Learn and Engage

Student Matinee Performances

“It was a rich cultural experience for my students to be able to go to The Smith Center as only one in 22 had previously been. Also, the cast was more ethnically diverse than they are used to seeing when people perform at school.”
-Student Matinee Participant

Contact Education

The Smith Center invites students and teachers from public, private and charter schools as well as homeschool groups across Southern Nevada to attend matinee performances in its theaters throughout the school year. These matinee performances by local, regional, national and international artists represent a variety of arts disciplines and are specifically designed for young audiences.

Most student matinees at The Smith Center are adapted from acclaimed literature, providing a stimulating, educational experience while inspiring future generations of audiences. The Smith Center provides supporting materials for classroom connections to participating teachers, to prepare students in advance of each performance.

Information about student matinee performances is sent out to all Clark County School District schools through The Smith Center’s partnership with the CCSD School-Community Partnership Office. Private, charter, and homeschool groups also receive information regarding available student matinee performances. For more information, please contact the Education and Outreach Department.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, participating schools are offered admission to these performances at no cost.

“My students loved this show. It opened a whole new world for them, and it was so exciting for me as a teacher to see this.”

Student Matinee Participant

FAQs

: Student matinees are offered during the school year as field trip opportunities to all Southern Nevada schools, including public and private schools and homeschool groups. These performances are not open to the public.
: There is no ticket cost to attend student matinees, because of a generous donor who provides funding for this program. Schools confirmed to attend student matinees are responsible for scheduling and costs related to transportation.
: For the safety of all students, only adults/parents who have been approved as chaperones by a child’s school are permitted to attend student matinee performances. Tickets are not available for purchase for any adult who is not attending as a confirmed chaperone.
: Because student matinees are offered as academic field trip opportunities and we work with hundreds of schools and groups each year, we are unable to serve individual families. However, the education department has an extensive list of homeschool co-ops who are invited to attend student matinees. If you are part of a homeschool co-op, please check with your leader, as you may already be on our list.
: Detailed information for our student matinees is shared with all CCSD school administrators through the CCSD School Community Partnership Office. Administrators then submit interest to attend student matinees or pass the information along to teachers as they see fit. The education department of The Smith Center shares the same information with private and charter school administrators who have expressed interest in attending matinees. Homeschool group contacts who have previously expressed interest are also sent the information from the education department.
: Student matinee performances are intended to be educational experiences for specific grades/age groups based on the content of the show. Because chaperones are in attendance to support the safety of students from their school or homeschool group, younger family members are not permitted to attend with approved adult chaperones.
: For CCSD groups, accommodation requests can be made through the CCSD Partnership Office. Private and charter schools as well as homeschool groups are encouraged to reach out to the Education Department at [email protected] to request ADA accommodations. Certain accommodations require more preparation time than others when related to live events. Please make every effort to send a request at least 2 weeks prior to attending your confirmed performance.
: The Smith Center is often buzzing with activity. For the safety of students, we do not permit schools to arrive early or stay after a performance as we are often juggling more than one performance each day and hundreds or thousands of students. Please plan to arrive within the suggested time frame before your show and depart as soon as the performance is over. The only exception applies to schools traveling from remote areas of Clark County or outside of Clark County.

Photos from Student Matinee Performances

Elementary students before a student matinee in the Reynolds Hall lobby

Students excitedly arriving for a performance at The Smith Center.

High school students watching a student matinee at The Smith Center

A bus behind the Pipe Dream sculpture fronting The Smith Center entrance, by Tim Bavington

Highlights from The Smith Center Blog

All Blogs

Bringing Latin Cultures of the World to Younger Generations

Thanks to generous donor support, The Smith Center provided 1,600 Southern Nevada students with a cross-cultural experience this past week like none they had experienced before. After seeing student matinees of “Cuentos: Tales from the Latino World,” students poured out of The Smith Center’s Troesh Studio Theater with wide smiles, many chanting “uno, dos, tres!” and other Spanish words.

High school students in audience before student matinee "Driving Miss Daisy"

Donor Support Opens Young Minds with ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ Student Matinees

Sixteen-year-old Eslly Jeronimo-Reyes feels keenly aware of the sensitives today over people’s differences. “(Relations) right now with us, Mexicans, and our president are not the best,” says Jeronimo-Reyes, a student at Western High School in Las Vegas.