Oregon Children’s Theatre has announced it will indefinitely pause all of its programming effective September 1, 2025. At the same time, it announced a drive to raise at least $1 million to get the company back on its feet.

The pause, announced in a Tuesday email from board president Katie Slavin and artistic director Jenn Hartmann Luck, will include all Mainstage productions, camps and classes, in-school programming, and the Young Professionals Company. The board has yet to decide whether OCT, which was founded in 1988 and is one of Oregon’s largest nonprofit professional theater companies for young audiences, is closing for good.

“We did not make this decision lightly; but the truth is that OCT is facing an unsustainable situation. From COVID shutdowns to leadership transitions, to major funding losses with no warning, we’ve been through a lot over the past few years,” the announcement read.

“We are in a position where we must pause our work so that we can be intentional and strategic about how we move forward,” Luck, the company’s producing artistic director, said in a separate press release. “We have been facing these challenges for many years, and in order for us to create a way forward we must stop and assess who we are as an organization, what we need in order to continue producing shows and providing educational programming, and create a financial model that works so that we can come back stronger, ready to serve the youth and families in our community.”

In the meantime, the organization hopes to raise at least $1 million in donations to keep going. “We continue to receive funding from foundations who believe in us and our mission, and we are grateful for their support,” Luck said, “and we are excited about any new partners or supporters we meet as we move through this process.”

OCT has recently appointed several new members to its board of directors, including Nik Whitcomb (artistic director of Bag&Baggage Productions), board secretary Amy Davidson (Hampton Lumber), board treasurer Murad Pirani (Villa Serena, LLC), and board president Katie Slavin (Portland State University Foundation). OCT’s previous Board President Dré Slaman, who took on the job in 2022, said she’s encouraged by these additions.

“I am excited for Katie and the new officers to lead this company,” Slaman said in the press release. “As my tenure as Board President comes to a close, I am confident that they will lead this organization into a new chapter.” 

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Slavin has been associated with OCT since she was a young actor herself, performing in shows and taking classes with the company. “Being part of OCT productions like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Charlotte’s Web as a kid helped me build confidence and skills that I still use today,” she said. “I took my daughter to her first OCT show in 2024, and it was magical to watch her experience live theatre for the first time. I joined the board because I believe deeply in the power of theatre to inspire and spark imagination for young people in our community.”

OCT will still offer its spring classes and summer camps this year. “Enrolling your children in these programs will help bring in much-needed revenue to support our Education Department through the end of August,” OCT’s announcement stated. “Also, our Young Professionals Company will perform its final production of the season, the YP Readers Series, May 15–18. Tickets are pay-what-you-can and are on sale now.”

OCT had two major leadership changes in the past six years, beginning with the 2019 retirement of Stan Foote. According to his 2022 obituary in ArtsWatch, Foote played “a key role in building Oregon Children’s Theatre into a nationally recognized company.”

In a 2019 story about Foote, Bob Hicks wrote: “During [Foote’s] tenure he’s directed close to 50 plays and guided OCT through 20 world-premiere productions, including highly acclaimed collaborations with leading children’s authors such as Lois Lowry (The Giver; Gossamer) and Louis Sachar (Holes), as well as prominent playwrights and adapters such as Eric Coble (The Storm in the Barn; Sacagawea; The Giver). He’s co-commissioned plays with companies across the country, firmly establishing OCT as a significant player nationally, and contributing greatly to the repertoire of plays for young audiences: Coble’s adaptation of Lowry’s The Giver has had more than 300 productions in the United States and internationally.”

Ross McKeen, who was the managing director at OCT for many years and Foote’s partner in building the company up, also parted ways with the company in 2020.

OCT says its last production, Cat Kid Comic Club: the Musical, had sold-out performances at the Newmark Theatre at Portland’5 Centers for the Arts in November 2024.

“We are so thankful to the community for rallying over the summer, helping us raise nearly $130,000 to support the production, as well as support our education programs through the remainder of the year,” said Luck. “However, we know this financial model is not sustainable, and we have made the difficult decision to release our performance dates with Portland’5 over the next few seasons. The reality is that we simply cannot afford to perform in that venue currently and must preserve the funding we have in order to survive as a company.”

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 “The pause to our Education programming is particularly hard to imagine,” said Luck. “Education is at the heart of everything our organization does, and the youth involved in these programs have truly transformational experiences. We are dedicated to reestablishing these programs as soon as possible.”

“We are going to do everything in our power to keep going, and we are going to need the help and support of many people — donors, foundations, partners, and more — to keep the company open into the future. We have a plan, we can see a way forward, but we will not be able to take that journey without the support of our community.”

To keep families and youth involved in their decisions, OCT has created an online survey, which asks individuals about their experiences with the company, what they need from a youth-serving arts organization, what the loss of OCT could mean for their family, and what they want to see on OCT stages and in its classrooms.

 “We believe in the power of stories,” the company’s announcement stated, “and sharing your stories may be the most important way we keep OCT open now and into the future.”