Our son.. an up and coming superstar

[freakygirl]

My husbands son Nick (he is the cross dressing.. dancing.. singing.. twin) got the part he was trying out for in a play. It's a professional all city program in the city they live in. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the group of traveling professionals that help out with this. But it is done in numerous cities around America.


Out of 200 children.. 50 children were picked. Nick got a lead roll. He has over 200 lines to memorize in less than a week (got the part on Monday, and does the play two times on Saturday) and he has a solo dance and singing act near the end.

This boy has amazing talent. As much as he drives me crazy with his ways.. he truely is blessed with a talent I wish I had half of)


Question for everyone... I know it's common to give a preformer something on "opening" night.. any ideas for an 8 year old boy?

 

[Rubyfruit]

That's so cool, Freaky.

I've never known many people in theater, so I have no clue on the gift.

Ruby

 

[erosman]

Question for everyone... I know it's common to give a preformer something on "opening" night.. any ideas for an 8 year old boy? [/B][/QUOTE]

How about a cap? Maybe from his favorite team. A real nice one though that he can keep.

 

[lilminx]

FG- I have seen both males and females receive flowers for performances- I don't know if that would make either you or him uncomfortable though. I think a cap or a (gameboy?) game he likes might be a good idea.

 

[seXieleXie]

Question for everyone... I know it's common to give a preformer something on "opening" night.. any ideas for an 8 year old boy?

hmm... that would, of course, depend on the boy. a very traditional opening night gift is flowers. usually i was the only one who didn't have flowers on opening night, and that is not a fun feeling.
if the theater is going to be a life long pursuit (and it sounds like it is) then his first opening night is a pretty big deal. theater people are intensely supersticious, so wishing him "luck" or giving him an icon of luck (a la four leaf clover style) might not be the best way to go. here are a couple of ideas:
-jewlery or a trinket
-a play (just not "the scottish play" hehehe)
-an icon related to his favorite or "dream" role
hmm... usually i can be more creative about gifts. if you wanted to tell me a little bit more about the kid i might have other ideas too. hope i've helped!

 

[freakygirl]

Where to start to tell you about Nick

The younger and bigger of twins.. Very outgoing.. very talkative.. wants to be front and center at all times.. never met a stranger (not even the blond who's skirt he stuck his hand up on Fourth of July when he was 5 and blamed it on his father )

Nick has and always will be a performer. We went to a Halloween party a couple of years ago. He dressed as Britney Spears (he is so in love with her).. sang and danced for a room of total strangers (to him)..and never thought twice about it.

Nick wants to be a female. He says if he has his way.. he will be a "girl" someday. (We've accepted this).

I was thinking flowers.. I just wasn't sure if this was acceptable for a boy.. I didn't want to embarrass him if flowers weren't the thing the rest of the boys were getting. He makes every attempt to appear to be "normal" (his word NOT mine) around his friends.

 

[lilminx]

I think that in theater, it's "normal' to give a boy flowers- it's traditional, so I think it would be OK.

 

[seXieleXie]

wow, first can i say i am really impressed to find such supportive parents. my parents tried their best to squish and same sex leanings i displayed as a kid (too bad it didn't work... mwhahahaha!). it's awesome that you truely do accept your kids for who they are, not who you'd like them to be.

now, on to the gifts. i doubt he would be embarassed to get flowers, i can pretty much guarantee the other kids will get them as well. and besides, who doesn't like to get flowers?
you might give him a gift in two parts... publicly flowers and after (or perhaps before?) the first show you could give him a more personal gift. if he really digs brittany or another artist you could give him a cd, a poster, or perhaps an outfit that he might like. if both you and nick are comfortable with crossing gender lines, a tiara and boa would be a cute option.

the very very best opening night gift i ever got was from a director i've worked under (hey now, get your mind out of the gutter!) several times. she gave me a copy of a play (actually it was a collection of one act plays but you get the idea) and she highlighted the lines of characters she would like to see me play. it was incredibly touching.

good luck with your gift selection though. i'm sure a sensative and caring parent such as yourself will pick something excellent

 

[Spinaroonie]

You need to give him suport and quiet time right now... and on the day you get him a big boquet of flowers. You also support him by bringing everybody you know there. Neighbours, relatives, family friends, anybody and everybody to give him support.

I'd recommend getting him an acting book, but I don't know of any aimed at his age lvl.

 

[Gilly Bean]

Well, I performed quite a bit in the ballet, and one thing alot of the parents got for the kids on opening night, was something from that was from the ballet.

Now, we always had a 'boutique' set up in the lobby that sold souvineirs (sp?), many which revolved around both ballet, and the specific ballet showing.

If they have one of those set up, perhaps a poster from the play? Or, maybe a keychain with the play name on it. Another good thing to make sure you keep, is the program from the play. If you can, or he can, take it around back stage, and get as many autographs on it as possible. That is something he will always love to remember. Ticket stubs can sometimes be a big deal as well, so keep those unless he doesn't want em. I know I always saved mine.