What is The Student Matinee Performance Series?
- Each year, thousands of students take a field trip to DCT to see a show.
- Some children are seeing a professional production for the very first time.
- More than 75% come from schools located in areas rated as economically challenged.
- DCT provides deep discounts for these tickets so that cost is not a barrier to them having this experience.
- In Dallas, no other arts organization is able to provide a Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) aligned Fine Arts experience to the volume of children that DCT does every year.
“Every grade level at our school tries to attend a “fine arts” field trip and since I am the field trip coordinator for my grade level I always choose a theatrical performance. The kiddos sit in front of screens for too much of their lives and expect that to be the only form of entertainment when there is so much else out there. There are a lot of parents who do not take children to the theater whether because of cost or knowledge. I believe it is so important for kids to know about the theater and to develop an appreciation for the arts. Yes, we make sure we read the story to the students and connect it with the TEKS but my ultimate goal is that the students walk away excited about the idea of the theater.”
– Jessica Black, Ethridge Elementary
Photos by Lawrence Jenkins and DCT staff
Listen up, I tell you! Junie B. Jones is back, and she’s got some advice to give…eventually. It was her brilliant idea to put together a survival guide for next year’s students, but now she’s at a total loss for what to add to it! It doesn’t help that all her friends are full of cool ideas and dance numbers. How’s a girl supposed to deal with all this competition? Hilariously, of course! In this musical extravaganza great for back-to-school time, Junie B. Jones learns some important lessons about school, patience, and personal growth. This play is perfect for fans of Junie B. and newcomers alike!
In communicating her decision to the Board of Trustees, Robyn Flatt paid homage to her father, Paul Baker, the founding director of Dallas Theater Center and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts when she said, “As you all know, thanks to my father, theater will forever be a part of the fabric of my life. It is what inspired me to take on what some said was the impossible mission of starting Dallas Children’s Theater in the early ‘80s. I am very proud that both he and I have been able to make significant contributions to the North Texas cultural landscape; contributions that I expect to continue for decades to come.”
Flatt co-founded DCT in 1984 with start-up funds of $500. Over the years, the theater presented shows and officed out of the old Withers Elementary building, El Centro Community College, and The Crescent Center when it was owned by Caroline Rose Hunt. Ms. Hunt, along with her daughter, Laurie Sands Harrison, were two of DCT’s earliest and most longstanding supporters. In the early 2000s, with the help of a strong board of community leaders, Flatt and the DCT team raised more than $14 million dollars to purchase and renovate the old Don Carter Bowling Alley on Northwest Highway and Skillman. Thanks to the generosity of loyal patrons, the 58,000 square foot facility is now owned mortgage-free. From its modest financial beginnings of $500, DCT has grown to a pre‑COVID annual budget of more than $4 million. The theater has twenty-seven (27) fulltime staff members, seventy-five (75) part-time employees and currently thirty‑nine (39) seasonal employees. DCT has served more than five (5) million children and families through a critically‑lauded annual season of plays and an arts-in-education school for children ages three-and-one-half (3.5) to eighteen (18). Pre-COVID, DCT also produced a sought-after national tour that traveled to thirty-one (31) cities and twenty-six (26) states each year. DCT is considered one of the leading professional family theaters in the nation.
Under Flatt’s leadership, DCT has always had a deliberate and visible commitment to diverse casting, culturally-specific plays, and using the power of theater to spark important conversations. Flatt’s own projects of note include YANA WANA’S LEGEND OF THE BLUEBONNET, a DCT‑commissioned play that provides a glimpse into the heritage of the indigenous, First People of Texas; John Steptoe’s MUFARO’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS, an African-American Cinderella tale; AND THEN THEY CAME FOR ME featuring the story of Eva Schloss and recounting scenes from the lives of Holocaust survivors during World War II; and 10 SECONDS, a play that demonstrates what can happen when young people and members of law enforcement take the time to consider their interactions with each other. Flatt’s signature work was Harper Lee’s classic TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD which she produced several times, and an innovative and collaborative production entitled TREASURE ISLAND Reimagined! that combined puppetry, circus arts, and movement.
In November of 2020, DCT initiated an important first step in its succession plan when Nancy Schaeffer was elevated to the role of Artistic Director. Schaeffer’s association with DCT dates to its beginning days in 1984 when she was not only a leading actress in many productions, but also took on the administration of its fledgling school of theater classes. With her energy and expertise, DCT’s school has grown to become a highly sought-after Academy serving up to 4,000 students a year, and now includes a vibrant musical theater conservatory as well as the Blue Pegasus Players classes for children with sensory sensitivities.
Flatt plans to continue directing plays and will take on special projects as needed for Dallas Children’s Theater. She intends to devote much of her creative energy to a book and film about her father through the Baker Idea Institute, an incubator initiative for creative thinking and imagination in ways that benefit business, education, and individuals in general.
