Children's Theatre Company

The Children's Theatre Company (formerly known as The Moppet Players from 1961 to 1965) is a regional theatre established in 1965 in Minneapolis, Minnesota specializing in plays for families, young audiences and the very young and the recipient of a 2003 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Many productions are inspired by classic children's literature, including adaptations of Pippi Longstocking, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Cinderella, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, A Year with Frog and Toad and Alice in Wonderland that have been in the company's repertoire for many seasons and are frequently revived. Among their early premiere productions was Richard Dworsky's musical version of The Marvelous Land of Oz, which was one of several productions to be issued on video in the early 1980s.

It operated as The Children's Theatre Company and School, first as an "after school" component of the Twin Cities' Urban Arts program and, by the early 1980s, as its own accredited grade school and high school. Students were taught regular academic curricula for the first half of the day and then studied performance arts for the second half. Theatre classes were taught by professional company members. The theatre company no longer operates as a school.

The theater was founded by John Clark Donahue along with John Burton Davidson, Shirley Diercks, Martha Pierce Boesing and Beth Leinerson. Donahue left the theater in 1984 after being charged with having sexual relations with three male minor students. Donahue was sentenced to a year in prison and 15 years' probation during which time he was to completely disengage himself from the Children's Theatre Company.[1]

Jon Cranney served as the theater's second artistic director until 1997, when Peter C. Brosius, the then artistic director of the Improvisational Theatre Project of the Mark Taper Forum, became the theater's third artistic director in 1997. During his tenure, the organization was awarded the 2003 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the only time ever a family theater has received this honor. In addition, the theater's production of A Year with Frog and Toad, which completed a run at the Cort Theatre on Broadway in June 2003, was nominated for three Tony Awards. In 1998, under Brosius' leadership, the theater established THRESHOLD, a new play laboratory that has allowed them to work with some of the leading playwrights in America to create world premiere productions: Nilo Cruz, Jeffrey Hatcher, Kia Corthrun, Naomi Iizuka, to name a few. Along with new play development, Brosius has helped launch new education programs, one of which is the acclaimed Neighborhood Bridges program that is being used as a national model. Brosius leads the company alongside Managing Director, Tim Jennings.

Architect Michael Graves designed the new expansion for the theatre in 2001.

Production History

As the Moppet Players

Seasons 1-4 (1961-1965)

Season 1 (1961-1962)
Season 2 (1962-1963)
Season 3 (1963-1964)
Season 4 (1964-1965)

As the Children's Theatre Company

Seasons 5-10 (1965-1971)

Season 5 (1965-1966)
Season 6 (1966-1967)
Season 7 (1967-1968)
Season 8 (1968-1969)
Season 9 (1969-1970)
Season 10 (1970-1971)

Season 11-20 (1971-1981)

Season 11 (1971-1972)
Season 12 (1972-1973)
Season 13 (1973-1974)
Season 14 (1974-1975)
Season 15 (1975-1976)
Season 16 (1976-1977)
Season 17 (1977-1978)
Season 18 (1978-1979)
Season 19 (1979-1980)
Season 20 (1980-1981)

Seasons 21 (1981-1982)

Season 22 (1982-1983)

Season 23 (1983-1984)

Season 24 (1984-1985)

Season 25 (1985-1986)

Season 26 (1986-1987)

Season 27 (1987-1988)

Season 28 (1988-1989)

Season 29 (1989-1990)

Season 30 (1990-1991)

Season 31 (1991-1992)

Season 32 (1992-1993)

Season 33 (1993-1994)

Season 34 (1994-1995)

Season 35 (1995-1996)

Season 36 (1996-1997)

Season 37 (1997-1998)

Season 38 (1998-1999)

Season 39 (1999-2000)

Season 40 (2000-2001)

Season 41 (2001-2002)

Season 42 (2002-2003)

Season 43 (2003-2004)

Season 44 (2004-2005)

Season 45 (2005-2006)

Season 46 (2006-2007)

Season 47 (2007-2008)

Season 48 (2008-2009)

Season 49 (2009-2010)

Season 50 (2010-2011)

Season 51 (2011-2012)

Season Theme: Every Child's a Hero!

Season 52 (2012-2013)

Season 53 (2013-2014)

Season 54 (2014-2015)

Coordinates: 44°57′29.52″N 93°16′22.89″W / 44.9582000°N 93.2730250°W

References

  1. New York Times, November 9, 1984

External links