The Matthews has a children’s theater called the Peanut Butter & Jelly Players. Traditionally, this group provides a summer theater camp to children of the area for a month, culminating in a 3-day production of a play. Children learn the art of performing, backstage tasks, blocking, set building…the whole package! Due to a very generous anonymous donor, this month-long summer program is FREE to all the children. We do require a small deposit for each child, that is refunded after the child’s completion of the summer program.
2016: Our 9th season!
The 2016 Peanut Butter and Jelly production will be Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” Performances will be June 24, 25, 26, 2016. Stay tuned! Ann Froelich directs the play.
Registration April 1–May 14. Registration period has passed. Thank you! Did you miss it? Be sure to tune in April 2017 for our 10th season.
This year’s play: “Alice in Wonderland JR.”
CLICK HERE to learn more about the play, buy tickets, and eventually, cast lists, pictures, and videos will be posted.
Some PB&J History
The Matthews has been home to our children’s theater since 2008 with the production of “101 Dalmatians.”
The plays throughout the years have been:
2008: 101 Dalmatians
2009: Sleeping Beauty
2010: Jungle Book
2011: Willa Wonka
2012: Aladdin, Jr.
2013: Little Mermaid, Jr.
2014: Beauty and the Beast, Jr.
2015: My Son Pinocchio, Jr.
2016: Alice in Wonderland, Jr.
All of the shows have been KIDS versions except Willy Wonka. “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “My Son Pinocchio, Jr.” are Broadway Junior versions of these shows.
Play materials are ordered from Music Theatre in New York. These materials include a script which has the lyrics and the score of every song as they appear in the musical. The cast and crew get to keep these scripts, along with the rehearsal CD of all the music in the show.
The casts and crews of each production are also children. They design and create everything from costumes to set and props and lighting. Also, this program has had many dedicated, talented adults who use the power tools and all kinds of equipment and expertise that is needed to perform a fabulous show.