<p>I thought y'all would be the most knowledgable parents on this topic. I have a son and a daughter in our HS musical. The moms of some of the girls have decided to buy their daughters flowers for closing night. That's all well and good, but I also have a son in the show. Any ideas for boy gifts? I did snacks, etc. for opening night.</p>
<p>Guess what?? Boys LIKE flowers too! I have a boy who started dancing at age 9, so I've done all kinds of fun things for him. One of his favorites was when I made roses out of $2 bills (I've also made them out of $5 & $10's)! Sometimes it's been chocolate...either flowers or I'll make something super cute (to package the chocolate in) either using the theme of the show or something that is appropriate for what he is performing. I'll make labels on the computer to cover the candy bars, or special little boxes. I hope this helps. Good luck with that! (Scrapbooking papers come in themes for just about anything you need to adapt)</p>
<p>For musicals, we usually did not get flowers (though we did for dance recitals). For a long while, I got a waterglobe that related to the musical (because D has a waterglobe collection). But that is not always possible (and doesn't mean as much if your kid doesn't have such a collection). Then, we'd try to find any memento that related to the musical. Can you tell us which musical it is? Often you can find something that relates. I recall two years ago, I was thinking, oy, how am I ever gonna find something that relates to "Zombie Prom", a musical my kid was in in NYC. My husband and I were on vacation and were talking about this and then in a gift shop, we came across this little Zombie, and we were laughing, it was so perfect. </p>
<p>Sometimes there is not an item that relates but you can find a souvenir with the name of the show. For instance, when D was in Into the Woods, I looked online and found a tote bag with that on it (actually that was her second ITW, and the first one I got a Red Riding Hood snowglobe as she was Little Red). Last year, she was in a premiere of a musical and so nothing existed with the name of the show. But one slogan in the show was "sex sells" and I went to Cafe Press and found all sorts of items with that slogan and other things related to her character. In fact, a lot of show names can be looked up on Cafe Press to find items with it....like once I got her a mug for Grease and another time a mug that said "Life is a Cabaret" as she was in Cabaret. There are tee shirts, magnets, journals, boxers, mouse pads, mugs, baseball caps, and things like that with many show names on that site. If the show is a common musical, you can search Broadway giftshops online to find items from that musical.</p>
<p>All terrific ideas, but I should have asked earlier, as I need whatever I decide on by Saturday night. I bet I could find chocolate roses this close to Valentine's Day.</p>
<p>Funny,for years we had three kids in dance recitals, so I didn't ever get anything for anyone!</p>
<p>The show is Anything Goes. For opening night, I found silver ships wheel pendants and put them on red ribbon chains for all the Sailorettes. Adorable!</p>
<p>missypie, that is an adorable gift for the Sailorettes. </p>
<p>I looked up Anything Goes on Cafe Press and there are a lot of items with that logo but I am not sure you could get them by Saturday...maybe. </p>
<p>But for your son, what about a little toy ship model to put on his shelf or desk to remind him of the show? Maybe you could use a permanent marker to write "Anything Goes" on the side of the ship?</p>
<p>There are lots of chocolate roses in the Valentines section of stores in our area this time of year so hopefully in your area also.. When you purchase your daughters flowers have the florist rap your son's up to look similar. </p>
<p>If he does a show that doesn't fall during Valentines season I have seen where the mom will purchase some fake flowers, take off the blossom and take different kinds of candy surround it in red or other colored celophane and then attach to the stem to represent the bud. Then have a florist wrap them up with real folage and filler. Looks adorable.</p>
<p>I however vote for the real flowers for both males and females (for selfish reasons.) My kids never take their flowers to their room, instead displaying them in the living and family rooms. Thus I get to enjoy them also.</p>
<p>My son used to get lots of flowers in HS. At our school flowers were given most nights of the performances. After the show when people were giving flowers my son would turn around and hand them to me, while he appreciated them, he didn't want to carry them around. When we got home I would put them in a vase and just add the new flowers everynight. He would look at the vase filled with flowers and say, "Wow, I got alot of flowers!" I think he saw it as a compliment to his performance, ie: more flowers = better performance. When he was the voice of the plant in Little Shop someone gave him a plant in a container that was the "head" of Frankenstein (still have it). When he was the cat in Honk! someone gave him a catnip plant. When he was the Beast "his" Belle gave him a B&B mug filled with candy, he used it for a pencil cup on his desk. So maybe you could find some cute nautical container or mug and fill it with candy or a plant.</p>
