mr Farley’s class were wearing brightly colored clothes in primary colors only, they were sitting on some benches chatting between themselves waiting for the rehearsal to start.

Conner was sitting in a makeup chair with Trish working on him, he felt a little special to have his own makeup person while everyone else either had Mrs Bell or another volunteer help with theirs. “We aren’t going to do everything for tonight since some of the prosthetics I want to use next week are one time use. Tonight I think we just need to get the point across, we will get you fully ready for next week’s performances.” Trish explained to Conner.

“Okay, that should be fine. You also have my costume ready, I haven’t tried it on yet?” Conner asked Trish.

“Yes, it’s in a costume bag on the rack over there, I’ll help you with it after we do your makeup.” Trish told Conner.

Trish was applying different types of makeup to his face, this gave the illusion of black and grey fur, she applied it to his face and neck using a small brush. She pulled a small case from her supply bag. “How do you feel about wearing contacts?” She asked Conner.

“I don’t need glasses, so I’ve never used contacts before.” Conner said, feeling a little nervous about it.

“I can help you put them on, I think it will really sell the look. Just lean your head back.” Trish commanded, Conner complied as she took the contacts out and placed one in each of Conner’s eyes, he blinked a few times but barely felt them after a few moments. He wanted to see himself in a mirror but they were all taken up by the students who could do their own makeup.

“Just a couple more things and then we can get the costume on.” Trish said. She pulled out a small can of hairspray and told Conner to shut his eyes. “I’m just giving your black hair some white highlights to match the look.” She explained to Conner, his hair went down to his neck and was naturally shaggy. After that she pulled out two professional looking black and grey pointed dog ears. “These are nicer than the ones I gave you, so no headband this time.” Trish said, she then carefully clipped them into place on Conner’s head. “Give your head a shake.” Trish said, Conner dutifully obeyed and the ear’s seemed to stay in place. “Perfect, looks like we are done with makeup, like I said the actual performance will be a little more involved, especially around the face.” Trish warned him.

“Thank you Trish, it’s nice of you to help me out.” Conner told Trish.

Conner got off the chair and headed over to the mirror his sister was sitting in front of. He popped his head in front of the mirror so he could see. Looking back at him was the head of Toto, his face made up to look like a dog with considerable skill. Trish had done a decent job of blending his hair color to his face and she was right about his now enlarged pupils selling the look. “Oh, I see Toto has arrived on set.” Jessica told him.

“Trish just finished up the makeup, just the costume left now and I’ll be ready.” Conner told his sister.

“Well you better hurry up, we are going to start soon.” Jessica warned him.

Conner led Trish to one of the booths to change in, at the end of the booth were some cubbies to store their belongings. Trish grabbed the costume bag off the rack and followed Conner.

“You will need a hand putting it on.” Trish told him.

“Okay, that should be fine.” Conner agreed, not wanting to offend Trish. Conner and Trish disappeared into one of the booths.

“You should take off your shoes and clothes first.” Trish said.

Blood rushed to Conner’s face, luckily his embarrassment was hidden by the costume makeup. He took off his socks and shoes and placed them in the cubby, then pulled off his sweater, folded it and put it on top of his shoes. “Um, could you turn around?” Conner asked.

“How am I going to help you with the costume if I can’t see you?” Trish asked.

Conner took a deep breath to calm down and started to pull down his pants, he tossed them on top of his sweater with less care than before, he immediately noticed how drafty the auditorium was. “Okay, let’s get the costume on.” Conner said shyly

Trish pulled out the outfit, it was a large mess of fur with a zippered opening at the back. Trish started to unzip it revealing a soft inside material, it looked warm and inviting in the cold backstage. “For it to go on properly you should sit on your feet, we wanted to create a small dog illusion.” Trish informed Conner.

“What do you mean sit on my feet?” Conner said in a confused voice.

“Well go to a kneeling position.” Trish instructed. Conner dutifully went down to his knees. “Now put your weight on your butt like you are going to sit down. Conner followed the instructions and understood, his legs were now folded underneath him.

“Like this?” Conner asked, it was a surprisingly comfortable position for him. He was confused about why this would help him put on the costume properly.

“That’s perfect, now let me help you out here.” Trish praised him.

She then knelt down herself and started sliding the material up his legs. The material felt soft as it slid up his, Trish tugged a few times to ensure it covered the top and bottom of his legs, as it pulled up to the end Conner felt soft padding on his knees, he was happy to know that his knees would have some protection from crawling around. Conner felt the soft inside material at his feet, Trish grabbed his feet and placed them in some type of pocket, he giggled as she did that.

“Oh a little ticklish are we?” Trish teased him. Conner couldn’t answer and just nodded in embarrassment.

