Children's Theatre of Charlotte

Just left from volunteering at the Children's Theater of Charlotte. What a great place to take your young people to see quality acting to bring culture and art into their lives at such young ages. It's a lively place for all ages!

Lights, Camera, DRAGONS!!!!!While visiting Charlotte planning my trip to charlotte I noticed the Children's Theatre of Charlotte was putting on one of my daughter's favorite children's book, Dragons Love Tacos! I bought tickets before we even had a hotel booked! We arrived the day of with our dragon in hand (that came with our copy of Dragons Love Tacos 2) and my toddler son decked out in his dragon sweat suit. We were ready!Our show was on a Saturday at 3pm. If you arrived at 2pm there was a free behind the scenes tour of the theater. We of course took full advantage! 2pm we were squished with many of the other patrons all ready for the free tour. We were greeted and then moved into the theater. It seamed like over half the audience that day showed up for the tour! This made it difficult to move as a group through the backstage and hear everything being said. Was it cool to see where they make the sets and store the props? Yes! It was great feature I am thankful they offered but maybe needs more organizing for large groups. Another little tip for their tour guides, don't tell us what we cant see (costume area) because of the large group. Just bummed me out (and if it wasn't said I wouldn't have thought we missed out!) Also it was posed before the show arts and crafts available. Once the tour ended we were asking around about the crafts. we saw people with crafts. People had no idea! More organization needed as the crafts were taking place inside the library! We showed up with only a few minutes to do crafts because we wasted time asking people about the crafts!The show... not totally like the book but close. My 10 year old thought it was a little too young for her and my 1 year old was quiet for the whole hour! The 4 year old with us, he was mesmerized! So I would suggest when they say children's, aim for kids under 8 here. The production was pretty good with great visuals and a great destruction scene! This is not low budget by any means. Cool thing they did, after the show they let people stay behind and showed how the crew talks to one another on their headsets to make the action happen on stage! (This was geared more toward a 10 year old as opposed to a 4 year old understand what was really happening.) What could have been better? Let people enjoy the show more. The staff working in the audience were intense. I was approached by a kid, like 12 years old, who told me I couldn't give my 1 year old his bottle and the other two kids had to put away their candy. At no point at the beginning of the show was an announcement made about food/drinks in the auditorium. I am a rule follower. I would oblige. But not letting my 1 year old get his bottle seams a lot ridiculous! I kept watching the ushers go up to many other patrons about use of cell phones and everything else. It was distracting. Calm down folks. We came for the dragons.Speaking of which, I told my daughter when we bought the tickets: I don't know how they will make dragons appear on stage so it could be amazing or terrible but either way we will never forget what we will see. Truth: we will never forget. (The Dads wholeheartedly agree!)

This location is beautiful! I came with my kindergarten class to see Don't let the pigeon drive the bus! We love the book so my students enjoyed the musical! I didn't give 5 stars because the ushers were a bit pushy. I wish they were more patient. My school bought 6 kindergarten classes with 14-17 students each. That is chaotic in itself but having 2-3 other adults telling teachers and students to move in is just doesn't work. At least 3 of our classes had to move our students out of rows because we were rushed in without logically sitting one student at a time. And not to mention having to find a seat as a teacher or chaperone. We understood sitting students then moving them but come on, it was unnecessary to have to move from one row to the next.

