How to Throw a Cast Party

The show is over and now it is time for everyone involved in the production to celebrate all of their hard work. Follow these simple steps for planning and throwing a cast party and everyone will have a great time and be left with wonderful memories that will last for years to come.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Food
• Drinks
• Invitations

1. Choose where to have the party. Throw the party in the theater, outside the theater or in the lobby. If money is an issue you can throw the party at someone's home, or if money is not an issue then you can go all out and rent a restaurant, club or hotel ballroom.
2. Set a date and time. Often a cast party is held the closing night of the performance, but you can also schedule it for a following weekend.
3. Set up a guest list. This list should include the cast and crew, as well as address how many guests each cast member and crew member can bring to the party. You will also want to set up rules regarding how old the guests have to be to attend the party. If you will be serving alcohol then you may want to restrict the party to adults.
4. Decide what kind of a party you want to have. You can have a very informal party or a more formal affair. You can even plan a themed cast party where the food and decorations reflect the theme of your production.
5. Plan your food, drink and decorations. You can have the party catered, order out, make the food yourself or have everyone bring something potluck style. Decide if you will serve alcohol or allow people to bring it. Cast parties don't need a lot, or any, decorations, unless you a throwing a themed cast party.
6. Arrange any activities or games you might want to have for the party. Awards are often fun to give out at cast parties, either humorous or serious. The important thing is that everyone has fun. Often the best thing to do at a cast party is to just sit around and reminisce about the experience you just went through together.
7. Put together your invitations and hand them out a couple of weeks before the party or mail them. You can also create digital invitations and email them, or if the entire cast and crew are invited you can hang flyers around the theater to advertise your party. See "How to Write an Invitation" under related eHows.
8. Enjoy the party.

Tips & Warnings

• The type of show you are in will help you determine the appropriate cast party invites. If you are in a family show you should have a cast party that the entire family can attend. If you are still unsure, have an adult-friendly party and a kid-friendly party on different nights.
• A good decoration idea is to put out photographs you have taken from the show's rehearsals and performances. Scatter the photos around or put them in several photo albums.
• If you are having kids at your party make sure that you have an activity for them, even if it is just a stack of G-rated videos.
• Make a memory book. Set out a scrapbook with only photographs in it, and let your guests sign it and jot down their favorite memories from the show.
• If you are having the party after a performance then make sure to set up for the party before you go to the theater if at all possible. Then you can come directly to the readied party location and greet your guests as they start to arrive.
• It is OK for there to be more than one cast party. If someone else wants to throw a cast party too, just talk to them about it and make sure your parties are on different dates.
• Don't schedule the party too far from the closing of the show. The farther out you plan it from closing night the less guests you will have attend.

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