Once upon a time...

All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre began in March 1989. Founder Evelyn Weymouth had been bringing children’s drama to the greater Lansing area, teaching classes, performing, and directing. Her dream was to have a theatre company that produced theatre for children, by children. Ultimately, eighteen people showed up to an organizational meeting on March 30, 1989, and the company was born.

​Auditions for the first production, Winnie-the-Pooh, were held in October 1989. AECT was off and running!
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Evelyn Weymouth

1990-2001

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AECT's Logan Square space
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The Little Mermaid, 2001
For the first five seasons, AECT did three shows a year and toured with a summer program called Storybook Story Theatre. The sixth season brought more growth, and the company now produced four shows and three touring groups that went  to schools and presented folk tales in story theatre fashion.

The next few seasons featured five shows and three touring companies, and added collaborations with Lansing's Riverwalk Theatre. In need of a larger, permanent space, AECT moved to a space in Holt at the beginning of the tenth season in 1998. Three years later, the company moved again, beginning its thirteenth season in a much larger space in Lansing’s Logan Square Shopping Center. September 11, 2001 fell between auditions and first read for the fall show. In alignment with many other organizations, AECT leadership decided that the show must go on. Cast and crew lit a candle and participated in the national moment of silence during first read.

2002-2009

AECT continued to grow, bringing in a full-time Executive Director in 2002 and adding an Executive Assistant the following year. As the decade progressed, however, an increasingly difficult economy and drastic reduction in funding for the arts caused the company to reduce staff. Evelyn retired from her position as Artistic Director in 2007, and AECT alumna Miranda Hartmann was hired. Miranda kept the program going strong and began officially codifying the Guild Crew requirements.

The company continued producing multiple shows a year, even when faced with continued economic challenges and the need to reduce paid staff during the twentieth season. At the end of 2009, the Board of Trustees voted to enter into an agreement with the City of East Lansing to allow AECT to continue its mission with more stable financial footing.
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Young King Arthur, 2007

2009-Present

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The Pied Piper of Hamelin, 2015
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Virtual Production of The Prince and the Pauper, 2021
Since the 2009 agreement, AECT has existed as a program run under the Parks, Recreation & Arts division of the City of East Lansing, while the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization continues to manage fundraising and grant writing efforts.

AECT alumna Sarah Willis was hired as Artistic Director in January 2014. She established the Young Playwrights Festival, a one-weekend production which gave area youth the opportunity to write and produce a play. When Sarah left the company in March 2016, AECT alumna Elizabeth (Liz) Cooke was hired as the new Artistic Director.

Liz introduced Studio Classes to the company's offerings, and successfully steered AECT through three fully-virtual productions during the 2020-21 season. In addition, she finalized the Guild Crew requirements, strengthening the Guild Program as a whole. Assistant Artistic Director Tristan Tanner came on board in 2019. During the pandemic, he initiated the radio show version of War of the Worlds as a creative way to offer an immersive playwriting experience with a different mode of delivery. After successfully overseeing nearly seven seasons at AECT, Liz left for another position in March 2023. Longtime Costumes and Puppetry Crew Head Nina Crumpton stepped in and is currently the Interim Artistic Director.