Jeff Church joined the Coterie as Producing Artistic Director in 1990, coming from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where he served as a director and a playwright-in-residence. Over the past 18 years, Jeff's goal has been to open the Coterie up to be a "multigenerational" theatre for all ages, redefining it to include families and diverse audiences.

The Coterie, a professional Equity theatre, is among the top five theatres serving families and young audiences in the United States, according to TIME magazine. Travel+Leisure magazine's top ten list of children's theatres described the Coterie as "a theatre that resolutely refuses to talk down to its audience." The mainstage season consists of six full productions: three for older students (junior high and high school) and adults, and three for younger audiences and families. The emphasis is often on new or recent works. In 2008, the Coterie launched its Coterie At Night series, which performs exclusively at night at venues other than the Coterie, targeting ages 17 to 21.

Through ingenious programming, the Coterie plays a vital role in the greater Kansas City area developing new generations of audiences for the performing arts with plays that reach a variety of age groups. In 1995, the prestigious Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Award was given to the theatre for its world premiere of Alicia in Wonder Tierra, a great success for the theatre involving actors in the Latino community in that production and many others.