About OCT

Imagine.
Learn.
GRow.

For over thirty-five years Oregon Children’s Theatre has been creating exceptional theater experiences that transform lives. We believe theater and storytelling can educate, empower, inspire, and entertain in remarkable ways. Our vision is that all children, families, and communities have opportunities to learn and grow through theater and the arts.

Each season, we reach more than 120,000 young people and families in the Pacific Northwest through:

Entertainment

We produce a season of plays that provide extraordinary entertainment and engagement to audiences who attend on school field trips and with their families. We collaborate with national colleagues and playwrights to create new scripts for young audiences, telling stories that engage their imaginations. Our Young Professionals Company produces its own season of plays, as well as performances by its competition-winning improv ensemble, Impulse.

Education

We offer a variety of year-round classes and learning opportunities for children ages 3 through 18. Whether through a beginner’s movement class for the very young, an in-school residency for under-resourced classrooms, or a master class for our Young Professionals Company, we innovate and create new and unique opportunities for our youth to grow.

Engagement

In support of strengthening our community, we challenge our families, students, and patrons to think differently, consider alternatives, and be a positive force for enacting social change.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

We are compelled to serve not only as a valued arts organization, but as a change agent advancing social justice in our community. We recognize the urgent need to address inequities on an institutional level, and we embrace our responsibility to mitigate real and perceived barriers to participation. Reaching out and engaging with all parts of our community will lead to a fuller understanding of the cultures that surround us, and provide us with insight into how we tell meaningful and relevant stories.  That’s how we build trust and credibility, build audiences, provide positive impacts on children, remain sustainable and relevant, and help grow the spirit and soul of OCT.

Meet the Team

Jenn Hartmann Luck
Producing Artistic Director

  • Jenn Hartmann Luck is a multi-hyphenate theatre artist, educator, director, producer, songwriter/composer, and arts leader who has been working in the Arts Education and Theatre for Young Audiences space for 25 years. As Director of Partnerships and Programming for Education at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Jenn presented full seasons of live arts programming for young audiences and built an Education Department that served over 22, 000 students per year.

    She holds a BA in Theatre from Arizona State University and an MFA in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities from The University of Texas. Prior to her time in Austin, she was part of P.L.A.Y (Performing for Los Angeles Youth); the award-winning Education Department at Center Theatre Group.

    As a creator of new musical theatre, Jenn is the composer and co-lyricist of Gretel! and The Battlefields of Clara Barton, both with award-winning playwright Suzan Zeder. Her new musical, Lyric & the Keys, with playwright Roxanne Schroder-Arce, will have its world premiere at Magik Theatre in San Antonio, fall of 2024. OCT’s thrilling production of The Lightning Thief: the Percy Jackson Musical was her Portland directorial debut.

    She loves her new home in the Pacific Northwest which she shares with her husband and two children, Lucy and Wyatt.

Dani Baldwin
Artistic Director,
Young Professionals Company

  • Dani Baldwin (she/her) is the Artistic Director of the Young Professionals Company. She built the company after noticing that so many talented, motivated teens had a desire for advanced training and mentorship beyond what is typically offered to them. Since its creation the Young Professionals Company has worked with over a thousand teens, many of whom have gone on to attend their dream colleges, and pursue theatrical passions and careers into their adulthood.

    Dani’s passion is to uplift the teen voice, with their needs and feedback being incorporated into all company offerings. She honors their unique gifts and believes in growing a community of supportive artists as they are introduced to the many possibilities theater provides.

    In addition to being the Artistic Director of the YP Company, Dani is also an award-winning director, performer, and designer, working both with OCT and other theatre companies around the Portland area.

  • Karen Hill

    (she/her)
    Director of Production

  • Courtney Powell

    (she/her)
    Director of Marketing & Patron Experience

  • Blake Wales

    (he/him)
    Director of Education

  • D Westerholm

    (she/her)
    General Manager

Board of Directors

  • Katie Slavin

    Board President
    Senior Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Portland State University

