Public Shows

Everyone attending the performance must have a ticket regardless of age.

We understand that unavoidable schedule changes can make life hectic for busy families. That's why we're happy to offer you the ability to exchange your tickets for another performance of the same show. We are unable to offer exchanges or refunds for missed performances. To exchange tickets, please call the box office between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Subscriber Exchanges

Subscribers may exchange their tickets for no additional charge when requested at least 24 hours before their originally scheduled performance and subject to the availability of the preferred performance. Comparable seating is not guaranteed, but we'll do our best to place you in the best seats available.

Individual Exchanges

Non-subscribers may also exchange their tickets, for a nominal $2.00 per ticket plus sales tax, when requested at least 24 hours before their originally scheduled performance and subject to the availability of the preferred performance. There may be a price difference between your original performance and you new performance. A member of our team will walk you through the price difference by phone.

Refund Policy
Children's Theatre of Charlotte tickets are non-refundable. However, donate your tickets as a tax-deductible contribution. We will provide you with a receipt for tax purposes.

Submit an exchange request

Late seating is at the discretion of the house manager. You may be asked to wait until an appropriate moment in the show before being directed to your seats. To avoid disrupting the audience, you may not be seated in your original seats.

Each show has an age recommendation associated with it. Please check each show for specific age recommendations.

You will be notified via email if the performance for which you have tickets has been cancelled due to inclement weather. Refunds are only issued when a performance is cancelled.

Children's Theatre of Charlotte provides ticket vouchers for qualified organizations to use in fundraising auctions, sweepstakes, etc, based on availability. For accounting purposes, we require a letter from the requesting organization explaining the event with pertinent information, which you may attach to this form below. In exchange we ask whenever possible that our brochures or other identifying information be provided at your event. If your request is approved, we will contact you when your voucher is ready to be picked up from our box office at ImaginOn.

Submit a Ticket Donation Request

Due to contractual restrictions and for safety reasons, the use of cameras (including cell phone cameras) and video recorders is prohibited during our performances.

Live theatre is a special experience, and audience members help create that experience by giving their attention, focus and appreciation to the actors on stage. Having infants and very young children in the audience creates issues that can seriously detract from the experience of others.

If you have questions about the appropriateness of a play for your child, please call our box office at 704-973-2828 or submit a question online.Send us a question

School Field Trips to ImaginOn

We require a minimum of 20 tickets to reserve a school performance. Groups with 19 or fewer students may contact the Box Office, Children's Theatre of Charlotte's School Performance Coordinator, to discuss options. All guests in attendance with your school group must be included in your reservation.

Please complete an online registration form by clicking the button below. Submit a Booking Inquiry

Tickets for productions are $12 to $15 per person, which includes NC sales tax. Adults, including teachers, must purchase a ticket.

Yes! Once you’ve submitted your reservation request, your reservation will be processed,pending availability, and we’ll send you a contract. Please return your completed contract, signed by the group leader and either your school’s principal or financial officer, to the school performance coordinator within two weeks of the contract date along with your deposit (see below for details and deposit dates).

We require a non-refundable deposit of 25% of your estimated total to hold your reservation. For reservations placed between April 3, 2020 and August 15, 2020, deposits are due by Sept. 8, 2020. For reservations made after August 15, 2020, deposits are due two weeks after the reservation has been made.

A final count for your reservation and payment in full is due at least eight weeks prior to your scheduled performance.

Payment is due immediately upon reservation if made within eight weeks of your scheduled performance. Children’s Theatre of Charlotte reserves the right to terminate any reservations not paid in full by the deadline. If circumstances prevent you from paying on time, please contact the School Performance Coordinator before the balance due date. We‘ll try to accommodate additions to your group after the final numbers deadline, pending availability and additional payment. Groups that violate the terms listed may be required to make payment immediately upon reservation or lose school attendance eligibility.

