Children's Theatre Company (Minneapolis, Minn.)

The Children's Theatre Company (CTC), a professional theatre company for young audiences, began as The Moppet Players in 1961 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a loan of $100, a room donated by an Italian restaurant and a crew of volunteer artists, technicians and administrators. It was the first full-time children's theatre company in Minnesota. The following year the company moved to an abandoned police station and introduced a program of instruction in creative dramatics, dance and theatre production. John Clark Donahue joined the company as a designer, teacher and associate director and became Artistic Director in 1964.

From the description of Children's Theatre Company collection, 1967-2003 [manuscript]. (Scottsdale Public Library). WorldCat record id: 436873994

The Children's Theatre Company (CTC), a professional theatre company for young audiences, began as The Moppet Players in 1961 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a loan of $100, a room donated by an Italian restaurant and a crew of volunteer artists, technicians and administrators. It was the first full-time children's theatre company in Minnesota. The following year the company moved to an abandoned police station and introduced a program of instruction in creative dramatics, dance and theatre production. John Clark Donahue joined the company as a designer, teacher and associate director and became Artistic Director in 1964.

Within four years, the popularity of The Moppet Players necessitated an expansion of programs and facilities. CTC approached the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the museum offered its old auditorium/lecture hall and office space. The new Children's Theatre Company of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts was created with the 1965-66 season.

In 1969 the Children's Theatre School, the nation's first theatre program affiliated with a fully professional company, was established and offered theatre courses to students for high school credit. The Summer Theatre Institute was founded in 1971 and offered four weeks of intensive all-day course work.

In September 1974 the company moved into its new $4.5 million facility, designed by Japanese architect, Kenzo Tange. It included: a 746-seat auditorium; a studio theatre; an extensive dressing rooms/green rooms complex; a dance studio; a recording studio; property, costume and scene shops; classrooms; and administrative offices. In 1975 the Company ended its affiliation with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and established separate Board of Trustees and financial operations.

In April 1984 Artistic Director John Clark Donohue resigned after being arrested on charges of criminal sexual abuse. The Company, including the Theatre School, entered a period of restructuring with an interim board. The School no longer offered high school credit classes. Jon Cranney was appointed Interim Artistic Director in 1984 and served as the permanent Artistic Director from 1985 through 1997. During his tenure the company toured productions to The Central Children's Theatre in Moscow and The Children's Art Theatre of Shanghai.

The CTC's Board of Governors ratified a five-year, long-range strategic plan on March 15, 1987. Among its goals was a more continued commitment to original scripts by the best writers available, and an emphasis on enhancing the public perception of the value of high quality theatre programming for young people.

Peter C. Brosius joined the company as its Artistic Director in 1997. Continuing CTC's commitment to education, he founded the Neighborhood Bridges program with Jack Zipes, Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota. This comprehensive program of storytelling and creative drama for elementary and middle schools focuses on developing children's critical and cultural literacy and transforming them into storytellers of their own lives. The program has been used as a national model.

New play development has always been an important area of focus for CTC. The Company has participated in New Visions/New Voices, a biennial national festival for plays in progress for young audiences at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, five times from 1993 through 2006. In 1998 the Company established THRESHOLD, a new play laboratory that commissions leading American playwrights, which have included Nilo Cruz, Jeffrey Hatcher, Kia Corthrun, and Naomi Iizuka, to create world premiere productions for young audiences. CTC has also collaborated with international theatre artists from Sweden, Great Britain and The Netherlands. To make these new plays available for production by schools and other theatres, Plays for Young Audiences (PYA) was formed in 2004 as a partnership venture between CTC and the Seattle Children's Theatre.

The Company's early mission statement was: To provide a professional quality theatre experience for young people and their families as an audience; and, as essential to that process to provide the highest quality theatre arts experience for young people as participants. It was later changed to: The Children's Theatre Company exists to create extraordinary theatre experiences, and to advance theatre as a means of educating, challenging and inspiring young people.

By the late 2000s CTC served from 275,000 to 350,000 young people and families annually in their five key program areas: stage productions, new play development, community partnerships, theatre arts training and an annual regional tour. The Company's awards and honors include: The Rockefeller Foundation Grant award of $250,000 for new plays development, 1971.

The Rockefeller Foundation Grant award of $500,000 for construction of a new theatre building, 1972 (the third recipient following Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts).

The Jennie Heiden Award from the American Theatre Association (ATA) for excellence in professional children's theatre, 1973.

The Sara Spencer Award from the Children's Theatre Association of America (now known as the American Alliance for Theatre & Education) for sustained and exceptional achievement in theatre for young audiences, 1979.

The Margo Jones Award, presented by the American Theatre Critics Association, the only theatre in the Midwest and the only theatre for young audiences to be so honored, 1981.

The F. Loren Winship Secondary School Theatre Award from the Secondary School Theatre Association (SSTA) for outstanding contributions to secondary education, 1983.

The Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the first theatre for young audiences to receive this award, 2003.

The Children's Theatre Foundation of America Medallion of Honor, 2004.

From the guide to the Children's Theatre Company Collection, 1967-2003, (Arizona State University Libraries Child Drama Collection)