FINAL DRESS REHEARSAL: Important Information

Greetings Dulocians and Ogres! 

We wanted to share just how incredibly proud we are of your children and how beautifully they handled themselves today. They are accomplishing truly remarkable things and are showing the very best of our Davis values as they come together as a true kehillah—a community—creating something magical for all of us.

We cannot wait for you to see the extraordinary work happening at every grade level.

We have a few important reminders to review before tomorrow:

• Please take time to read your child’s grade-level “newsletter” carefully:

  • M–2

  • 3rd Grade Dragons/4th Grade & Non-Advanced Ensemble 5th Grade

  • Advanced Ensemble

  • Middle School Cast & Crew

• Fidgets Reminder:
  We kindly ask that only dry items come into the theatre and costume rooms. Today, a liquid-filled squishy popped, damaging the theatre seating. Please help us by ensuring no squishy or liquid-filled fidgets are brought in.

• Food & Hydration:
  All students will receive pizza:

  • M–2: upon arrival

  • Grades 3–8: around noon (depending on rehearsal timing)
    Snacks will also be provided:

  • Morning: Grades 3–8

  • Afternoon: All M–8

  Students are always welcome to bring an additional snack, and all students must bring a water bottle. Please also ensure your child arrives well-fed and hydrated.

• ALL STUDENTS ARRIVE IN HAIR & MAKE-UP tomorrow morning! Reminder:  LS Hair and Makeup Document

We are so excited for one more day of dress rehearsals before opening on Sunday. It has been such a meaningful journey, and we are truly grateful that you have chosen to be part of it.

With gratitude from our swamp to yours,
Kendrick 🐸👑

Dear Mechina-Third Grade Parents,

As we approach showtime, we want to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible. With performances just around the corner, we’d like to provide some clarity regarding last night’s post and today’s costume update to ensure everyone is prepared:

• Mechina - 2nd Grade Families:
Please plan to pick up your children’s costumes tomorrow, Friday,  between 4:00 and 4:30 PM in the gym lobby. This allows an adult to personally collect the costume and ensure it is safely transported to the car in good condition. After collecting the costume, please return to your car and proceed to the carpool line. At 4:30 PM, your children will be ready for pick-up through the carpool lobby, following our usual system (names will be relayed, and children will be escorted to their cars).

• 3rd Grade Families:
Third-grade students will also be bringing their costumes home. They will be responsible for carrying their costumes to the carpool lobby and loading them into the car themselves. Dismissal will occur at 4:30 PM via our regular carpool procedures.

• Dismissal Reminder:
All students (except those whose parents are volunteering with the show) will be dismissed via the carpool line. Please avoid parking or entering the building, and follow our standard carpool system to ensure a smooth process.

Having students dress in their costumes at home will simplify preparations and make dismissal after the Sunday and Monday shows more efficient, as they won’t need to change out of their costumes for pick-up.

ALL ACCESSORIES should be left at school (headbands, arm pieces, 3/5 non-AE dragons need to leave their leg pieces, caplets w/hoods (girls) or their hats (boys).  Please make sure that anything and everything you wear home is worn back to school on show days. (Socks, leggings, etc...)

Thank you for your continued support as we bring this production to life. We can’t wait to see all the hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm shine on stage in what promises to be an unforgettable show!

- The Shrek Team

Dear Advanced Ensemble, 

Your children have been working so hard and have really stepped up in the Duloc kingdom. They’re getting a special taste of the middle school production experience — more stage time, more advanced dances and harmonies, and one of the most exciting milestones in theatre: wearing wigs.

There’s something uniquely special about being cast in a role where you wear a wig. It feels important. It feels theatrical. It’s a real rite of passage.

And… with that comes the reality of wig prep.

We are so grateful to all of you for the time and care you’re putting into preparing your child’s hair.

A few important reminders, as we had several students today whose wigs could not fit properly:

Hair needs to be braided into many small, tight braids that are flat to the head and close to the scalp. You should be able to see the scalp between the parts. For many of our students with thick, beautiful hair, this means more braids — smaller and tighter than you might think.

Bobby pins need to be secured in a crisscross pattern and pressed flat to the head. If anything sticks up or is bulky, it will push through the wig and prevent it from sitting correctly.

I strongly recommend taking a look at the wig prep video I linked in the document—it’s very helpful, especially for longer or thicker hair.

All hair must be done before arrival. Unfortunately, we don’t have the staffing to complete wig prep on site. It’s a very time-intensive process, and our volunteers are focused on checking students in while our production team sets up and runs the show.

If a student arrives without proper hair prep, we are not able to wig them for the performance.

We know this takes planning, and we really appreciate your flexibility. Some families find it easiest to braid hair the night before and have their child sleep in it. Others prefer to do it early in the morning. Both are great options.

In the past, some families have even made it fun by having small “hair prep” get-togethers with friends, siblings, or alumni helping out — it turns it into a really special part of the experience.

