2022 Student Matinee
2022–2023 In-Person and Digital Field Trips
In-Person Field Trips
Our in-person field trips include:
- Seating at the historic Paramount Theatre, observing COVID-19 health and safety measures recommended by the CDC
- $10 ticket per student for non Title-One schools, $6 ticket per student for Title-One schools. One free adult ticket for every 10 students
- Tickets for the Building Hope in-person field trip on March 22, 2023 are $5 per student for both Title-One and non Title-One schools. Adults (teachers and chaperones) are free
- TEKS connections
- An engaging optional pre-show workshop. Our teaching artists will come to your school/organization and prepare students for the content of the show
- Students and teachers will take home Discovery Guides designed for each field trip filled with interactive and educational activities
- A virtual tour of the Paramount Theatre. Students and teachers will experience the Paramount like never before, getting up close to the ornate proscenium, our backstage autograph wall, the film booth, and more.

Winnie the Pooh
From Rockefeller Productions, New York, NY
Best for PreK – 2nd Grade
The Paramount Theatre
Monday, September 26, 2022 at 10am and 12pm
Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at 10am and 12pm
Show run time: 55 minutes
Disney’s iconic Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Owl (oh… and don’t forget Tigger too!) in a beautifully crafted musical stage adaptation.
TEKS Connections: Fine Arts, Social-Emotional Learning, ELA
MORE INFO REGISTER NOW

Step Afrika!
From Washington, D.C.
Best for 3rd – 12th Grade
The Paramount Theatre
Monday, November 7, 2022 at 10am and 12pm
Show run time: 60 minutes
Step Afrika! is the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping, touring to more than 60 countries across the globe, and ranking as one of the top 10 African American dance companies in the United States. They promote stepping as an educational tool for young people, focusing on teamwork, academic achievement and cross-cultural understanding.
TEKS Connections: Fine Arts, Social-Emotional Learning, Global Studies, Social Studies
MORE INFO REGISTER NOW

The Gruffalo
From Tall Stories, London, England
Best for PreK – 3rd Grade
The Paramount Theatre
Monday, February 6, 2023 at 10am and 12pm
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 10am and 12pm
Show run time: 55 minutes
Join Mouse on a daring adventure through the deep, dark wood in Tall Stories’ magical, musical adaptation of the classic picture book by JULIA DONALDSON & AXEL SCHEFFLER.
TEKS Connections: Fine Arts, Social-Emotional Learning, ELA
The Gruffalo © Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler 1999 – Macmillan Children’s Books

Yamato – The Drummers of Japan
From Nara Prefecture, Japan
Best for 3rd – 12th Grade
The Paramount Theatre
Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 10AM and 12PM
Show run time: 60 minutes
The captivating YAMATO drummers visit from Nara Prefecture, the cradle of Japanese civilization, with a powerhouse program of traditional taiko drumming.
TEKS Connections: Fine Arts, Social-Emotional Learning, Global Studies, Social Studies
MORE INFO REGISTER NOW

Building Hope
From The Nobelity Project, Austin, TX
Best for 6th – 8th Grade
The State Theatre (next door to the Paramount)
Wednesday, March 22 at 10AM
Show run time: 90 minutes
Building Hope is a documentary from the Nobelity Project that chronicles the construction of Mahiga Hope High, the first high school for a remote African community, and the connection between a thousand people in the U.S. and an African community working to create a better future for their children.
After the screening students will participate in a live Q&A with the founders of the Nobelity Project, Turk and Christy Pipkin, with special guest James Mwenda, conservationist, rhino caretaker, and Kenyan wildlife ranger. Students will learn about James’ education and how he became caretaker for the last male northern white rhino on Earth.
TEKS Connections: STEM, Global Studies, Social Studies, Philanthropy, Film & Fine Arts
MORE INFO REGISTER NOW

Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie: Starring Indigo Blume
From The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.
Best for PreK – 3rd Grade
The Paramount Theatre
Monday, March 27, 2023 at 10am and 12pm
Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 10am and 12pm
Show run time: 60 minutes
New York Times best-selling author KWAME ALEXANDER brings two of his beloved children’s books—Acoustic Rooster and Indigo Blume—to the stage in this brand-new musical production that will have students dancing in their seats.
TEKS Connections: Fine Arts, Social-Emotional Learning, STEM, ELA
MORE INFO REGISTER NOW
Admission Policies
The cost of admission is $10 per student for non-Title One schools and $6 per student for Title One schools. One adult per 10 children will be free.
All performances will be presented at The Paramount Theatre at 713 Congress Avenue. Requests will be filled on a first come, first served basis. To accommodate as many school groups as possible, there is a limit for adults attending the shows. Only one adult per every ten students. Any additional adults will be charged $15 per ticket in advance, or $20 cash; day of show. If you need more adults due to students with special needs, please contact Abril Robbins at arobbins@austintheatre.org. No general public tickets will be sold.
Payment in the form of one check per school should be mailed to the Paramount Theatre once you receive your confirmation email and accompanied invoice. Alternately, you may provide a credit card number to charge the balance. Full payments are due ONE MONTH before your performance date. If we have not heard from you one month before the performance, your tickets may be released and given to a school on our waitlist, if there is one. If you need more time to pay for your school’s tickets we are happy to work with you, but there are NO CANCELLATIONS PAST YOUR ONE MONTH DUE DATE. These include decreases in numbers or complete cancellations of reservations (including additional adult tickets). Your school will still be responsible for the amount due since we will not have adequate time to re-book your tickets and those seats will go unused. Thank you for your understanding.
If there are any obstacles that prevent your students from seeing this production, please contact Abril Robbins at arobbins@austintheatre.org or call 512-233-0124 to discuss special arrangements.
Day of Event Information
The performances begin promptly at the indicated time and will last approximately one hour unless otherwise noted. Arrival time should be no more than 30 minutes prior to the performance. Each school must make its own transportation arrangements after receiving a confirmation email from the Paramount Theatre. There is no free parking available for private cars on the day of the performances.
Pre-Show Workshops
Paramount Education also offers in classroom, pre-show workshops facilitated by a professional teaching artist. Our teaching artists will come to your school and engage classes in drama and movement based activities to prepare them to see the play and explore its themes and curricular connections. The price of these workshops is $25 per classroom. Deep discounts are available for Title 1 schools. Please let us know you are interested in a pre-show workshop when you register for a show, and we will contact you two months prior to the field trip date to schedule those sessions.
Discovery Guides
In addition to seeing the play, every student and teacher attending our productions will receive a free Discovery Guide to extend learning beyond seeing the play. These guides are crafted specifically to connect the play to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). They also provide enrichment materials that offer lesson plans and suggest possible curricular connections through which educators can create fully integrated units in English, science, math, and social studies. Click here to see examples of past guides.
Digital Field Trips
This school year, we are offering free on-demand digital field trips starting on October 1st.
Our digital field trip experience includes:
- Free, on-demand streaming access for all schools in Central Texas; available for the remainder of the school year.
- TEKS connections!
- Suggested chapter breaks so you can fit the video content into a schedule that works for your classroom.
- Digital student Discovery Guides designed for each “field trip” filled with interactive and educational activities!
- A virtual tour of the Paramount Theatre. Students and teachers will experience the Paramount like never before, getting up close to the ornate proscenium, our backstage autograph wall, the film booth, and more.
Interested in scheduling an in-person screening for one of these documentaries at the State Theatre for your grade level? Contact Brian Fahey at bfahey@austintheatre.org.

Building Hope
From The Nobelity Project, Austin, TX
Best for 6th – 8th Grade
Available asynchronously October 1, 2022 – May 31, 2023
Documentary run time: 38 minutes
We’re bringing back Building Hope for the eighth year in a row, its second as a digital field trip experience. Building Hope is a documentary from the Nobelity Project that chronicles the construction of Mahiga Hope High, the first high school for a remote African community, and the connection between a thousand people in the U.S. and an African community working to create a better future for their children. To accompany the documentary, students will have access to a Q&A conversation between Austin middle schoolers and students in Kenya. Participants will experience global bridge-building as we explore the importance of education for all.
TEKS Connections: STEM, Global Studies, Social Studies, Philanthropy, Film & Fine Arts

Citizens at Last
From ET Films and Mo-ti Productions, Austin, TX
Best for 7th–12th Grade
Available asynchronously October 1, 2022 – May 31, 2023
Documentary run time: 57 minutes
Citizens at Last is a documentary film that tells the story of the grit, persistence, and tactical smarts of the Texas women—white, Black and Latina—who organized, demonstrated, and won the vote for women. Citizens at Last follows the early days of organizing, explores the strategic role Texas suffragists played in the national movement, and exposes the pro-Jim Crow policies of the anti-suffragists who stood in their way. To accompany the documentary, students will have access to a Q&A conversation with the team that created it.
TEKS Connections: Social Studies, Government, Film

When I Rise
From The Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin and Alpheus Media, Austin, TX
Best for 9th–12th Grade
Available asynchronously October 1, 2022 – May 31, 2023
Documentary run time: 73 minutes
In this documentary a gifted Black music student at the University of Texas is thrust into a civil-rights storm that changes her life forever. Barbara Smith Conrad is cast in an opera to co-star with a white male classmate, fueling a racist backlash from members of the Texas legislature. When Barbara is expelled from the cast, the incident escalates to national news, prompting unexpected support from a pop superstar. This small-town girl, whose voice and spirit stem from her roots in East Texas, emerges as an internationally celebrated mezzo-soprano and headlines on stages around the world. When I Rise is a testament to finding forgiveness within oneself.
Includes access to the documentary film When I Rise and a pre-recorded question and answer panel discussion, featuring director Mat Hames, producer Dr. Don Carleton, Executive Director of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at UT Austin, Eva Goins Simmons, Member of The Precursors (the first Black undergraduate students to attend UT Austin), Icy Simpson-Monroe, Opera singer featured in When I Rise, and moderator Dr. Dwonna Goldstone, Director of the African American Studies Program at Texas State University.
TEKS Connections: Social Studies, Social-Emotional Learning, Fine Arts

Thirst for Power
From Dr. Michael E. Webber, DISCO, and Alpheus Media
Best for 7th–12th Grade
Available asynchronously October 1, 2022 – May 31, 2023
Documentary run time: 63 minutes
Water and energy are the two fundamental components of a society, and they are interconnected. Thirst for Power, shot on location across France, California, and Texas, explores the history of civilization’s quest to procure water and energy — from ancient Roman aqueducts in Europe to modern America’s vast hydroelectric infrastructure. The documentary combines anecdotes and personal stories with insights into the latest science of energy and water, and identifies a hopeful path toward wise long-range water-energy decisions and a more reliable and abundant future for humanity.
Includes access to the documentary film Thirst for Power and a pre-recorded question and answer panel discussion, featuring director Mat Hames, author Dr. Michael E. Webber with The University of Texas at Austin and ENGIE, film producer Juan Garcia from Disco Learning Media, Dr. Kelly T. Sanders with the University of Southern California, and moderator, Erin Hardick from Zpryme.
TEKS Connections: STEM, Global Studies, Social Studies, Philanthropy, Film & Fine Arts