My daughter Talia was recently in a play at her high school (ok, she is always in a play at her high school). The acting bug has bitten her which is fine with me; I was in drama in high school also and I loved it. A lot of work goes into each production. The drama teacher cannot do it alone. Parents help with many things – sewing costumes, publicity, and ticket sales. The task I take on is the dress-rehearsal dinners. On dress rehearsal nights (typically the last three rehearsals before opening night), the kids stay late. It takes several hours to do costumes and make-up for the whole cast, then the performance/rehearsal takes two hours or so and then the director gives the cast “notes” – her feedback of the rehearsal and the things she wants changed. Because the kids are hungry, and hungry kids don’t listen well, we feed them dinner in between the rehearsal and the “notes” part.
For this production, a play titled “Moon Over Buffalo,” I decided to make it extra special. It was the last play for all the seniors and Talia is good friends with most of them. I made an Italian feast one night and a Mexican feast the next. And, I ordered water bottle labels with the name and dates of the show, and the names of the cast members on the side.
The kids’ reaction was so cute:
“Hey, these water bottles say Moon over Buffalo!”
“How’d you do that?”
“All our names are on here!”
“I’m listed with the cast, I’ve never felt so loved in my life!” (This from the student director who wasn’t technically in the cast but is, in fact, very loved by everyone.)
“This is so cool!” “I’m keeping this forever.”
Everyone seemed mystified by the magic of the personalized labels.
Most of the cast kept their water bottles as keepsakes. That is what I love about personalized labels. Not only do they look great, but they make people feel so special. And, they manage to do so without costing a fortune or taking a ton of effort.
Jill Moss works at an elementary school library in Gresham, Oregon where she combines her love of kids, books, and reading. She spends the rest of her time raising her husband, four kids, three chickens, two bunnies, and one cat.
