Dallas Children's Theater Appoints Emily Ernst as Artistic Director

Dallas Children's Theater has named Emily Ernst as Artistic Director, and Arts Consulting Group (ACG) extends its congratulations on her leadership appointment. She began her tenure on March 3, 2025.

Co-founded by Robyn Flatt in 1984, Dallas Children's Theater serves over 95,000 young people and their families annually with professional productions and a robust arts-in-education program. As the only professional theater in North Texas focused exclusively on children and families, DCT fosters understanding across generations and cultures, nurturing an early love for literature, art, and the performing arts.

Ernst, who co-founded Dallas's Fair Assembly ensemble, will lead artistic programming, development of new work, educational offerings, production, and staffing. In addition to Fair Assembly, Ernst's work in the Dallas artistic community includes Junior Players where she was a core part of its youth-focused Shakespeare program for incarcerated girls, as well as roles with Cara Mía Theatre Company, Teatro Dallas, and Cry Havoc Theater Company. She also supported fundraising efforts for the arts at TACA (The Arts Community Alliance). Outside of Texas, Ernst was an artistic associate at Theater for a New Audience in New York, led educational programming for Lincoln Community Playhouse in Nebraska, and most recently served as Associate Artistic Director for River & Rail Theatre Company in Tennessee.

ACG believes that finding top executive and artistic leadership, and the senior management team members to support them, is serious business. We are honored to work closely with our clients to ensure a robust search process and a smooth leadership transition.