Flatt is a member of the College of Fellows of American Theatre. She was nominated by The Dallas Morning News arts staff for the Texan of the Year Award in both 2010 and 2015, and was honored in 2016 with the Orlin Corey Award for Artistic Excellence from the American Alliance for Theater and Education.
She and Junie B. often find themselves competing for attention in class. And outside of class. And, well, pretty much whenever they see each other. Junie B. struggles with her temper whenever May is around, and May only seems to get louder in response. Will these two girls ever be able to see past their differences? Find out in JUNIE B.’s ESSENTIAL SURVIVAL GUIDE TO SCHOOL!
Listen up, I tell you! Junie B. Jones is back, and she’s got some advice to give…eventually. It was her brilliant idea to put together a survival guide for next year’s students, but now she’s at a total loss for what to add to it! It doesn’t help that all her friends are full of cool ideas and dance numbers. How’s a girl supposed to deal with all this competition? Hilariously, of course! In this musical extravaganza great for back-to-school time, Junie B. Jones learns some important lessons about school, patience, and personal growth. This play is perfect for fans of Junie B. and newcomers alike!
“I don’t think I can count the number of activities we’ve quit.
Today, I became an even bigger fan than I already was. 
It’s not lost on me that this morning when I looked out & waved back at hundreds of wide-eyed 7-8 yr. old guests, at least half were glowing black & brown faces. It was their first ever class field trip & I’ll never forget & take for granted their enthusiasm & wonder & glee AT. EVERY. SINGLE. THING. They were cheering, gasping, chattering, clapping, reacting, living! For at least one child of immigrants, it was the best day of their life & I got to be part of making that happen. I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow.”
I’ve been privy to some “behind the scenes” conversations about kids via teachers of kindergarteners through fourth grade, and the one thing I’ve learned is that these kids are ALL so very different. As DCT prepares for JUNIE B.’s ESSENTIAL SURVIVAL GUIDE TO SCHOOL, I think about all the kindergarteners and first graders I know, and she is just like them – very different.
In our new JUNIE B. play, Junie B. is now a “mature” first grader, more aware of her actions, and eager to impart her hard-won knowledge. She has new glasses, new friends, and newer insecurities – she’s at that awkward stage of life where she’s really learning to compare herself to others, and learning when to step in or out of the spotlight. She’s wants to be the outright best at absolutely everything – all world-wise and knowledgeable…at age six. Like many first graders, she wants to help, but doesn’t always want to listen. Kids don’t always know what to do with anger or jealousy; especially a kid like Junie B. who marches to her own beat. In JUNIE B.’s ESSENTIAL SURVIVAL GUIDE TO SCHOOL, we see her most “horrid” self in the form of the bull, El Toro Fabuloso: a character she’s created to represent her temper. Much as she tries to use this character to take responsibility for those complicated feelings, it’s Junie B. herself that has to learn to manage them. Here begins the journey of the lesson she must learn.
The elements that aren’t labeled are feelings, concepts, ideas; the things that are inside that we can’t see. These things are more difficult to communicate, especially when our vocabulary is new and limited. This is when an eager, outspoken kid like Junie B. reaches for the newly-acquired vocabulary words she knows. They don’t always fit, but again, Junie B. is a bit of a square peg.
She has a lot to learn, as all five and six-year-olds do, and our kids will have so much fun watching her make mistakes. My kids will sneak a peek at me while they’re laughing to see if I just noticed what she said and if it’s okay that they laughed. I’ll smile at them. Then, we’ll have a great conversation about how she fixed her mistakes, and how we have to think before we act and even think before we speak, because words and attitudes are important. I think Junie B. can teach this to our kids much more powerfully than a lecture on behavior.
JUNIE B.’s ESSENTIAL SURVIVAL GUIDE TO SCHOOL
Everyone, at all ages, has experienced shame – but not everyone has had help in dealing with it. Ironically, the antidote to shame is exactly what people sitting in shame fear the most: connection. It takes great bravery to admit to a fault or mistake, but it can be one of the most bonding experiences when shared between generations. It is as revealing as it is humorous to see yourself in the generations after you, and the usefulness of a grandparent’s perspective in dealing with these complex feelings cannot be overstated. As Junie B.’s own Grandpa Miller is always ready with a lemon pie and a teasing story about himself or Junie’s mother, we must also be ready to share the parts of ourselves that we were told need improvement too.
Now here’s an exercise you can share with your own brilliant troublemaker. Remember, there is joy in sharing the little embarrassments that have shaped us; they help us grow. Have a grandparent or older loved one fill out the right side, and a child fill out the left. Don’t forget to compare the finished product!
