 Preparing for the episode was physically difficult for some of the cast members , most of whom had little experience singing and dancing . They spent three months in voice training . Two choreographers worked with Whedon and the cast on dance sequences . Michelle Trachtenberg ( Dawn ) , who is trained in ballet , requested a dance sequence in lieu of a significant singing part , and Alyson Hannigan ( Willow ) , according to Whedon , begged him not to give her many lines . Sarah Michelle Gellar ( Buffy ) told the BBC that " It took something like 19 hours of singing and 17 hours of dancing in between shooting four other episodes " and she was so anxious about singing that she " hated every moment of it " . When Whedon suggested using a voice double for her , however , she said , " I basically started to cry and said , ' You mean someone else is going to do my big emotional turning point for the season ? ' In the end , it was an incredible experience and I 'm glad I did it . And I never want to do it again . " Davies was so impressed with Hinton Battle 's performance on Broadway in The Wiz that he asked Battle to play the demon Sweet . Battle , a three @-@ time Tony @-@ winner , wore prosthetic make @-@ up for the first time to give him a demonic red face . Sweet was portrayed as " slick " , smooth and stylish ; in contrast , most demons on the series were designed to be crude and ugly . The set for The Bronze was used frequently throughout the series , but stairs were built from the stage to maximize floor space for Battle 's dance . 