I’ll share that when I was performing with Atlanta Ballet in The Nutcracker, I did 32 performances and pin curled every night so my hair would be ready. I remember it so vividly and so fondly. Even later in my career, I’ve slept in pin curls knowing there wouldn’t be time the next day. It’s just part of the process — and part of the magic.

For tomorrow, grades 3–5 will run a full run-through when they arrive. Students should report directly to their room and get into costume. Please have them eat breakfast or a snack beforehand and come well hydrated.

Thank you again for helping your child arrive ready so they can jump right into what they need to do. We truly appreciate your partnership.

With gratitude from the kingdom of Duloc!

Dear Middle School Families, Cast, and Crew,

Thank you so much for your patience, grace, and support as we move through dress rehearsals. For those who may be newer to a theatrical process at this level, please know that these final rehearsal days are very much like game days in sports: you may have a projected end time, but sometimes things run long as we work through all of the moving pieces in real time and are trying to get full runs of each show in (4 shows over two days) for each cast with wigs, costumes, sets, props and mics.

As noted in yesterday’s blog post, our middle school cast and crew may be out of costume closer to 4:45–4:50 PM, and it can then take an additional 15–20 minutes for students to gather their belongings and make their way to carpool. While we specifically noted this for Friday, we know many of you experienced that timing today as well. Thank you for your flexibility, your grace, and your patience. Because of those and because so many students are dismissed at once in a production of 155, tomorrow’s middle school dismissal will be at 5:10 PM. This allows enough time for middle school students to receive notes from the production team, get out of costume, properly hang up their costumes, return wigs to wig forms, change back into street clothes, and head to carpool in a more orderly way. Thank you again for your grace. 

We ask that our Dragons and Fionas please remain until 5:30 PM tomorrow. We need that extra time to properly secure the dragon headpieces so they are comfortable, stable, and allow each student to see well while wearing them. We also need to rehearse Fiona’s transformation sequence, which includes a quick prosthetic, costume, and makeup change in just 47 seconds. This work needs to happen outside the regular rehearsal flow. If staying until 5:30 is inconvenient, please let us know. We are happy to arrange for your child to come in on Saturday instead, as our production team will also be on campus to set up, clean, and reset.

Today, your children truly rose to the occasion. They worked hard, stayed focused, and gave so much of themselves to the process. We were, however, short of several adult volunteers, which slowed our ability to get students into costumes and wigs quickly. If you have not yet had a chance to volunteer, we would be deeply grateful if you would take one last look to see whether there is a spot you can fill. It truly takes a village to support a production of this magnitude, scope, and size, and your help makes a real difference in setting our students up for success.

We also ask for your partnership in reminding your middle school students to treat the dressing room spaces with great care and respect. At the end of rehearsal today, many costume pieces were left on the floor near Starbucks drinks, milkshakes, iced coffees, and accessories, and wigs were strewn about the room. This creates significant stress for both tomorrow’s cast and our skeleton evening crew, who are working furiously to reset for the next dress rehearsal while also tending to many other production needs before our 6:45 AM Ogre call and 7:00 AM full cast and crew call.

When costumes, wigs, and accessories are not properly rehung and reset, our team must stop critical production work to clean, reorganize, re-steam, re-press, and sometimes even repair wigs during the very limited overnight hours we have available. Many of us will be working until 3:00 or 4:00 AM and returning again at 6:45 AM. We are giving everything we have to make this magical for your children, and your support in reinforcing respectful backstage habits is deeply appreciated.

We also strongly ask that middle school students finish any Starbucks, milkshakes, frappuccinos, iced coffees, or other ooey-gooey breakfast items before entering the costume rooms. We are a dry dressing room, which means only dry snacks and water in those spaces. Today, several drinks were left in the dressing rooms, and some tipped near or onto costumes. As a result, we are now doing cleaning and repair work on costumes just before our first show. Students are well fed throughout the day, may bring as many dry snacks and as much water as they would like, and we do break for lunch, at which time they may enjoy any sticky or stain-prone items in the dining hall while out of costume.

A few important reminders for tomorrow:

• Middle School Cast  & Crew Call: 7:00 AM

• Arrival Location: Students should enter and check in through the main lobby

• Shrek Call: 6:45 AM

• • Shrek's Only: Please email or call Ms. Kendrick and arrive at the back of the theatre at 6:45 AM to be let in, as this is before regular doors open

• Crew Meeting with Mr. Michek after arrival to review transitions

• Students who have not yet tried on their wigs will be wigged tomorrow

• Students who have already been wigged will not be re-wigged tomorrow, as we need to preserve wig condition for show performances

• Please remember deodorant, and bring extra deodorant along with all items listed in the “What Do I Need to Bring?” toiletry/hygiene kit

• Students will be mic’d, costumed, and prepared so that we can begin our first full run between 8:30 and 8:45 AM

Thank you again for your patience, understanding, and support. We know this week asks a great deal of everyone, and we are so grateful for the way our families continue to show up for these students and this production.

With gratitude from our swamp to yours,
The Shrek Team