Regular theatergoers are more likely to associate City Theatre with edgy new plays than with family shows. So why would artistic director Tracy Brigden choose "Flight," a play written for young audiences, and set about marketing the production to families?

Maybe because "Honus & Me" went over so well. And maybe also because a new audience may evolve into a loyal audience.

City Theatre produced Steven Dietz's "Honus & Me" in May 2006. The magical story of a Little Leaguer and a baseball card was a natural for kids and families, so for the first time, City Theatre went about selling a show that way.

"Saleswise, 'Honus & Me' was very successful," said City's director of marketing Jeremy Kraus. At each performance, "you'd see 20 or 30 kids with their parents -- you don't see that that often."

Kraus finds reaching out to that different audience "very exciting at the marketing end." City can depend on its base, the subscribers who will come to all the shows. But busy parents of young children don't tend to become part of that base, because they want to spend the scant leisure time they have with their children.

Children's theater, per se, would be too far out of character for City. But with plays like "Honus & Me" and, now, "Flight," the goal is, as Kraus put it, "adult theater that's accessible to kids."

Plays that aren't panto-style kiddie fare don't work the youngsters into a hollering frenzy that makes adults want to cower under the seats, but they do "open parents' eyes so that, hopefully, they'll be coming back," Kraus said. And "Flight" is included in the subscription series, so "the regular adult audience's experience is also enhanced when they see the kids' reactions, the wonder and excitement."

"Flight's" cultural themes layered another dimension onto the kids-and-families marketing thrust of "Honus," so information about the play has been distributed to the Center for Family Excellence, church youth ministries, after-school programs, drumming workshops, performances of African storytellers and even hair-braiding classes. (That last idea came from "Flight" choreographer Oronde Sharif, artistic director of the Shona Sharif African Drum and Dance Ensemble.) Kraus embraces such "grassroots marketing" -- the theater held a preview for educators, black community and church leaders, and those who had brought groups to plays before. They saw scenes from "Flight" and heard a presentation by playwright Charlayne Woodard.

As helpful community contacts are found, Kraus sends posters and fliers and asks them to spread the word in exchange for discounted tickets.

Sponsorships from UPMC, Equitable Resources and Giant Eagle Foundation make it possible to offer free tickets to kids and parents from the Brashear and Hill House associations and the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation. And City Theatre director of education Linus Craig will run a pre-performance workshop for children and has created a study guide for a student matinee on April 2, which will be followed by a talk-back session with the actors.

While "Flight" is being marketed to children ages 8 and up, City Theatre is targeting high school and college students with its new "backstage blog," "Page to Stage," which examines the process of bringing the play from text to production. "Page to Stage" is accessible from www.citytheatrecompany.org.

Still, adult subscribers don't need to worry about an explosion of children's theater at City.

Plays that appeal to young audiences are "not something we look for specifically," said associate artistic director Stuart Carden. "It's pretty rare we find subject matter engaging for adults and children alike." But in "Flight," the individual folk tales are appealing to children, while the overall story arc is poignant and complex enough to be meaningful to adults.

"There's always going to be a level of sophistication in the plays we choose," said Carden. "This is very sophisticated pure theater, this 'Flight.' "