• Check made payable to Children’s Theatre of Charlotte
• MasterCard or Visa
• Public school purchase Order (for full balance due)

You may cancel your reservation in full 8 weeks prior to your scheduled performance. We're happy to work with you to reschedule your group to another performance if space is available. You may adjust your ticket count by 10% up until 4 weeks prior to your scheduled performance. Cancellations and/or adjustments to your numbers must be submitted in writing to the School Performance Coordinator. No cancellations may be made after the deadline. After the cancellation deadline passes, you’re responsible for payment for all seats in your reservation.

Children’s Theatre of Charlotte doesn’t issue refunds if your school fails to attend your scheduled performance for any reason. Refunds will be issued only if:

• A state of emergency has been declared
• ImaginOn suffers a loss of power and/or heat
• Your school district has canceled school due to cold/weather
• Other conditions as determined by Children’s Theatre of Charlotte

If Children’s Theatre of Charlotte cancels a school performance, the theatre’s leadership will make that decision by 7 a.m. The School Performance Coordinator will make every effort to inform the group leader at the email address and phone number provided in your original reservation request.

You may be eligible to receive a deposit refund if you cancel your reservation in writing at least 8 weeks before your scheduled performance. We will not issue refunds after 8 weeks prior to your scheduled performance.

We offer age recommendations for each production. No children three years of age or younger are permitted to attend school performances.

All school performance correspondence is sent via email. After completing an online registration form, you will receive a confirmation and detailed information packet regarding all field trip information.

Want to experience the wonderful stories brought to life by Children’s Theatre of Charlotte but aren’t part of a group of 20 or more students? No worries. You can still attend a school show. The details:

• One daytime performance of each show will be designated for smaller homeschool groups.
• Discount pricing still applies making school shows an affordable option.
• Reserve your spot and provide payment via check or credit card.

Interested? Email or call the Box Office, Box Officeat 704-973-2828.

BUSES: Schools arriving by bus may drop off students at the front door of our building on 7th Street. A staff member will greet your bus driver and direct the bus to an appropriate parking place, free of charge. Because of our uptown location, buses are often required to park in an offsite location which is not within walking distance of the theatre.

CARS and VANS: For school groups arriving by van or car, there is a parking garage beneath our facility where tickets can be validated for 90 minutes of free parking. We also have several surface lots surrounding our building which charge between $3 and $5 for a full day of parking.

For each production, Children’s Theatre provides curriculum-based Resource Guides with extension activities that can be used in the classroom before and after the performance. 

The cost of our school performance tickets is significantly lower than our standard ticket prices in an effort to provide all schools with an affordable field trip opportunity. We do not offer additional reductions in ticket costs, but there are partnership organizations which provide field trip subsidy grants for qualifying schools. ►Click here for Information about these programs.

Children’s Theatre of Charlotte is located in ImaginOn which is also a branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. If you would like to visit the library or schedule a separate program within the library, reservations can be made in advance by visiting www.imaginon.org.

Food and drink are not allowed in either of the theatres. Children’s Theatre of Charlotte provides a limited number of lunch space reservations for schools that come from a great distance. School groups may reserve space at ImaginOn for their post-show lunch (subject to availability). Children’s Theatre of Charlotte does not provide food or drinks.

Due to copyright laws, we do not permit photos or video to be taken of the production. Please be sure that all phones and cameras are turned off before entering the theatre. If you need to make a call, please step outside the theatre and place your call from the lobby.

Please feel free to contact the Box Office: boxoffice@ctcharlotte.org or by phone at 704-973-2828.

Touring

Our touring company is very proficient at using gyms, cafetoriums, and other non-stage space for their performances. Their adaptability remains one of their main selling points.

We tour with our own state-of-the-art sound/microphone system, which can be adapted for any size space. Actors wear wireless microphones to make sure the entire audience can hear the show.

The company can do two different shows in one day to accommodate different age groups. The shows should be separated by lunch to allow for the tear down and set up of second show by the actors.

Many venues use local Arts Councils to help with their funding. We leave that up to the discretion of the sponsor, but we welcome working with the specific arts organizations to facilitate this.

No. Everything is all inclusive from hotels and food for the actors, to gasoline and transportation for the sets, props, and costumes.

We like to say “from Murphy to Manteo” in North Carolina, and various places throughout South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia. Our Touring Performance Coordinator can work with you to help find the best time and the best rate for those places that are outside of our general area.

