Oregon Children’s Theatre is set to open two shows at Portland 5 after delays from recent snow and ice storms that have shut down most productions. Dmae Lo Roberts got a chance to speak with Jenn Hartman Luck, OCT’s artistic director about opening “Goodnight Moon” (based on the classic book by Margaret Wise Brown) in the Winningstad and “The Lightning Thief” (of the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan) in the Newmark Theater on the weekend of January 20th.

Featured in this podcast episode Luck talks about how she’s acclimated to Portland since moving here from New Mexico, the differences in funding in Oregon than in other states in the country and her plans for OCT as well as:

The two opening shows…

“The music (in the ‘Lightning Thief’)is so incredible and exciting and young people and adults alike are in love with Percy Jackson in love with this story. And it really has this amazing narrative and so and and theme around resilience and stepping into what challenges are in front of you and taking them by the horns…and ‘Goodnight Moon’ allows us to cuddle up with our our littles and just love on them and and focus on what’s important.”

Her passion for theater for youth…

“I was a kid who had a lot of big feelings I had a lot of challenges both in my own little world but also in my family and the arts. My immediate family were not participants in the arts and yet here I was this kid who somehow the arts just spoke to me from the minute I was born. I would put on little solo shows to myself and for myself in my room I mean and they did everything that they could to support me.”

Goodnight Moon
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Chad Henry
Adapted from Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement HurdRecommended for ages 3 and up. Runtime: approximately 60 minutes. Runs through Feb. 11, 2024

The Lightning Thief
Book by Joe Tracz
Music, Lyrics, and Orchestrations by Rob Rokicki
Adapted from the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Recommended for ages 8–12
Runtime: approximately 60 minutes. Runs through Feb. 18, 2024

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. From Phoenix, to New York City, Los Angeles, and most recently, Austin, Texas, she has spent her entire career, serving communities of young people and their families though the performing arts.

As Director of Partnerships and Programming for Education at the Paramount Theatre in Austin for almost a decade, Jenn presented full seasons of live performing arts programming for young audiences and built an Education Department that served over 22,000 students per year. She was on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY), is a Lecturer in the Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Texas at Austin, is a proud member of TYA/USA, AATE, and The Dramatist Guild, and is currently sitting on the SXSW EDU Advisory Board. She holds a BA in Theatre Performance 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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download