Theatre is for everyone -- Let us bring live theatre to every student in Hampton Roads!
In-Person Activities at the Wells | In-Person & Virtual Activities in Schools
Student Matinees
Season 45 Bookings Now Available!
Student Matinee Performances for Season 45 are open and available for booking! There’s a production for audiences of any age!
ALL Student Matinees begin at 10:30am on their respective days
Dial ‘M’ for Murder
Thursday, February 1st
Three Musketeers
This production is a family-friendly excitable romp that will be loved by all audiences
Thursday, March 14th
Thursday, March 21st
$12.50 per ticket
Schools will receive one FREE adult ticket for every 10 student tickets.
Due to limited availability, please contact us at your earliest convenience to reserve space for your group!
A 50% deposit will be required two weeks after the contract is signed.
Payments will be made over the phone with Box Office or by check mailed to ATTN: Education/Connor Norton
Reservations for Student Matinees are OPEN! if you would like to inquire about reserving seats for a performance with your school, please follow the instructions below
Send us an email HERE
In the title of your email, put Name of School | Show | Desired Performance Date
ex. Pawtucket Elementary School | Henry V | April 20Include in your email
Number of Students
Number of Chaperones
Any information you need to share about the reservation
An Education Team Member will be in touch within 24 - 48 hours to handle your request from there!
Have questions or concerns? Afraid your email got lost?
Email us here!
Frequently Asked Questions about Booking Student Matinees
I'm interested in attending a Student matinee, what now?
Please send us an email us here with the following details included in your request:
Your Name
The name of the School
A physical address
The name and date of the show you are interested in
Number of students you'd like to bring
Number of chaperones who will attend with the students
Once we get all that information from you we will generate a quote and invoice out to you!
How much will it cost for my school group to attend?
All tickets for student matinees are priced at $12.50, not including chaperone tickets (referenced below).
For Brick-and-mortar traditional schools we extend 1 chaperone ticket for every 10 tickets sold.
For homeschool groups and co-ops: we understand you must attend with your students, so all tickets are sold according to student pricing.
When are payments due?
Typically, Deposits are due no later than 4 weeks before the performance date. Final payments are due no later than 2 weeks in advance of the show date.
If that is challenging for your bookkeeping or registrar's office, we can make alternate arrangements! Please note that any alternate arrangements need to be in place by 2 weeks in advance of the performance date.
Can I pay by card?
You can! The box office can take payments by card. Otherwise you can mail a check to the theater.
What shows will have a Student Matinee?
All but one of our shows (Blues for an Alabama Sky) will have at least one Student Matinee available for booking.
When are the shows?
Student Matinees take place on Thursdays. The shows always start at 10:30am sharp.
Where to our busses park and how do they drop off students?
Buses are recommended to come down Boush Street, and turn onto West Tazewell to avoid tight turns and come straight to East Tazewell (if you're on East Brambleton, you'll turn right onto Boush and if you're coming from Waterside you'll stay on Boush till you turn onto West Tazewell).
Parking is available in the large lot at Harrison Opera House (160 W Virginia Beach Blvd) by taking Granby or Boush Street North to cross East Brambleton). Please see the map attached here for more information.
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Touring Productions
Meet Mark Twain (In-Person and Virtual)
Actor Ryan Clemens, descendant of Mark Twain (pen-name of writer Samuel L. Clemens), brings to life the celebrated American author and humorist in this theatrical performance.
Short Shakespeare Shows (Limited Spring Run)
A 50 minute performance of Shakespeare’s plays performed by three actors (with some audience participation). Short Shakespeare Shows bring the story to life. Great as an introduction to the Shakespeare unit (the abbreviated show leaves plot points for your students to discover) or as an end to your unit as a celebration. This is not Grandma's Shakespare. This fast, funny, silly show will engage your students, make them laugh, and say “that was less boring than I thought!”
Off-Site Programming
Curriculum Based Readers Theater (Available for all Ages)
This classroom drama technique blends the repetition of the rehearsal process with other subjects creating a way students learn, almost by accident, content connected to math, science or even english curriculum.
Led by a teaching artist, students craft a short readers theater script using significant facts about a topic (read this sample CBRT play about the Water Cycle), then rehearse and perform the script. Elements of close reading, reading comprehension, and expanding vocabulary are all a part of this versatile teaching tool!
5 Days (50 Minute Class Periods per Day) - $1,100.00
Shakespeare in Action (Available for Middle and High School)
Shakespare doesn’t have to be scary. We all have to read it at some point and this program gives students key tools to analyze and decode the bard’s poetry. Using theater techniques students explore Shakespeare’s rhetoric, characters, relationships to enhance their comprehension of the text.
90 minutes - $180
3 Days (50 minute Class periods) - $1300 per section of simultaneous ELA Classes
5 Days (50 minute Class periods) - $2200 per section of simultaneous ELA Classes
Spontaneous Storytelling (In-Person and Virtual)
Use theatre games to collaboratively create improvised stories, building connection in your classroom.
And More!
We love a challenge! Do you have a topic you’d like us to tackle? Email us to design your own workshop!