By Sami DeSocio
A great theater tradition is the giving and receiving of gifts for opening and closing nights! But what if you have no clue what to get everyone? Who gets a gift? How much is this going to cost? Here’s some ideas and guidelines to help you out.
First – try to make them as personal as you can! For example, when I was in Into the Woods, we took a group photo backstage, put them in picture frames, and decorated the frames with stickers that reminded us of the show. We gave one to the director, one to the stage manager, and one to the producer as our ‘thank you’ for their hard work in helping us.
If you can’t make it so personal, everyone should chip in and purchase gift cards. You can really never go wrong with things like Dunkin Donuts gift cards or even a Visa gift card. Those are always more appreciated than you would think!
If you want to give gifts to your fellow actors, that’s always a little different since there’s more of you guys than there are of the production staff you need to purchase gifts for. When I just closed the one-act show I was part of, one of the other actors was a big fan of the Power Rangers, so I crocheted hackie sacks for him, one for each power ranger color. I’ve always found home made gifts are always appreciated among my cast members.
Cards are always good too if you’re tight on money. A package of ‘Thank You’ cards can go a LONG way if you write a personal message in each of them for the cast member. I always make sure to do this, whether I do other gifts or not. Everyone deserves a ‘thank you’ for their hard work, whether you’re being paid to be in the production or not.
But who gets the bigger gifts? Obviously the director would get a big cast gift. Often times the stage manager does as well, as well as the producer of the show. Those are the people that get gifts like gift cards or something like that-as much work as the actor did, these people made sure the production went up at all and they deserve to get a big thank you for it!
In terms of budget, everyone has one, and nobody wants to break theirs for a show. Chances are, you’ve spent some money on a costume, food, transportation and other things associated with the show. Usually somewhere between five and ten dollars seems to be enough. If the cast is big, five dollars a person can add up to a lot of money!
Whether or not you want to get a gift for another cast member, it’s up to you! How close did you get with the cast? How many real friendships did you make? Again, a package of ‘Thank You’ cards with a heartfelt note inside is always good. A pack of cards are hardly more than ten dollars.
Remember, applause is great, but a ‘thank you’ gift from your peers is always better!