Nashville Children's Theatre (NCT) is the oldest professional children's theatre company in America. It is also Tennessee's only professional, non-profit theatre dedicated exclusively to kids and families.
NCT was established in 1931 by the Junior League of Nashville. NCT has performed at the historic Belcourt Theatre, Vanderbilt University and Belmont University. In 1960, the city of Nashville built a new performance space specifically as home for NCT which NCT still uses to this day.
Each year, NCT produces four or more professional productions for audiences ranging from pre-school to adult. Every NCT production is backed by a team who share a common commitment to children's theatre and arts education.
NCT casts adult, professional actors and is affiliated with Actors Equity Association.
An average season for NCT spans 36 weeks and features over 200 performances for both school groups and family audiences. As part of the theatre's "School Performance Series", approximately 60,000 schoolchildren attend NCT performances each year, and an additional 15,000 kids and adults attend NCT for the theatre's "Weekend Family Series." The theatre offers school and weekend tickets to ensure that students and families from throughout the region's can attend at an affordable price.
NCT offers a line-up of productions ranging from plays which explore issues and experiences young people encounter in contemporary society to adaptations of classic literature, historical subjects, and award-winning children's books.
Nashville Children's Theatre offers year-round arts education programming to supplement NCT's regular season of performances, and the theatre's education initiatives also provide arts experiences that develop children's creativity and encourage a lifelong interest in the arts.
Altogether Nashville Children's Theatre serves 75,000 children and adults annually, and each year NCT provides some 7,500 free tickets and many camp scholarships to children throughout Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
TIME Magazine ranked NCT as one of the top five children's theatres in the country.
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