2019 Holiday Gift Guide for Actors and Musical Theatre Lovers

It’s the most wonderful time of year!

Actor Aesthetic’s 2019 holiday gift guide aims to make shopping for actors more personal, thoughtful and fun.

Looking to spoil the performer in your life? Searching for the perfect gift for your actor friends? Have a child who loves musical theatre? Here are 21 gift ideas any performer will adore.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases.

1. Laduca Shoes

Laduca dance shoes

LaDuca Shoes are the Original Flexible Character Shoes for both amateur and professional dancers. Based in New York City, LaDuca Shoes can be seen in theater, film, television and concerts around the world.

LaDuca shoes were created with the dancer in mind and position the body over the center of the shoe. This alleviates unnecessary knee and back pain, creating a healthier dance experience. 

2. Little Shop of Rose Gold

Audition Morning Candle, Little Shop of Rose Gold

Support fellow actors! Little Shop of Rose Gold, created by actress Caitlin Wilayto, is an Etsy shop that produces heavenly scented candles with musical theatre lovers and performers in mind.

Find a candle for every performer and occasion, including Best Director, Wonderstudy, Leading Lady, Super Swing, Show Girl, Pre Show Ritual, Audition Mornings, Booked & Blessed, and more!

3. Beats Headphones

I cannot recommend Dre Beats Headphones enough! Audition holding rooms can get loud, and a pair of sound proof bluetooth headphones, like the Beats Studio3 Wireless Over-Ear headphones, are life-saving. These bad boys have up to 40 hours of battery life and are great when you’re on the go.

4. Tickets to a Broadway Show

Hadestown on Broadway

No need to splurge on tickets to a Broadway show when you can get them through Today Tix!

Popular shows featured on the app include Mean Girls, The Book of Mormon, West Side Story, Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away, To Kill A Mockingbird, Rock of Ages, Beetlejuice, Jagged Little Pill, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and more.

5. Lululemon Apparel

Lululemon leggings

Lululemon Athletica is a high-end workout clothing line for yoga, running, and training that has become the standard among the theatre community. Go to a rehearsal, an open call, or dance class in New York City and 95% of the men and women are #slaying in lulu slacks and skirts.

6. MyPurmist Handheld Steamer

Mypurmist® steam inhalers are proven to provide fast, natural, drug-free relief from allergies, sinus congestion, sinus pain, dryness, colds and flu. These inhalers are a game-changer for the vocal health of performers!

Mypurmist gently showers your nose, sinuses, mouth and throat with pure micro-mist for superb relief. 

7. Broadway Bookmarks

Broadway Bookmarks

Broadway Bookmarks, created by Rachel Lebda, is a small business that sells homemade watercolor bookmarks themed from Broadway plays and musicals. The goal behind each bookmark is to elicit a small moment of happiness when opening a book and to connect readers within the Broadway community.

As a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance, Broadway Bookmarks will have a booth at BroadwayCon this January!

8. BeltBox

Acting as a portable warm-up room, The BELTBOX is a vocal dampener for singers, actors and performers. Don’t have anywhere to warm-up for your audition? Neighbors can’t stand listening to you practice? Pull out your BELTBOX, hold it to your mouth, and sing through your scales without anyone hearing.

9. Actor Aesthetic Online Course

Actor Aesthetic Online Course, How To Submit Directly to Casting Directors (With or Without an Agent or Manager)

An audition book is the most important item a musical theatre actor owns. Get ready for audition season with Build Your Musical Theatre Audition Book online course.

Know someone interested in pursuing a degree in the performing arts? Most musical theatre college programs require an audition. Help them out by getting The Ultimate Guide to Preparing for Musical Theatre College Auditions (in 5 STEPS!) online course.

Give the gift of knowledge with the online course, How To Submit Directly to Casting Directors (With or Without an Agent or Manager). Learn the BEST ways to submit to casting directors directly through Actors Access, Backstage, Snail Mail and Email Submissions.

10. Coloring Broadway products

Hairspray, Coloring Broadway

Coloring Broadway is a line of Musical Theatre inspired coloring products for the Broadway & Theatre enthusiast, committed to highlighting the transformational power of theatre. They combine coloring and creativity with the messages of musical theatre.  Their mission is to create opportunities to connect with and extend your theatre experience, to create space for pondering, self-reflection and growth - and to do it all while singing show tunes, of course!

