<\/p>\n
When Monica Flynn retired after 43 years as executive director of Wichita Children\u2019s Theatre & Dance Center at the end of 2025, she insisted on no hoopla.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She reneged a bit during the last performance of \u201cThe Best Christmas Pageant Ever\u201d \u2014 a WCTDC tradition for the past 41 years \u2014 as the audience included former board members and staff members from the organization, where she was presented with a bouquet and a short tribute.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThere would not be a Wichita Children\u2019s Theatre if it weren\u2019t for her,\u201d said Kelly Wonsetler Staiger, Flynn\u2019s associate director for the past 39 \u00bd years and successor as executive director.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
WCTDC traces its roots back to the 1940s and was a part of Music Theatre Wichita until 1983, with productions including a touring production of \u201cA Christmas Carol.\u201d Flynn was the mother of young performers in the group.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were going to let the children\u2019s portion of their program dissolve, and Monica did not want to see that happen, so she basically took it over, found a board of directors, found a building to rent and started programming,\u201d Staiger said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A partnership with a dance school came soon, and \u201cIt just grew from there,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Its first home was the former education building at St. Anthony\u2019s Catholic Church, at Second and Ohio, and moved into its current location, the former Christian Challenge of Wichita high school, in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took this big old shell of a gym and turned it into a makeshift theater and with each year made improvements and will turn it into a really nice theater one day, if we can ever find the funding,\u201d Staiger said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While students did have to pay for classes, Staiger said, Flynn insisted that the children not be charged to participate in productions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes our shows accessible across all socio-economic backgrounds,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was super important to her. She never really turned a child away.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Even those who couldn\u2019t pay for classes would be told to volunteer at WCTDC to get in. For others, Flynn would seek benefactors to underwrite their tuition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was always trying to make a way for them to be here,\u201d Staiger said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Flynn told an interviewer: \u201cHere we are, training, education and entertaining our future adults, our future theatergoers. We give them the opportunity not only for theater, but an appreciation for the performing arts and other arts throughout the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Flynn grew up in Kansas City, Staiger said, where her father was the historian for the Kansas City Star during the day and ran the Starlight Theatre box office at night, where she regularly watched shows and even performed on its legendary outdoor stage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After graduating from Benedictine College with an education major and a theater minor, Flynn taught second grade for several years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had a background and history in theater, but she obviously had a great deal of love for young people in Wichita and was constantly working to come up with new programming and partnerships and opportunities,\u201d Staiger said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Flynn\u2019s legacy continues at WCTDC with three more \u201cOnce Upon a Time\u201d productions \u2014 \u201cDon\u2019t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,\u201d \u201cGoldilocks and the Three Bears\u201d and \u201cPinkalicious\u201d \u2014 before the end of the school year; two dance recitals and a Heather Muller Black Box Theatre production of Neil Simon\u2019s \u201cRumors,\u201d featuring a cast of high school and college-age performers, later this year. Staiger said WCTDC had to get permission from the playwright\u2019s estate to edit the language for younger actors.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Summer programs at WCTDC have been averaging 400 enrollments in the past few years, Staiger said, and the year will conclude as others have for four decades with \u201cBest Christmas Pageant.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Staiger said Flynn\u2019s influence will always be a part of WCDTC, while as the new executive director, she\u2019ll start investigating new paths.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just see ourselves building upon her legacy but making sure we\u2019re current,\u201d Staiger said. \u201cWe have new ideas for programming, for our dance programming for summer, maybe some things that haven\u2019t been working great as of late that we\u2019re going to improve upon.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The departure of Flynn \u2013 who turns 86 this weekend \u2013 means no additional personnel added to the WCTDC staff said. The staff, including longtime Wichita actor Kyle Vespestad, a 29-year veteran of the company, is being restructured with new titles and new responsibilities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Flynn has been available to consult and answer questions since her departure, Staiger said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is a wonderful resource to have, and we will be continuing to pick her brain about things,\u201d Staiger said. \u201cShe\u2019ll always be an important part of this place.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansas.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Monica Flynn retired after 43 years as executive director of Wichita Children\u2019s Theatre & Dance Center at the end of 2025, she insisted on no hoopla. She reneged a bit during the last performance of \u201cThe Best Christmas Pageant Ever\u201d \u2014 a WCTDC tradition for the past 41 years \u2014 as the audience included […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2249590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[435503,435502,435501,382304],"class_list":["post-2249589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-community-theater-programs","tag-theatre-education","tag-wichita-childrens-theatre","tag-youth-performing-arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Wichita-Childrens-Theatre-continuing-Monica-Flynns-legacy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2249589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2249591,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249589\/revisions\/2249591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2249590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2249589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2249589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2249589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}