Mission Statement
Lexington Children’s Theatre (LCT) is a fully professional, non-profit organization dedicated to the intellectual and cultural enrichment of young people. Our mission is to create imaginative and compelling theatre experiences for young people and families. Founded in 1938, LCT is one of the oldest continuously operating theatres for young people in the nation and is the State Children’s Theatre of Kentucky, a distinction granted to LCT by The Kentucky Legislature in 1986. Annually, LCT serves over 130,000 children throughout the Commonwealth through our Main Stage performances, Education Department, Touring Productions, and Satellite Theatre based in Rowan and Elliott Counties. Through these programs, LCT’s goal is to reach every child in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, regardless of geographic or economic barrier.
Background Statement
Lexington Children’s Theatre was an all-volunteer organization until 1971. Productions provided recreation and artistic experience for child actors and adult amateurs, with occasional appearances by adult touring companies. The first professional director was hired in 1971, and in 1979 the Board began moving LCT toward resident professional status. A part-time resident ensemble of professional theatre artists was formed in 1984, which became full-time in 1985. We are now a fully professional theatre employing full-time and part-time actors, teachers, directors, designers, administrators and technicians. In 1995 we undertook a significant fund-raising campaign to raise money to renovate a building to become the permanent home to all of our programs. The $3,250,000 construction project was completed in time for the 1998-99 season and provides permanent space for our performances and classes. Thanks to generous donations from the late Lucille Caudill Little and W. T. Young, the building is now debt free. In 1998, we also formed the Resident Professional Intern Company to provide professional training to aspiring theatre students of college age and to supplement the professional staff.
On our Main Stage, LCT produces a ten show season primarily for school audiences during the week and public audiences on the weekends. Selections are made from contemporary dramatic literature for young audiences and scripts based on classic, contemporary, historical, and folk literature.
Since 1980, LCT's Tour Company has provided the best and most affordable opportunity to expose young people in Kentucky to professional theatre. In 20142015, LCT's Tour Company reached over 65,000 students.
LCT's Education Department offers year round classes, summer camps, and residencies in our facility as well as in facilities throughout the Commonwealth.
Our Shooting Stars Youtheatre provides summer performance opportunities, theatre classes, and in-school residencies at no charge for the young people in Eastern Kentucky’s underserved Rowan and Elliott counties.
Serving Central Kentucky's underserved is a top initiative for LCT, and is accomplished through a number of venues, including but not limited to our Family Pay What You Can series, ticket subsidies for children who receive free and reduced lunch, and scholarships for our education classes.
Impact Statement
2016-2017 has been a year of growth and discovery for Lexington Children’s Theatre, with both exciting new developments and strengthening of our ongoing programs. In continuing programs, the second year of our “Discover More” series of events has shown growth over the previous year in both attendance and partnerships. This year, we partnered with Toys for Tots, the Living Arts and Science Center, and the Explorium for these events that extend the theatre experience beyond the stage. We hosted a very powerful panel discussion with members of our cast of The Watsons Go To Birmingham – 1963, and moderated by Key Conversations Radio host Lezell Lowe, a monster make-up workshop along with Frankenstein, and a behind-the-scenes sneak peak for The Snow Queen.
In the spring of 2017, LCT was proud to again to host the Southeastern Theatre Conference, a five-day conference with classes, job fairs, performances, and seminars, attended by thousands of theatre professionals, students, and teachers. We were especially proud that our own Jeremy Kisling was presented with this year’s Sara Spencer Award for Child Drama, which recognizes the work of an individual or organization for dynamic and engaging work for young people.
In new programming, we were excited to debut our Theatre for the Very Young piece, Circle and Square. This piece is a 25-minute free-form performance wherein young people sit with the actors, experiencing the story alongside them and interacting with the story itself. Performances such as these allow young people to have a participatory theatre experience that assists in learning about performance, art, and all its possibilities.
Looking to the future, we are excited about our 2017-2018 season, which will have a world premiere written by our Producing Director, Larry Snipes, The Ugly Duckling, based on the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale. The season will also have area premieres of Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook and Elephant and Piggie’s “We Are In a Play!”.
Needs Statement
Lexington Children's Theatre's most pressing needs are currently all financial. We are currently seeking assistance to help subsidize school performances - only half of what each performance costs is actually paid for by ticket purchases.
Additionally, LCT is always seeking a long term source of permanent funding for all programming.
CEO/Executive Director Statement
Lexington Children’s Theatre's purpose is to provide young people high quality aesthetic experiences in theatre arts. We strive to provide our young patrons with performances that entertain, educate and challenge their imaginations. Our programs are designed to aid the aesthetic, personal and social growth of our young audience. In addition to providing entertainment, they encourage appreciation of theatre and of the arts in general. Our presentations offer young audiences comprehensible samples of real-life and imaginary experiences and invite them to participate both sympathetically and actively in the world of our performances. Through participation in theatre young people learn valuable personal and social skills and further their understanding of themselves, their peers and their community.
Our work lifts characters off the page and breathes life into them for our young patrons. In doing so, we hope to challenge our audiences to view stories and life experiences in a different way.
Larry Snipes
Board Chair Statement
Einstein said “imagination is more important than knowledge.” The work of the Lexington Children’s Theatre provides young people across the Commonwealth with the opportunity to experience one of the most powerful educational experiences imaginable. As I watch young audience members, I am struck by how engaged they are in this rich, complex expression of life. Whether they are on stage or in the audience, they are influenced by the magic that theatre gives us.
I “inherited” my love of Lexington Children’s Theatre from my parents who both served on the LCT board of directors. It is my pleasure to serve as board president for such a vital organization and to support the work of the dedicated staff members who work behind the scenes to produce the amazing experiences of theatre and education that impact so many young lives each year. Please join me in supporting an organization that provides so much to our entire community as it encourages and grows the imaginations of young people all over Kentucky.
Laurel Martin Raimondo
Bluegrass Community and Technical College