“Here, we are almost done. Just put your arms into the sleeves.” Trish instructed as she held them up. Conner put both arms in the sleeves at the same time and Trish pulled them up, she then started to zip it up from behind him. The sleeves had the same soft material and ended in attached paws that had the same foam padding as the knees. The costume included a high collar and zipped to the top. The furry material was crafted with great care to look like a Cairn Terrier. Conner felt the material tighten around him as she zipped up the back, it was a perfect fit.

“One last thing.” Trish said as she pulled something out of the costume bag, it was a red dog collar with a dog tag on it. Trish knelt down in front of him and put it over his head.

“Okay Toto, you’re all set!” Trish said happily.

“Thanks Trish, I can’t wait to take a look!” Conner said gleefully, his costume was clearly of high quality. Conner tried to go back to a kneeling position and found he couldn’t, eventually he fell forwards and caught himself with his paw clad hands. He felt his legs were still folded over and his feet were in a pocket. “Hey, what's going on?” Conner asked.

Trish had opened the dressing room curtain. “You can control the wag of your tail with your feet now, it should look great on set.” Trish told him.

“I can’t stand up!” Conner informed Trish, trying to tell her what was wrong.

Ms Gray came rushing over to him, seeing the dressing room was open. “Oh Toto, you look wonderful, much better than I had imagined. You did such a great job, Trish!” Ms Gray praised her.

“Ms Gray, I can’t stand up in this outfit.” Conner said, looking up at the teacher, moving back to sitting on his feet.

“That’s okay, you were having trouble staying down during practice anyway, it was ruining your stage presence.” Ms Gray told him. Conner now realized after he was done in each scene he would typically just stand up to follow Jessica around set.

“It’s almost time to start, so get into position with Dorothy!” Ms Gray directed as she walked away chasing after someone else.

“I’m going to watch from the audience with the other’s. Break a leg, Toto!” Trish said, then collected her things and left as well.

Conner was left sitting on the floor unable to stand up due to the costume, he tried to adjust but only ended up on his hands again. He started to crawl around in the costume and was able to accomplish that with relative ease, he started toward his sister and noticed a mirror on the floor to his left. The illusion was better than he expected, he really did look like the dog from the cover of the play. Other than his head, which looked like a boy in makeup. His lower half had been transformed into a puppy, it was even complete with the red dog collar hanging from his neck, the tag on the collar visibly displaying the name Toto in large letters. He moved his feet from left to right in the pocket they were in and saw his tail wag with enthusiasm.

“Having fun, Toto?” Jessica asked him.

Conner felt his face flush again. “It’s a pretty good costume, isn’t it?” Conner said.

“His sister knelt down to him, it’s a really good illusion isn’t it. Your face sort of gives it away though, like a boy's head on a dog’s body.” Jessica ran her hand down Conner’s back effectively petting him. “The material is nice too.” she commented.

“Trish said she is going to do some extra makeup for the actual production.” Conner told her. “The issue with this is that I can’t stand up in this thing.” Conner complained, transitioning back to a sitting position placing his hands in between his legs.

“Well, that’s not a real issue since you won’t need to stand up for the performance.” Jessica told him, dismissing his concern.

“Places people!” Ms Gray shouted from the back stage.

“Let’s go Toto!” Jessica said with glee. Conner walked on his hands and knees to keep up with her, the opening scene was just them with Dorothy setting up the story by talking to Toto.

Conner crawled onto the stage, this was the first time all the lights, sets, costumes and work had come together to start the production, even if it was still a dress rehearsal he was intimidated. His sister kicks the play off by explaining there is a storm outside and they need to stay hidden in the house, in order to keep the flow of conversation throughout the play Toto barks as if agreeing with Dorothy in the scene.

“Oh, it's too stormy out there. Should we stay here Toto?” Jessica asks with fear in her voice.

“Arf!” Conner replies, this gained many giggles from the first graders who were backstage waiting for the next scene. Wind and rain is heard through the speakers that had been setup and the lights start to change to reflect power surging.

“Oh I don’t know what to do, I hope Aunt Em is okay.” Again Jessica was pulling off the scared sound in her voice.

“Arf. Arf!” Conner replied again, using different tones he was able to make it sound like a conversation, a trick they had perfected over the months of rehearsals. Jessica pulled Conner closer into a hug while the stage crew started to make crashing sounds and the sound of wind filled the air. Eventually the lights started to dim, which was Conner and Jessica’s cue to move onto the next scene.

The dress rehearsal continued without much of a hitch, Conner realized he didn’t really have much down time except for a few scenes which kept him walking back and forth through the stage and his hands and knees. After about forty five minutes they hit the halfway point where Ms Gray calls for a ten minute intermission, this allows for some major set resets behind stage and for actors to take a small breather.

Conner paced backstage a little tired from being in most of the scenes, or prepping for the next scene. “You’re doing great Toto!” Conner heard someone say as he crawled out of someone’s way.

“Thanks.” Conner said, He moved to a sitting position. He looked up and saw Billy Lee, he was dressed as the flying monkey, they only shared one scene.

