Dallas Children's Theater is an outstanding venue for collaboration with local artists, designers, playwrights, and educators. Our directors and administrators are proud to contribute to the growing body of theater for youth with the commission and development of new plays. Familiar stories, literary works, histories, and biographies are also a part of our programming. Each season is thoughtfully chosen to produce plays that are engaging, enriching, and educational. Our productions promote social values, moral integrity, and reflect the cultural diversity of our community through casting and themes.

Our pioneering efforts to develop innovative “arts-in-education” programs have equipped Dallas-area schools with a powerful resource. The Student Matinee Performance Series offers excellent materials for teachers and students. To supplement the performance, we offer study guides and other educational materials through our website, drama workshops in the theater, and backstage tours. Curtains Up on Reading brings artists and educators together in the classroom, integrating drama, dance, music, and art into grade-level curriculum. Our After School Drama Clubs have been developed on twenty campuses. We also enjoy close collaboration with the Dallas Public Libraries, providing local performances and tickets in conjunction with the Mayor’s Summer Reading Program. To date, forty percent of the theater’s operating budget is dedicated exclusively to this kind of educational programming and outreach. Our Angel Fund offers schools in low-income neighborhoods over 1,000 free or reduced tickets every year.

We serve a metropolitan area rich in cultural diversity. In producing arts and education for a varied population, our theater is a burgeoning asset to the community. Families from every socio-economic and cultural background are now afforded access to the arts. Because our programming is quite extensive, Dallas Children's Theater brings theater to surrounding communities in more rural areas with limited resources.

Our continued excellence in community outreach and theater arts has earned Dallas Children’s Theater national acclaim. Both American Theater magazine and TIME magazine recognize Dallas Children's Theater as one of the leading professional family theaters in the United States. And our unparalleled leadership and vision have garnered the endorsement and support nationally of National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, Hearst Foundation, and Kresge Foundation. We believe theater provides a unique learning opportunity, which allows children exposure to ideas and imagery that reflect their own experiences and challenge their own understanding of the world in which they live. To this end, Dallas Children’s Theater aims to engage and inspire children, to produce theater that reaches beyond the stage.

History

Dallas Children's Theater was founded in 1984 by Robyn Flatt and Dennis Vincent, in response to the growing need for professional family theater. A 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, we are a forum for artistic collaboration, a vital educational resource for metropolitan schools, and a vehicle of enrichment for the greater Dallas community. With a multi-million-dollar budget and a national audience, Dallas Children's Theater is the largest professional family theater in the Southwest. We offer a season of eleven productions in our newly renovated Rosewood Center for Family Arts, as well as a national touring company, theater academy, and “arts-in-education” programs for local schools.

Future

In the summer of 2004, the Staff and Board of Trustees of Dallas Children’s Theater began the process of developing a strategic plan for the future of the organization. The following is taken directly from the Dallas Children’s Theater Organization Strategic Plan.

Our Mission

The mission Dallas Children's Theater is to inspire young people to creative and productive lives through the art of theater. We accomplish our mission through:

— a professional season of diverse, quality productions for youth and families,
— year-round education and outreach programs,
— the development of new works and new artists.

Our Vision

Our Artists: We will provide a home for the artist. We will maintain an atmosphere that values process and fosters a spirit of discovery for the expression and development of ideas. In maintaining this atmosphere, we will continue to balance the resident artist’s level of administrative work and creative talent. We will keep the artist in the center of our focus and an integral element of our theater.

Our Community: In the next three years, we will build a home for the “teenage world”. We recognize that teenagers are an equal and important part of the diverse community we serve. We will boldly address the issues and transitional concerns of teens as they develop adult behavior patterns and face consequential life decisions.

Our Staff: We will recruit, nurture, maintain, and honor a highly diverse, highly qualified resident staff of theater artists, administrators, and educators. We will focus on providing fair and competitive compensation and opportunities for growth. We will secure resources to support the expansion of staff as needed to sustain the health and high standards of our organization.

Our Operations: We will build an operational budget that will adequately provide financial resources for creativity and the exploration of new works. While fostering an environment that allows for exploration of new ideas, we recognize the reality of fiscal responsibility to our staff, patrons, and donors.

Our Building: Recognizing our amazing accomplishment in establishing the Rosewood Center for Family Arts, we will initiate a capital campaign to retire our bank loan.

You can become part of our rich history and our exciting future.