  • Murad Pirani

    Board Treasurer
    Entrepreneur / Investor
    Villa Serena, LLC

  • Amy Davidson

    Board Secretary
    Corporate Counsel, Hampton Lumber

  • Dre Slaman

    Immediate Past President
    Founder & CEO, Farm to Fit

  • Andrew Eggert

    Senior Private Client Financial Advisor, Wells Fargo Advisors

  • Val Landrum

    Actor & Teaching Artist
    Wieden + Kennedy

  • Britta Larson

    Day One Agency, Advertising and Marketing

  • Rachel Sowray

    Senior Assistant Attorney General, Oregon Department of Justice

  • Nik Whitcomb

    Community Affairs Coordinator, TriMet
    Advisory Council, OK You
    Ambassador Board, Wonderfolk

  • Jenn Hartmann Luck, MFA

    Producing Artistic Director, Oregon Children’s Theatre

The Board of Directors fully supports and embodies the mission and values of the organization and are passionate about moving OCT forward in partnership with staff, leadership, and our community, leading through the lenses of equity, empathy, and antiracism.

If you’d like to learn more about serving on OCT’s Board of Directors, please contact Jenn Hartmann Luck.

Our Productions

  • Ella Enchanted (2018)

  • Naked mole rat gets dressed: the rock experience (2019)

  • The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors! (2019)

  • Jason & the Argonauts (2019)

  • Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly (2019)

  • Me, Jane: the dreams & adventures of young jane goodall (2019)

  • Dragons Love Tacos (2020)

  • The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559 (2020)

  • Merry Happy Everything! (2021)

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show (2022)

  • Last Stop on Market Street (2022)

  • Dragons Love Tacos (2023)

  • Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2023)

  • Goodnight Moon (2024)

  • The Lightning Thief: the Percy Jackson Musical (2024)

  • She Persisted: the Musical (2024)

Production HIstory

Oregon Children’s Theatre has been producing shows for families and children of all ages for over thirty-five years. If you would like more information about any of the production listed below (or productions performed prior to 2013) please feel free to contact us.

  • Cat Kid Comic Club: the Musical

    Young Professionals Company:
    Impulse 18
    SPIDER: The Impact Tour Edition
    YP Readers Series

  • Goodnight Moon
    The Lightning Thief: the Percy Jackson Musical
    She Persisted: the Musical

    Young Professionals Company:
    SPIDER
    Impulse 17
    The K of D

  • Dog Man: the Musical
    Dragons Love Tacos
    Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

    Young Professionals Company:
    Pestilence:Wow!
    The Mad Ones
    Impulse: Sweet 16

  • Merry Happy Everything!
    The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show
    Last Stop on Market Street

    Young Professionals Company:
    Impulse XV
    WROL (Without Rule of Law)
    Twelfth Night

  • The Girl Who Swallowed a Cactus
    Art Interrupted
    Your Turn!

    Young Professionals Company:
    Breaking Character
    In the Forest She Grew Fangs
    Impulse XIV: Level Up
    Alex Getting Better
    Impulse XIV: Bonus Level

  • Me…Jane: The Dreams & Adventures of Young Jane Goodall
    Dragons Love Tacos
    The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559

    Young Professionals Company:
    DNA
    Impulse XIII

  • Ella Enchanted
    Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience
    The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors
    Jason & the Argonauts
    Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly

    Young Professionals Company:
    Shiver: a Musical Ghost Story
    Impulse XII
    Good Kids

  • Judy Moody & Stink
    Pete the Cat: The Musical
    And in This Corner: Cassius Clay
    The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show
    A Year With Frog & Toad

    Young Professionals Company:
    Jasper in Deadland
    Eurydice
    Impulse XI

  • Goosebumps the Musical
    Fly Guy: The Musical
    Flora & Ulysses
    Tomás & the Library Lady
    Pinkalicious: The Musical

    Young Professionals Company:
    In the Forest She Grew Fangs
    Impulse X
    Orphans

  • Junie B. Jones: The Musical
    Geronimo Stilton: Mouse in Space
    Bad Kitty: On Stage
    The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
    James and the Giant Peach

    Young Professionals Company:
    Wrestling Season
    Impulse
    Chrysalis

  • Ivy + Bean: The Musical
    Skippyjon Jones
    Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
    Schoolhouse Rock Live!
    Ramona Quimby

    Young Professionals Company:
    The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
    Impulse
    Columbinus

  • Magic Tree House: A Night in New Orleans
    Charlotte's Web
    Zombie in Love
    The Giver
    Fancy Nancy

    Young Professionals Company:
    The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged
    WWII Radio Christmas
    Impulse