Each year, over 7,000 students attend Wheelock Family Theatre productions and enjoy live theater! Learn more below about how Wheelock Family Theatre can make a difference in your student’s life this year.
Interested in joining us for our 2022/23 season? Please email wftgroup@bu.edu for more information.
Students from allover Massachusetts join WFT for the Student Matinee Series. Whether it is your first show, or your 100th, Wheelock Family Theatre is the best place to enjoy an experience that will last your students a lifetime.
WFT@BU is committed to promoting a safe campus environment. Our policy is regularly reviewed and the most up-to-date information will be posted on our website. Performers will be un-masked and abide by both BU and Actor’s Equity regulations. All WFT on campus staff are BU Covid-19 compliant. We also strongly encourage all visitors to campus to be vaccinated.
In accordance with current University safety protocol, audience members are required to wear a mask indoors at all times. WFT@BU will not be requiring audience members to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test. WFT@BU will not be socially distancing in the theatre. There will be no eating or drinking allowed in the theatre or the lobby. Any person with symptoms that could be related to COVID-19 should not attend WFT@BU. To learn more about our safety protocols, please click here.
Performance start time for all student matinees is 10:30am.
Matilda — SOLD OUT
- Wednesday, October 26th – SOLD OUT
- Tuesday, November 1st – SOLD OUT
- Thursday, November 10th – SOLD OUT
- Tuesday, November 15th (Accessibility Performance)* – SOLD OUT
- Thursday, November 17th – SOLD OUT
Make Way for Ducklings
- Tuesday, February 28th – SOLD OUT
- Wednesday, March 1st – SOLD OUT
- Thursday, March 2nd – SOLD OUT
- Tuesday, March 7th – LIMITED AVAILABILITY
- Wednesday, March 8th – SOLD OUT
- Thursday, March 9th (Accessibility Performance)* – LIMITED AVAILABILITY (Only ASL/AD seating remains)
To join the waitlist, please email WFTgroup@bu.edu.
Bud, Not Buddy
- Wednesday, April 26th – SOLD OUT
- Thursday, April 27th – SOLD OUT
- Friday, April 28th – SOLD OUT
- Tuesday, May 2nd – EXTREMELY LIMITED AVAILABILITY
- Wednesday, May 3rd – SOLD OUT
- Thursday, May 4th – SOLD OUT
- Friday, May 5th – EXTREMELY LIMITED AVAILABILITY
- Tuesday, May 9th – SOLD OUT
- Thursday, May 11th (Accessibility Performance)* – LIMITED AVAILABILITY (Only ASL/AD seating remains)
- Friday, May 12th – SOLD OUT
*Learn more about WFT Accessibility Performances here.
Interested in joining us for our 2022/23 season?
Please email wftgroup@bu.edu with the following information:
- Show Choice & Date:
- School Name:
- School Address (Number, Street, Town and Zip):
- Contact Phone:
- Contact Email:
- Grade(s) of the students attending:
- Total number of tickets requested (students, teachers, and chaperones):
Please know that until you’ve received an official email confirmation your group has not been finalized. For most accurate date availability, please contact WFTgroup@bu.edu.
Student Matinees typically sell out. In order to best accommodate your group, please reach out early!
PRICING
Tickets to student matinees are $12 for all students, teachers and chaperones. All tickets MUST be reserved in advance and coordinated through the Group Sales Coordinator to ensure seating for all attendees and the discounted student matinee ticket price. Tickets cannot be bought separately through the Box Office.
PAYMENT
Once your booking has been confirmed, you will receive an invoice. Group organizer must acknowledge the receival of this invoice by mail or email. The full payment of your reservation is due no later than the day of your attendance.
Should your group decide not to attend, please let the Groups Manager at WFTgroup@bu.edu know as soon as possible.
WFT does not offer refunds on any absent students. Your final count is to be given no less than 1 week before your arrival (3 weeks is preferred), and that is what your payment is based on. It does not matter, nor do we offer refunds, if a student is absent.
SEATING
Wheelock Family Theatre has two seating areas: the orchestra and the mezzanine. Orchestra seating is located directly in front of the stage with a sloped floor, the mezzanine is a directly behind the orchestra with steps to the seats. If your group has specific seating needs, please note that at the time of inquiry.