<p>BTW, soozeivt, I haven't run into anyone else who knows Zombie Prom. Our HS did it the year before we had a kid there. The thing is, they did *Little Shop of Horrors *the next year....creepy death musical following creepy death musical. The new director realizes that big cast mainstream shows bring in lots more $$$.</p>
<p>Boys get lots of flowers at our summer theatre. We do candygrams as fundraisers and they get a lot of them, too.</p>
<p>My favorite performance-related gift for my D was a first-day cancelled Helen Keller postage stamp when she was Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker.</p>
<p>While flowers are always nice, I just prefer the momentos related to each show as these can be saved as reminders. </p>
<p>Missypie, the same year my D was in Zombie Prom, she was Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at her college. For that, I got a little cactus plant with a big red bulb type thing on top and called it the Audrey II and it is on her windowsill still (I was just there yesterday and saw it).</p>
<p>I just looked on line, and Build a Bear has a perfect Sailor outfit...only then Daughter would be jealous and not want flowers (and they don't have Sailorettes).</p>
<p>My daughter has been involved in theatre since she was very young and I have done the full range of gifts, flowers, etc. She was in a long run of Annie one summer and I had a photo of the orphans scanned on a piece of fabric. I sewed a border around it and made an "Annie Pillow". That is probably my favorite show gift.
I have found eBay to be a great source of scripts, books, picture programs, posters, dolls, Christmas ornaments etc related to shows. You just have to have the time to shop ahead.</p>
<p>Missypie and Soozzievt:: How funny my daughter was also in Zombie Prom her junior year in high school (she was Candy) and Little Shop of Horrors her junior year in collage (she was Audrey)! My son is now a freshman at Syracuse University for Stage Management. We always gave him flowers closing night when he was in high school. I also got him several stage manager and tech theatre books as presents.</p>
<p>My D did Zombie Prom in hs too...I guess it is not as obscure as I thought!</p>
<p>I have to say, you all are so nice to your kids! We long ago gave up giving D much of anything for shows. This is partially because we can't do flowers because we have a cat that once he sees or smells them his entire purpose in life becomes to eat them. </p>
<p>When D was doing a run of shows where there seemed to be an expectation for something, we decorated a small vase, bought silk flowers and gave her the same ones each night. We have used these flowers for other shows also. D has a boyfriend now who has to stress over what to get her for shows. In general D does not like us at the openning or closing so that may have relieved the need to give her small gifts.</p>
<p>When my D was younger, I started a (sterling silver) charm bracelet for her and purchased charms as mementos for all her shows and concerts ... it was amazing how quickly the bracelet was filled and while my D no longer wears it, she still has it as a lovely reminder of those long ago shows ... you can find a charm for just about anything, especially on-line!</p>
<p>Then, when D was cast in Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, and played the role twice for 2 different production companies, I got her a gold charm bracelet with charms to commemorate every scene and song from the show ... a lily, a rose, a picture frame, the key, etc.</p>
<p>That is an especially beautiful bracelet and a cherished reminder of a very special time in her life ... something that I hope she has forever.</p>
<p>BrownEyes, what a nice idea!</p>
<p>Your children are obviously a lot more theatrically accomplished than mine. Son has been in three musicals and has never had a name - just Ensemble. Daughter is only in the show because she's one of the best tappers in the school so she and her fellow tappers are this little Sailorette posse. </p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your very creative ideas!</p>
<p>I've been able to find great show posters on Ebay. Last year when my D was Polly in "Crazy for You," I was actually able to find a poster signed by Jodi Benson, Harry Groener, and the rest of the original Broadway cast---all for about the cost of a frame at Triton Gallery! This year I opted for a Johnny Depp "Sweeney Todd" poster when she was Johanna. (What teen girl wouldn't prefer looking at Johnny Depp?) A harder task was finding something from "Two Gentlemen of Verona--The Musical." I couldn't find a poster but bought the LP. You can actually buy frames for LPs at craft stores and use the LP cover for display. Ebay is a great source for memorabilia from any show.</p>
<p>The same...flowers</p>