Student Matinees
2026-2027 Student Matinee Performances
Theater J is dedicated to providing access to world-class performing arts to students of all ages.
About Student Matinees
Tickets: $25. Ticket cost a barrier? Theater J is dedicated to providing access to world-class performing arts to students of all ages. Please contact Hester Kamin about reduced-cost and free tickets.
Study Guides and Workshops. All participating schools coming to Theater J productions receive a digital study guide and a pre-show workshop at their school for every attending class. Pre-show workshops in the classroom are required for students attending matinee performances. Post-show workshops are also available. These hands-on workshops deepen the students’ experience and prepare them for their trip to Theater J by introducing them to the content, themes, and style of the plays – and giving them the opportunity to act themselves!
Lunch on Site. Schools may coordinate with Theater J to bring their packed lunches and eat them in the building before or after the performance. Please note that no food is permitted in the theater.
School Residency Program. Deepen your Theater J experience with a residency program led by a professional artist in your classroom. Click here to learn more.
To reserve tickets or get more information, please contact Hester.
The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk
Middle and High School Audiences
Written by Henrik Ibsen
By Daniel Jamieson
With music by Ian Ross
Directed by Hayley Finn
Thursday October 15 at 11:00 AM
Thursday October 20 at 11:00 AM
Before the paintings, poems, and fame, Bella and Marc Chagall were two young dreamers whose love transformed the world around them. Through music, movement, and theatrical magic, their journey unfolds from a small Jewish town into a vivid landscape of imagination, devotion, and resilience. Tender, whimsical, and visually enchanting, THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK is a love story that reminds us how art and love can lift us beyond the gravity of everyday life.
- Run time: 1 hour and 45min
- Content Standards: Social Studies, History, Visual Art, Theater
Tropical Secrets
4th Grade – 12th Grade Audiences
By Margarita Engle
Adapted for the Stage By LM Feldman
Wednesday December 9 at 11:00AM
Tuesday December 15 at 11:00AM
Thursday December 17 at 11:00AM
Daniel, a young German Jewish refugee, finds himself on the shores of Havana and meets Paloma, a young Cubana with some painful secrets of her own. The two children on the verge of adolescence try to save themselves and others in a world of borders, violence, and family separation. TROPICAL SECRETS is a dark and beautiful theatrical quest for audiences ages 8 & up about the families we lose and the families we make, about how the world changes us and how we change the world, and about oranges and drums and becoming someone new.
Based on the multi-award-winning book Tropical Secrets by author Margarita Engle, the first Latine author to receive the Newbery Award, LM Feldman’s theatrical adaptation crafts the poetic literature into a world for the stage where the visual playfulness illustrates the powerful wisdom of our world through the eyes of children and how small human moments can contain enough hope to change the world.
- Run time: 1 hour 30min
- Content Standards: Social Studies, History, Holocaust Studies, Theater
- Content Warning: Please note that Tropical Secrets contains references to the Holocaust and references to gun violence. There is no violence depicted on stage.
- Based on the book Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, which you may want to read with your class.
American Girls
Middle and High School Audiences
By Emily Feldman
Directed by Hayley Finn
World Premiere
Patty Abramson Theater J New Jewish Play Commission
Tuesday March 30 at 11:00AM
Friday April 2 at 11:00AM
Thursday April 8 at 11:00AM
Friday April 9 at 11:00AM
In this world-premiere coming-of-age story, two friends grow up in the pivotal awakenings of girlhood, the cultural moments that shaped the Millennial generation, and political events that changed the world forever. As history pulls at the seams of their identities, they discover the meaning of chosen family and ask if a love born of innocence can survive everything that comes after.
A recipient of the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, Emily Feldman writes with deeply relatable pathos, bringing universal experiences to life that elicit recognition, empathy, and gratitude for those who walk this life with us.
- Run time: 1 hour 40min
- Content Standards: English, Social Studies, History, Theater
- Content Warning: Please note that American Girls contains adult language and references to violent contemporary world events including wars and mass shootings. There is no violence depicted on stage.
Student Matinees Policies
Thank you in advance for explaining to your students that we have high expectations of their behavior at Theater J, and thank you for understanding that we want to make sure that this is a great experience for everyone. Before coming to Theater J, please ensure that your leadership team, teachers, chaperones, and students are fully prepared to follow these policies. Thank you.
- No food or drink are permitted in the theatre.
- Phones are not permitted during performances.
- No photography or video is permitted.
- No talking, catcalling, whispering, or other disruptive behavior is permitted. Students behaving in a disruptive way will be asked to immediately leave the theatre and wait in the lobby with a chaperone for the duration of the show. Thank you for your understanding that this is for the protection of our artists and the rest of the audience.
- All students will have the opportunity to use the restroom before the show. If they need to use the restroom during the performance, we of course allow it, but multiple students getting up/ moving in and out of the theatre/ spending time talking in the hallways and restroom will result in those students being asked to remain in the lobby with a chaperone.
Thank you for preparing your students for this experience!
For more information, please contact Hester Kamin, Education Programs Manager.
Theater J school programs are made possible by the Robert M Fisher Memorial Foundation Theater for Youth Fund, the Shapiro Family Foundation, and Share Fund.