During the month of February which is of course Black History Month, I found myself remembering my experience at The Children's Theatre of Charlotte and the play Jackie and Me by Steven Dietz based on Dan Gutman's novel of the same name. I was there for a visit with friends in February of 2015 and the theatre came highly recommended for their work. I didn't know anything about Steven Dietz, Dan Gutman or even Jackie Robinson really (the "Jackie" in the title). But when my nine year old son and I walked into the building we were blown away. The Children's Theatre of Charlotte shares the building with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library to encompass Imaginon. We were treated to giant puppets from the theatre's production of 101 Dalmatians. The facility is simply beautiful, you can spend the day with the Children's Theatre of Charlotte and its library partner. My son and I were captivated by Jackie and Me. We journeyed with the character Joey Stoshack back to 1947 when Jackie Robinson made history as the first African-American to join major league baseball. Joey finds himself sharing the hideousness of racism with Jackie during his travel back in time. The actors were grown adults; even Joey, a contemporary of my son; but the direction and acting completely suspended your disbelief. I heard my son respond audibly to Joey's commentary that "maybe, is just adults saying no for a really long time." "That is so true," my son replied.I listened to Artistic Director, Adam Burke relate that Jackie and Me is an important piece of theatre. I really must emphatically agree. How do you talk to your child about racism in a way that shows the true devastation? Well The Children's Theatre of Charlotte didn't tell us, they showed us. My son and I live in Chicago, an important mecca for theatre. But I have to say, I haven't seen a piece of theatre for children or even adults that could measure up to the work I saw produced in Charlotte. It was more than entertainment, it was a statement.

Children's Theatre of Charlotte, located in the bright, energetic ImaginOn, puts on awesome shows. I went to an adults-only performance of "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" a while back. It was a really fun event. With the cost of the ticket, you got free drinks and appetizers, and there were tons of raffles for great prizes. Plus, people were dressed up in hilarious 70s costumes. Adults-only performances like that are probably rare, but you should check out a Children's Theatre performance, which promises to be entertaining for adults too.

Amazing shows-even for adults. Mary Poppins was Just as good as when I saw it on Broadway. Quality acting and experience and you cannot beat the prices for this good of a show! Wonderful! Fabulous! We've been back 3 times and it never disappoints!

Wow! I think I enjoyed this as much if not more than my kids. We saw Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel based on the children's book. There is no bad seating in the Wells Fargo Theatre; it is small and intimate = every seat is a good seat! The production was about 50 minutes, the perfect length for a kid's attention span. The cast was excellent and interacted with the audience. There was some great original music. The scenery and costumes, creative and well done. My kids and I laughed and laughed. What a blast! Really fun way to spend a day with your children!

I love taking the family to these shows. The performances are always top notch. There are no bad seats and the tickets are really affordable! When you are buying tickets for 4 people it can be pricey...the Children's theater makes it possible to share performance art with your children and not break the bank. We make a day of it and ride the train, go to the first ward park, read all the great sculptures outside of Imaginon, enjoy the show and have ice cream! Perfect day every time. I'll be buying season tickets for us next year and will continue to support the theater. The children's Theatre of Charlotte is a unique gem as is Imaginon. Get there

I have lived in Chicago where I was spoiled by the Goodman Theatre. Great actors, direction, choice of plays, never a disappointment, top calibre. Their children's productions were truly superb. When we moved here, we took our grandchildren to this Children's Theatre. Well!! We were prepared to be disappointed but tolerant. Instead, we were just thrilled. And so were our very young grandchildren. The choice of productions is excellent. And the execution is professional. Adults are never bored, and this is important. They operate at a top level. And, in addition, their summer theatre school for children is AMAZING! What a thrill to see a polished musical produced in one or two weeks!! Charlotte is fortunate to have the Children's Theatre, and it is one of the reasons we are happy we moved here.

Two of my favorite theater experiences were at Children's Theatre. The first was watching Go Dog Go. In addition to our 3-year-old and five-year-old daughters, we had a 3-year-old boy with us. My husband is uncomfortable with kids misbehaving in public and he was sure this was going to be a disaster. The kids were riveted. They goofed-off during the intermission, but didn't miss a minute of the play when the actors were on stage. We were also amused with the sets and the adaptation. The second experience was an OnStage performance. Students who participate in the School of Theater Training program (weekly classes from September to March) are eligible to participate in five weeks of intensive rehearsals, followed by a weekend of performances. One of my daughters was cast into Urinetown, and I left the final performance thinking we were in on one of Charlotte's best kept secrets. The talent of the kids was impressive - as was that of the directors, choreographers, and others who worked with the kids. I had never seen this play before, but I am sure there was never a better performance. Although rehearsals are held almost every weeknight during the five-week period, my daughter thrives on being part of this group - enough so that I don't mind driving from South Charlotte daily. Take your kids to the plays. Sign-up your kids for the classes. You will not be disappointed.