Once we finally received the rights for a play, I was so excited to hear it was Joseph!!!! Not only is it one of my favorite Bible stories, but it is an amazing musical. A story about a boy who goes to the bottom of the bottom and because of his faith and trust in who God is, the Lord raises him to the top. A story of a dreamer that we can all relate to and a story of reconciliation that we all hope for.
As the wardrobe chief, I knew the infamous coat would be quite a project. How could I share my passion for Joseph through this coat? In my studying, I kept coming back to Genesis 37: 3 that says, " Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours." I was particularly struck by the word colours. As I studied it more, I found the translation to mean pieces. So, this coat of many colours was actually a coat of many pieces. It struck something deep in me, something I didn't really understand until recently!
As rehearsals and production meetings started and a vision for the costumes began to come together, the coat was always at the back of my mind and I was still looking for a way and some direction. I had NO idea where to even start. I had started picking up different scrap material when I was shopping for other costumes, because I at least knew it had to be colorful and made of different pieces. The director and I both had a picture in our heads of what the coat would look like, but I didn't see how it would all come together, much like the production itself!
Several of us worked on the coat the first work day, cutting out different colors and sizes of fabric. We also started making our own patchwork fabric, by sewing together the pieces. Different ones giving of their time to work towards a result we couldn't see. That day, as one of the producers and I were talking, we started thinking on how this coat, the REAL and first ever made coat, actually worn by Joseph, would have come together. Here, in this day and time, we have scissors, sewing machines and a store to buy the fabric from. Joseph's father would have had to have someone make the fabric, dye it, then hand stitch it all together. It really touched me and showed me the love and labor that went into the coat. How much care and time would have been spent to get this splendid, golden lined result. I wonder if they knew what it was going to look like before they started working on it?!
I continued to work on making the fabric as I could for the next few weeks, still not sure how the end result would look, but still moving forward. A friend came over one night to work on it and we made some more progress, but we still had a VERY long way to go. Different ones had already put in soooo many hours of labor and our time was coming up quickly! We only had almost half of the fabric we would need. So, we sent out a call for help, to get some other costume projects completed and get some more help with the coat!
On a Saturday, two weeks before opening night, things started to come together. A team of people moved costumes, sorted costumes, and cut and sewed fabric. People that have never even thought about sewing or working with fabric, were able and willing to do what was asked of them. We also had a crew helping with costume parade (where we look at all the costumes together scene to scene to make sure they all flow) that day. It was a very productive day! I could finally see things coming together, there was a team working together for a common cause! It wasn't just about the production or the coat. All the PIECES were doing their part. The fabric was almost finished after that day of labor. It took two more days of work and trials for the coat to come together and be complete.
After 84 or so (those are just the ones I know of) hours, numerous prayers, two pair of scissors dying, 3 bobbins breaking, 5 needles breaking, 10 bundles of thread and 9 yards of fabric, Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was complete and on stage two days before opening night. Never in the. history of RAT Co have the costumes been done before opening night.
The thing I keep thinking on is how each piece is so important. Whether it is a piece in a process, a piece of a team, a piece of a puzzle, whatever the piece, nothing is complete without all of them playing their part and being in place. It is truly something AMAZING to see each piece come together to create a beautiful result!
