Acting Out, a company founded and run by two New Jersey mothers, is reinventing the childhood pastime of dressing up with its line of musical costumes. Each outfit, sized to fit three- to six-year-old girls, is equipped with a musical device that plays a short tune corresponding to the theme of the outfit. The wearer activates the music by pressing a button on the waistband.
Anna Villani Hazard dreamed up the idea and co-founded Acting Out in 2003 with her longtime friend Andrea Cohen Nasstrom. Three years later, the company has won two top-toy awards from Oppenheim Toy Portfolio and Creative Child magazine and has been featured on The Today Show and Good Morning America. “We were really excited,” says Hazard of their finalist status in Disney’s Family Fun magazine’s 2005 Toy of the Year competition.
The company’s new summer costumes feature the song “You Are My Sunshine” and funkier music for six- to eight-year-olds. The clothing, priced from $22 to $34, is sold in 27 stores statewide and at actingoutdressup.com.