Anything Can Happen, As Long As You Believe

Established in 1989, Valley Youth Theatre (VYT) is dedicated to helping young people learn and grow as performers and creators; and to instill in all young people an appreciation for the performing arts that can be carried with them into adulthood. Valley Youth Theatre will produce seven mainstage productions in the 2002-2003 season, featuring hundreds of Valley children as actors, musicians (VYT has created their own children's orchestra) and technicians. Thousands more will be impacted through audience participation and VYT's education and outreach programs. Children are not charged a fee to participate in VYT productions. Rather, families and friends of participants are encouraged to volunteer their services, assisting with everything from box office to concessions to sewing of costumes and building of sets. More than 7,000 volunteer hours were logged in the last season.

VYT productions are carefully selected to afford the maximum creative opportunities for the most diverse array of young people, while also appealing to a wide audience (“the young...  and the young at heart!”). With open auditions and no fees charged, VYT has created an atmosphere where no social barriers exist. Young people from the inner city, Scottsdale, East Valley, West Valley and beyond, all come together at VYT where they are encouraged to respect one another, work together as a team and strive to be the best they can be.

After a year of being virtually homeless, Valley Youth Theatre opened their 1999-2000 season in their new home, a 202-seat theater at the corner of First Street and Fillmore in downtown Phoenix. The redevelopment of this run-down corner into a “vital cultural attraction” in Copper Square earned VYT the Downtown Phoenix Partnership's 1999 DREAMR Award. The first season in their new space would bring VYT their largest audiences ever. This extraordinary season in their history was capped off with VYT being named “Arts Organization of the Year 2000” by the Business Volunteers for the Arts.

With all this success, one might expect that VYT would sit back and “rest on their laurels.” Any other organization, perhaps, but not Valley Youth Theatre. In the fall of 2000, a proposal for the establishment of a youth performing arts complex was submitted for a City of Phoenix bond proposal. While VYT was approved for only a portion of the monies requested, VYT will receive sufficient funding from the voter-approved bond issue to purchase their existing building and the land on which it sits.

Valley Youth Theatre's long-range plans include expansion of this site to create a youth performing arts complex in the heart of downtown Phoenix. The proposed development not only addresses the long-term facility needs of Valley Youth Theatre, but also presents an expanded economic and cultural opportunity to downtown Phoenix and its redevelopment efforts. This unique center also will meet the needs of other emerging youth-oriented arts organizations, ultimately creating a comprehensive performing arts center reflecting VYT's belief that an investment in today's youth is an investment in the leaders of tomorrow. This unique center will make Phoenix a benchmark in the nation as a city dedicated to the future of its youth and in its support of the performing arts. If it can be done, Valley Youth Theatre will do it!

Valley Youth Theatre...where imaginations come out to play!