“You know when I got cast I thought my costume would be the most embarrassing in the play.” Billy told him. His costume consisted of a monkey suit, with makeup. He had large dark wings on and was wearing a vest.

Conner felt blood rush to his face, he was so focused on a good performance he almost forgot he was dressed as a little puppy. “Well, it’s all part of the show I suppose.” Conner said shyly.

“Oh sure, but I heard they gave you a bit part to try and get you to quit. I’m glad you stayed on though.” Billy said, clearly trying to antagonize him.

“That’s not exactly true. I said I would do any part, I want to be an actor.” Conner said. He knew it was a little true, Ms Gray hinted at it earlier.

“You really stepped up though, got the barking down so good that Ms Gray talks about it in drama class.” Billy informed him.

“She does?” Conner asked with a little excitement.

Billy gave him a confused expression, he thought a teacher talking about him pretending to be a dog would embarrass him more. He grinned a little and changed tactics to get under his skin. “You like it, don’t you?” Billy accused him.

“What! No, it’s just a part in a play. I told you I want to be an actor, I’m just acting!” Conner defended himself, he was getting embarrassed now and getting worried if that’s how people saw him.

“Then how do you bark so well, you must like it! I’ve also heard you carry around your little dog ears in your backpack.” Billy went on teasing him.

Conner couldn’t deny the dog ears, he did keep them in his backpack. “Those were a gift.” He said quietly, looking away from him.

“You’re still not answering my questions, just admit it, you like playing Toto.” Billy really tried to bother him now.

Conner was getting a little upset, he didn’t understand why Billy was bothering him like this. He could feel tears forming in his eyes and he looked up at Billy. “You’re just jealous that I am in more scenes than you! In fact, you’re not even in the main cast!” Conner’s voice had some trembling in it as he tried to tell Billy off.

Billy was taken aback at the comment, he hadn’t expected the little boy dressed as a puppy to try and act superior to him.

“Hey, Billy, why don’t you leave Toto alone! He has been on stage performing while you have just been sitting around back here!” Conner looked around and saw Sara in her full Glinda the Good Witch dress telling off Billy.

“Whatever Sara, I’ll see you later.” Billy scoffed at Sara and left the two of them alone. Sara knelt down, rubbing Conner’s back to calm him down.

“Thanks Sara.” Conner said, taking a deep breath now that Billy was gone.

“No problem Toto, I think you are doing a great job tonight. You are better at this than you give yourself credit for. Personally I am nervous, this is my first time under the lights” Sara revealed to Conner. “I know you and Jessica are seasoned pros.”

Conner felt a little pride getting praised by Sara. “Thanks, I appreciate that.” He told Sara.

“Places everyone!” Ms Gray shouted to the back room.

Conner scurried to the stage opening meeting up with his co-stars, they still had the rest of the show to get through. After some time they got to one of the final scenes of the Wizard of Oz, the stage crew had rigged up some cool special effects and it was a major scene for Toto, he got to reveal the man behind the curtain.

In practice they had a prop curtain and it was a little larger for the stage, while the scene played out he got into position. He just needed to wait for his cue and he would slowly open the curtain to reveal Oz. Conner tried to grab the curtain but he now realized with his hands surrounded by the costume paws, he would never be able to pull the curtain open.

“Do not look behind the curtain!” Oz’s voice boomed over the speaker, this was Conner’s cue, he had to open it now. Panicking Conner reached forward with his head and grabbed a corner of the curtain in his teeth, he then started shuffling backwards on his hands and knees while it slowly opened. Relieved the scene worked and continued as normal all he needed to do now was follow Dorothy around normally.

After the dress rehearsal was complete Ms Gray came out in front of the stage. “Excellent performance from everyone, thank you for all your hard work this term, I couldn’t be more proud. Next week we have two performances to give, the first will be during the day for the student body, the second will be that evening for ticket holders.” Ms Gray praised the cast and crew, and dismissed them to change.

Conner crawled back to the backstage to change and headed for the booth where he left his clothes, Trish was already waiting there. “Hey Toto, great job out there!” Trish praised him.

“Thanks, although the costume made me improvise a bit.” Conner told her.

“Oh really, it all looked well practiced to me.” Trish said innocently.

“Can you unzip the outfit?” Conner asked. The two slipped into the dressing room and Trish unzipped the costume and helped Conner stand up, he was a little uneasy being back on two legs. Trish then took the outfit and put it back inside the costume bag, along with the dog collar. Trish left Conner to get dressed. Afterwards Trish helped him remove the makeup, contacts and she took the ears back as well, except for the colored hair he was back to normal.

“Thank you again Trish.” Conner told her.

“No problem Toto, I’m glad you liked my costume!” Trish told him, which left Conner blushing. “I’ll see you next week.” Trish packed up her things and left.

Conner met up with Jessica and the two headed home, now prepared for the real deal next week.