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A resolution recognizing the 90th anniversary of Nashville Children's Theatre.
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WHEREAS, Nashville Children's Theatre was founded in 1931 by members of the Junior League of Nashville, including some of Nashville's most dedicated philanthropists, and with the assistance of various other local theatre groups; and
WHEREAS, the theatre opened with an enormously successful production of "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp", featuring 27 volunteer actresses; and
WHEREAS, the organization was entirely led and operated by a corps of local volunteers for its first 29 years, and continued to utilize volunteers in most key operational positions for another 25 years; and
WHEREAS, unlike other non-commercial children's theatres of its time, Nashville Children's Theatre was the only organization to raise money solely for the purpose of continuing to produce more theatre, and sustained itself from the very beginning on ticket sales and donations; and
WHEREAS, Nashville Children's Theatre is the oldest surviving performing arts company in Nashville and the oldest professional children's theatre in the country; and
WHEREAS, for many years the theatre performed in numerous landmarks around the city including the Belcourt Theatre and Vanderbilt University; and
WHEREAS, in the late 1950s, Ann Stahlman Hill led a group of like-minded community members and successfully petitioned city officials to fund a permanent home for the theatre; and
WHEREAS, in 1959, Nashville's Board of Park Commissioners approved a quarter-million dollars on a home for the Nashville Children's Theatre beside the Children's Museum, making it the first children's theatre in the country to be built with public funds; and
WHEREAS, in 1960, Nashville Children's Theatre opened the doors to its permanent home behind Howard School off 2nd Avenue South where it continues to exist today; and
WHEREAS, the theatre has always been closely allied with local schools, and when Metro Schools began bussing students acr...
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