Dallas Children's Theater to Present First-Ever Staged Reading of THE PENUMBRA
The new musical, with music by Ian Ferguson and book by Lauren LeBlanc, will be performed at DCT's Baker mainstage, with live accompaniment.
For the first time in its history, Dallas Children's Theater will present a staged reading of the musical The Penumbra, music by Ian Ferguson and book by Lauren LeBlanc, on the mainstage at Dallas Children's Theater on April 18, 2026 at 2:00 pm. Professional actors will perform the new musical, in agreement with Actors Equity Association, and live accompaniment will be provided by the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra. Admission is $25 and tickets can be purchased now.
The creative team comprises an experienced group of DFW theatremakers, including Emily Ernst (director), Scott Eckert (music director, conductor), and April Zavala, stage manager. The cast includes Caitlin Chapa, Aubrey Ferguson, Kris Black Jasper, Sydnie Roy, Via Rubio, Emma Sanchez, and Libby Serber. Additionally, composer Ian Ferguson and writer Lauren LeBlanc will perform.
In 2025, The Penumbra was the winner of the Donald Fowler Theatre Arts Memorial Fund, which awards one seed grant per year to a DFW artist or team creating innovative works of theater. In August, Ferguson and LeBlanc independently produced The Penumbra for a two-night workshop event at the Bath House Cultural Center, filling the house for both performances.
Based on LeBlanc's unpublished young adult novel of the same name, The Penumbra is a supernatural thriller told in a three-part narrative: a teenage girl in a struggling family, a town reeling from an escalating pattern of missing children, and an ancient folktale of love and destruction.
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