CAN OUR GROUP EAT THE THEATRE?
Eating a lunch or snack before/intermission/after the show: students are allowed to eat in the lobby. It is the theatre where there is no eating allowed, due to the actor’s equity covid-19 guidelines. We also have a small gallery and classroom space where the students can eat, and of course, weather permitting, they can eat outside. If you want your students to eat before the show. Please note that groups will need to be seated by 10:20am so plan accordingly to arrive with extra time to eat.
WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED?
Wheelock Family Theatre at Boston University is located at 180 Riverway in Boston’s Fenway Neighborhood. For directions to our theatre, please click here.
WHERE DO WE PARK?
For busses, we have a convenient drop-off area directly in front of the theatre’s doors. Students may be dropped off here by school busses. Please unload busses and other vehicles on the Riverway, please look for our staff member to assist you with your group.
For vans or cars, garage parking is available in the MASCO parking garage at 375 Longwood Avenue 02215. Parking for vehicles and vans at MASCO is at market rates during weekday matinee performances. Bus parking is NOT available on the premises and is therefore the responsibility of each driver.
HOW LONG IS THE SHOW and WHAT TIME DOES IT START?
Our Wheelock Family Theatre shows generally run 100 to 120 minutes and usually has one 15-minute intermission. To find out the length of the particular show you are attending, please inquire after the show has opened. Performance start times for all student matinees is 10:30am. We ask all groups to arrive by 10:10 am to be seated by performance time.
Study Guides and Social Stories
Teachers can enrich their children’s theatre experience with our Study Guides, prepared with helpful background information for each production and available for download from the Resources page, beginning two weeks before the opening of each show.
Social stories were originally developed for children on the autism spectrum, but we have found that they are helpful for preparing any child who is very young or has never been to the theatre before. WFT@BU offers this general social story, as well as a customized one for each of our productions on our Resources page. We hope you will find them helpful!
School and Community Partnerships
WFT@BU partners with schools and community organizations through performance attendance, drama workshops for students, and professional development workshops that train teachers to integrate drama into the classroom. For additional information contact Jeri Hammond at 617-353-2994 or WFTEd@bu.edu
School partnerships are the fastest-growing program within the WFT@BU Education Program. School Partnerships usually begin by framing a public, private, or home school’s attendance at a stage production with a pre- and post-show educational package called a DramaShop.
Participating teachers receive a WFT@BU Study Guide before attending the play, with narratives connecting the play to history and/or literature, as well as numerous drama-related activities that are fun to do, connect to specific Massachusetts learning standards, and prepare the students and teachers to more deeply appreciate the play.
Our School Partnerships are designed to deepen in subsequent years, as the schools and the theatre get to know one another better. Once teachers, administrators, and parents begin to see how students are positively influenced by their interactions with cast members and artist-educators, schools will often ask for classroom workshops, artist-in-residence programs, and teacher professional development.
The goal of every School Partnership is to eventually move from direct services for students to teacher professional development. When classroom teachers develop the ability to infuse drama-related teaching and learning strategies across the academic curriculum, not only does their teaching become energized, but they are better able to serve the needs of ALL students. And their drama expertise resides in the school culture, not outside of it.
Community partnerships pair WFT@BU with non-school organizations, such as church groups, senior citizen centers, out-of-school programs, community theatres, and youth groups.
A good example is our community partnership with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusett (GSEM). The WFT@BU-GSEM Partnership began in April, 2002, when Girl Scouts from throughout greater Boston came to watch two deaf teenagers star in our production of The Trumpet of the Swan. Their troop leaders received Study Guides with descriptions of many drama activities connected to the play. They also participated in the DramaShop, which consists of a pre-show workshop and discussion about the play and a post-show question-and-answer session with members of the cast.
Rather than making specific connections to State learning standards as the school partnerships do, community partnerships use the study guides and DramaShop to connect with teamwork, character-building, and other life skills valued by community organizations like the GSEM.
If your school or community organization is interested in working with WFT@BU to create a collaborative partnership, please contact Jeri Hammond at 617-353-2994 or WFTEd@bu.edu.