We welcome interaction between the audience and the actors, but only upon request.

Yes, there is a detailed contract, and we generally ask for a small deposit to secure the booking.

Yes, our Touring Performance Coordinator will gladly work with you to secure a reduced rate for multi-bookings.

No, there are two different companies. One is specifically for the preschool tour and has two to three actors. The Resident Touring Company has four actors.

Please feel free to contact Margot Parrott, Touring Performance Sales Coordinator, by email at margotp@ctcharlotte.org or by phone at 704-973-2808.

Education Classes and Camps

Our camps and classes are a great fit for children with and without prior theatre experience. Certain classes and camps have prerequisites, but there is an entry point for all ages.

A detailed overview of each program with age recommendations can be found on each program’s webpage. Because we offer classes and camps with different levels of intensity and time commitments, we recommend you review these with your child prior to registration. Students may only enroll in classes or camps for which they qualify based on age and grade. This helps to ensure every child has a positive experience in a group of their peers.

We do have a limited amount of full and partial scholarships available for tuition for classes and camps. Scholarships are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Regardless of the award amount, registration and handling fees for classes and camps must be paid in full. Typically, 10% of our total enrollment is comprised of scholarship students.

We also offer payment plans for classes and camps. Payment plans are typically processed in three installments, with tuition paid in full before the start date of your session.

Learn More

Classes

Our year-long curriculum is focused on process, rather than final product. The classroom provides a non-threatening environment for creative investigation and reinforces the concept that theatre can be created anywhere—with just an actor, an audience and a space to perform. Because of this, we find a classroom better serves the more informal exploration of stories for our Creative Drama students, and the more formal skills-based instruction for our School of Theatre Training students.

Summer Camps
Some of our summer camps do perform their final presentation of materials on our stages in the McColl Family Theatre and the Wells Fargo Playhouse. But the curriculum still emphasizes the process and experience during the session, rather than the final product.

Classes

There are opportunities throughout the Creative Drama and School of Theatre Training sessions to observe classes. For the first day of the session, there is a mandatory orientation for parents/caregivers. Additionally, there is a mid-session drop-in to observe the class. On the final day of the session, friends and family are invited to watch a presentation of materials covered.

Summer Camps
Except for parents/caregivers of Early Childhood students, there is no orientation for the first day of the session. On the final day of the session, friends and family are invited to watch a presentation of materials covered.

The only difference between camps at ImaginOn versus a Satellite location, is the location itself. We employ the same teaching artists, curriculum and high standards across all our programming. Satellite locations are offered for your convenience to serve as much of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community as possible.

If you are registering online through our secure website, you can pay with a credit card. If you are registering in person at our Box Office, you can pay with cash, check or credit card. Once you are registered, you will receive an immediate email confirmation. To avoid having these notifications end up in your junk folder, please add boxoffice@ctcharlotte.org to your list of approved email addresses. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of submitting your registration, please contact the Box Office at 704-973-2828.

Our classes and camps fill quickly so you are encouraged to register as soon as schedules become available. Classes and camps are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

You can check online the availability of each class or camp before you register. A green circle indicates the most availability, yellow indicates less availability and red indicates limited availability. When a class or camp is full, there will be a “sold out” mark next to the description.

We do offer a wait pool for full classes and camps. Occasionally, space may become available, but we cannot guarantee placement. If you would like to be placed in the wait pool for a specific class or camp, click on the "Join Wait Pool" button provided on that class's or camp's page.
Opened spots are offered simultaneously via a private link to all interested students until filled. Payment will not be collected until the available spot has been offered and accepted.

Call our Box Office, Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., at 704-973-2828.

General

Be sure to label everything, especially coats. Lost items at ImaginOn may be claimed at the security office, which is located directly to your left as you enter ImaginOn. Children’s Theatre of Charlotte will keep lost and found items a week after each program ends. If items are not claimed by that time, they will be donated to charitable organizations in Charlotte. When you realize that your child has lost something, please feel free to contact one of our education team members as soon as possible. The sooner we know what you are looking for, the sooner we can help you begin to locate the lost item.