The Nashville Children’s Theatre is the oldest children’s theatre in the country, going back nearly a century providing professional theatre to young audiences and ensuring that all Middle Tennessee area kids have access to the theatre arts experiences. Their production of Charlotte’s Web is happening today (Dec. 17) through January 4.
“Nothing makes me happier than when a kid comes to see a show and decides they want more,” executive artistic director Jenilee Houghton said. “I saw my first show at three or four years old and I was stuck. We offer classes, camps, workshops for all ages five through high school and beyond geared for everything. People who are really interested in music theater or comedy if they’re into creative constructive play a little bit more casual of what theater teaches us, we have something for everyone. We have an amazing team of teachers and educators who love theater and they love our kids. Those teachers and those teaching artists are a big part of that. That passion that they bring to teaching these kids who have the spark of creativity within them, they’re the superstars of this place.”
“If it’s your first time, one thing to know is that this is an experience,” she said. “Don’t come right as the curtain time is about to start because we have activities in the lobby that are all themed to the show. We have crafts, we have adventures in the lobby that every kid can come be a part of because that’s really what theater is, it’s the entire experience. The thing that we want people to know is that theater isn’t some stuffy experience where you have to worry about kids making noise or wiggling. Wiggle welcome always at Nashville Children’s Theater. We love to hear the giggles. We love hear the little questions that come up. I love sitting in the back of the house and hearing the kids lean over and ask their parent, ‘What does this mean? What is that?’ If you think that you can’t take kids to the theater, we’re here to show you absolutely can.”
Additional event opportunities in the next week:
From Thursday (Dec. 18) through Saturday (Dec. 20), Kindling’s Very Special Holiday Special featuring The Muppets Christmas Carol at Darkhorse Theatre. Also on Saturday, The Lemonheads with Erin Rae perform at the Basement East. Sunday night (Dec 21.) Heart is at The Pinnacle and Time is Tight: A Nashville Tribute to Booker T. & the M.G.’s is at Vinyl Tap. Wrap up this week’s listings Monday (Dec. 22) with Snooper performing at The End.
