Professional children's theater established in 1974, serving metropolitan Kansas City.
Today TYA performs in the City Stage at Union Station, the Wonderscope Children’s Museum and Avila University. Since our beginning in 1974 we have worked to create each child’s lifelong relationship with theatre. Our ultimate goal, then and now, is to encourage the educational and emotional growth of young people through our arts-based experiences.
To reach this goal TYA has produced over 200 productions, including dozens of new and commissioned plays, plus many of the most acclaimed plays for young audiences by established playwrights. TYA has developed dozens of new plays and musical plays based on classic children’s literature, historical figures and current social issues, such as child sexual abuse, child care, and conflict resolution.
TYA contracts with Actors’ Equity Association, the national guild for professional actors, and is an active participant in the American Alliance of Theatre and Education, International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ/USA), the Arts Partners program of Kansas City Young Audiences, the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City, and the Arts Council of Johnson County.
TYA, the oldest professional children’s theatre in Kansas City, was the first to introduce a full-time Director of Education. This enables TYA to offer a wide range of educational components: after school enrichment classes in drama, summer drama workshops, outreach lesson plans taught in area schools and youth centers, and study guides to augment every production.
Keywords: Children's theater, kids shows, acting classes, drama classes, live theater, plays, Kansas City theater, educational shows, children, teens, adolescent, performance, performing arts
Interview Q&A
How long have you been in business?
Since 1974.
What is your primary product or service?
Seven live professionally performed theater productions each year. Drama instruction for ages 3.5 years through 12th grade in fall, spring and summer.
How did you first become interested in your line of business? (if owner) - What is your background? (If owner or store manager)
Advanced degree in theater. At the time, in 1974, there were no professional children's theaters in the Kansas City metropolitan area and few affordable acting programs for children.
How do you differentiate yourself from other businesses in your category and area?
We are the oldest professional children's theater in the metropolitan area. We perform 7 productions a year and also tour locally and regionally. Our drama program is also one of the oldest and most affordable. Our outreach program to schools is also one of the oldest continuing drama education offerings in the area. We consider ourselves "child-centric" in that our foremost mission is to offer programming that serves children's educational and emotional growth through the art of drama.
How many locations do you have and do you have plans to expand?
We have 3 locations. We do 7 main stage productions on the City Stage at Union Station Kansas City, located at 30 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. Each year we offer tour 3 productions to Wonderscope Children's Museum of Kansas City, located at 5700 King, Shawnee, KS 66203. We also offer classes at Wonderscope during the fall and spring, and drama camps during the summer. We offer classes on Mondays in the fall and spring at Union Station and two one week Theatre Arts Training Drama Day Camp in the summer. We offer Saturday morning classes during the fall and spring and a two-week Theatre Arts Training Drama Day Camp during the summer at the Goppert Theatre Complex located on the Avila University Campus at 11901 Wornall Road, Kansas City, MO 64145. We have no plans at this time to expand.
Provide detailed directions to your location
We are located on level B in Union Station Kansas City. Union Station is at 30 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO. The station is located between Broadway and Main. We can be accessed from the I-35. Exit at the Broadway exit. Go South on Broadway to Pershing Road. Turn East onto Pershing Road. Union Station will be on the left.
What type of payments do you accept?
Cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
Which areas do you service?
The entire metropolitan area of Kansas City. We have toured much farther into Kansas and Missouri with some shows.
Who owns your company or runs daily operations?
Theatre for Young America is a not-for-profit 501 (c) 3 corporation governed by a Board of Directors. Day to day operations are run by the Executive Director, Gene Mackey; the Director of Education, Sheryl Bryant; Artistic Director, Valerie Mackey; Operations Manager, Vickie Little; and Director of Internal Affairs, Alexandria Washington.
What are your hours of operation?
Our administrative office is open 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. We usually present our stage productions from October through June. Our showtimes are usually 10:00 AM on Tuesdays through Fridays with an additional noon performance on Fridays. We also perform Saturdays at 2:00 PM and have at least one 7:00 PM Friday performance per production. We also offer an American Sign Language interpreted performance on the second Saturday performance of each production.
What is the best compliment anyone can give you?
“What a wonderful way to introduce children to live theatre and help develop their interest in drama!” This was said by Bob Evans of the Examiner.com. This is our goal, to give children a life-long love of the dramatic arts.
What is your favorite quote or Bible verse?
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:2
Anonymous on 1/22/2015 5:27:49 PM
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