11. Scenery Bags

For Good Wicked Bag, Scenery Bags

Made from retired theatre backdrops, Scenery Bags donates a portion of its proceeds to take kids to see theatre. These retired drops can come from closed shows, storage spaces, or are just damaged and no longer of use. Instead of a theater just throwing them away, they are graciously donated, letting the stories live on in a new form.

Each bag includes a sewn tag that tells you the show it's from and the number you have from that collection. It also includes a history card with more information about your bag. 

12. Voice Lessons

Searching for voice lessons? Study with NYC-based actress and founder of Actor Aesthetic, Maggie Bera. With a background in the theatre industry of over 15+ years, Maggie offers coaching sessions in voice and acting in-person (in NYC) and over video. Click here to learn more.

13. BAckstage subscription

Backstage.com

Since 1960, Backstage has served as the #1 resource for actors and performers to find high-quality roles to match their interests and career goals.

Help someone level up their career by giving the gift of a Backstage subscription!

14. ‘THE ACTOR’S LIFE’ BOOK BY JENNA FISCHER

With amusing candor and wit, Jenna Fischer (The Office) spells out the nuts and bolts of getting established in the profession, based on her own memorable and hilarious experiences.  She tells you how to get the right headshot, what to look for in representation, and the importance of joining forces with other like-minded artists and creating your own work—invaluable advice personally acquired from her many years of struggle.  She provides helpful hints on how to be gutsy and take risks, the tricks to good auditioning and callbacks, and how not to fall for scams.

Her inspiring, helpful guidance feels like a trusted friend who’s made the journey, and has now returned to walk beside you, pointing out the pitfalls as you blaze your own path towards the life of a professional actor.

15. Ring-light for self-tapes

Ring light

A self-tape is an audition the actor films remotely, usually requested by a casting director, and expected to be sent back in a timely fashion. Casting Directors often provide the sides, instructions, and deadline, and then it is up to the actor to film, edit, and return it on time.

Help an actor out by giving the gift of a ring-light to use for self-tapes!

16. Humidifier

Humidifiers are a must-have for performers. By adding steam to the room, humidifiers help relieve swelling, dryness and nasal congestion.

17. Broadway Dance Center Gift Card

Broadway Dance Center

Give the gift of a gift card to Broadway Dance Center in NYC . Choose from 350+ drop-in classes in a variety of styles and levels, learn from world renowned educators and choreographers, and train in the heart of the New York City Theater District.

Gift Cards ordered online can be used anywhere at their 322 W 45th Street location. Online gift cards will be emailed directly to you or the recipient, and can be emailed on a specific date of your choosing!

18. Broadway HD Subscription

Broadway HD

Created by long term producers, Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley, BroadwayHD is the first ever streaming service dedicated solely to live theater. The streaming service, which is available on streaming media players like Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV (using Amazon Channels), iOS and Android, costs $8.99/month or $99.99/year. BroadwayHD offers more than 300 shows and over 750 hours-worth of programming to watch on-demand.

19. An Actor Plans

An Actor Plans is the brainchild of Melissa Crabtree, a working actor based in Chicago, as a way to mash up her love of theatre and organization. Here you’ll find stationery products for the theatre lovers, performer and technician. Stickers for organizing your rehearsal calendar, for tracking your current broadway obsessions, and gifts to give fellow cast mates. Many items are starring Mabel the Cat, based on Melissa’s real life pet. From stickers to pins and everything in between you’ll find something to celebrate your love of theatre here!

20. The Ultimate Playbill Binder

Love seeing Broadway shows and collecting Playbills? Keep them safe in The Ultimate Playbill Binder. This custom-made three-ring binder uses archival quality materials to attractively display, organize, and protect your Playbill collection for years to come.

21. Fontus Lozenges

Never suffer from dry-mouth before an audition or performance again! Created by Broadway, Film and TV actress Kaitlin Hopkins, Fontus Lozenges are the PERFECT stocking stuffer for performers.

These green apple throat lozenges provide moisturizing relief from dryness with a unique patent-pending formula that stimulates saliva production to lubricate dry mouth and throat.

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Happy Holidays!