Since 1955, Junior Players has been empowering young voices by providing high quality arts programming to North Texas children and youth at no cost to our participants. Below is a high-level outline of notable moments throughout Junior Players' history!

  • 1955 
    • Junior Players was founded by a group of Highland Park moms. Junior Players presents traditional children’s theater productions for children by children. 
  • 1987
    • The first Discover Summer Theater Camps are held at six locations 
  • 1989
    • Junior Players’ primary focus changed to provide after school and summer arts enrichment programs accessible to all children and teens in the North Texas area. 
  • 1990
    • Junior Players launches its Discover Shakespeare program which combines the best of North Texas high-school acting talent with the professional skills of the DFW’s production talent in a teen production of Shakespeare presented in free performances at Samuell-Grand Park. This program started the strong collaboration with Dallas Shakespeare. 
  • 1995
    • Junior Players collaborated with KERA TV 13 in 1995 to create Peacemaker, a docudrama on violence and its effect on youth.
  • 2002
    • Junior Players' production of As You Like It was cited as one of the Top 10 Family Plays of the year by Nancy Churnin of the Dallas Morning News. 
  • 2003
    • Junior Players received the Arts Basic Award from the Texas Commission on the Arts, and a Special Award from the Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum for "imaginatively staged and diversely cast plays, programs that encourage young artists (including PUP Fest, a playwriting program co-produced with Kitchen Dog Theater) and free performances and lessons to children and teens throughout the area." 
  • 2005 
    • Junior Players celebrates our 50th anniversary and are officially recognized in a proclamation from the city of Dallas. Morgan Fairchild was the honorary guest alumnus. 
  • 2006
    • Junior Players was named a semi-finalist by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities for the ‘Coming Up Taller’ award. 
  • 2013
    • Junior Players launched its Building Connections through the Real World in 5 DISD middle schools and its Life Skills programs in 9 DISD middle schools.
  • 2015
    • Junior Players celebrates its 60th anniversary
    • Junior Players produced the critically acclaimed In The Heights musical at the Dallas City Performance Hall. This marks the first time Junior Players has performed in a Dallas Arts District facility.
    • Junior Players also produced Junior Players Presents: The Transformation Project, our first ever dance production in the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre and marks the second time in a Dallas Arts District facility. 
  • 2016
    • Junior Players doubles its reach and begins to serve 14,000 youth annually
    • Junior Players was selected as the Attorneys Serving the Community Beneficiary. 
  • 2017
    • Junior Players raises more than $350,000 through its partnership with ASC, allowing the organization to expand its program outreach
    • Junior Players adds thirty additional free summer camps - bringing the total to 80 camps every summer.
    • Junior Players doubles the size of its administrative staff, expanding the organization's capacity building resources.
    • Junior Players launches its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion programs in its teen programs.
    • Junior Players produces its first Youth in Arts Panel, focusing on how our youth can be catalysts for change within their own communities. 
  • 2018
    • Junior Players expands its Transformation Project Dance Residency Program to include ten high schools and one middle school.
    • Junior Players announces its first summer musical collaboration with UTD.
    • Junior Players receives $59,080 from NBC 5, Telemundo 39 and NBCUniversal Foundation 'Project Innovation' Grant for new digital media program.
  • 2019
    • Junior Players announces first international partnership with China Dreams and presents inaugural Discover Runway Dreams Fashion Show
    • Junior Players' project JP TV Challenges & Champions is a recipient of TACA Artist Residency Fund grant and project Junior Players Presents: The Aftermath is a recipient of TACA New Works Fund
    • Junior Players Student Council creates and releases a student-run "Arts Impact Youth" podcast 
  • 2020 
    • Junior Players celebrates it's 65th anniversary
    • Junior Players created virtual programming opportunities to stay present for our youth throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic
    • Junior Players presented it's first completely virtual production, The Aftermath
  • 2021
    • Junior Players receives Best Dance Troupe award from the Dallas Observer
  • 2023
    • Junior Players receives one of TACA's Pop-Up Grants for winter musical, Be More Chill
    • The National Civic League honored Dallas, Texas among ten 74th Annual All-America City recipients. Junior Players was honored to be a part of the team bringing this recognition to Dallas for the second time in 50 years.
    • Junior Players was excited to bring the first ever youth focused Shakespeare in Prison program to Texas in 2023 – making Dallas home to a groundbreaking new program. This program is a partnership between Junior Players and The Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center where incarcerated youth will work alongside professional Junior Players teaching artists to learn, and eventually perform, excerpts from one of Shakespeare’s prolific works, Henry V.
    • Junior Players introduced our Open Door Initiative - which raises funds to provide complimentary tickets to all Junior Players’ productions for our youth and their families, ensuring that no one is denied access to the transformative power of the arts.
  • 2024
    • Junior Players receives a Leaders in Diversity Award from the Dallas Business Journal.
    • Junior Players moves into the Wilson Historic District, thanks to The Meadows Foundation.
  • 2025
    • Junior Players celebrates it's 70th anniversary