UPDATED: APRIL 17, 2020

Dear VYT Friends and Family,

“We’re all in this together.” That is what is currently displayed on the marquee of our theatre.

As many of you know, that is one of the most inspiring songs from High School Musical, which I selected to be our next season opener, early last Fall. At that time, I had no idea how deeply poignant and universally relevant that theme would become, this year. 

More than anything, I hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and that, together, we are able to emerge from this unthinkable tragedy as a stronger and more mindful global community. Our Board, staff members and I have reached out to many of you to share our support and love during this most difficult time and we will continue to do so.

No doubt, you realize how devastating it was for us to cancel our upcoming production of Dear Edwina, which had already been cast and for which rehearsals had already begun. It was also extremely difficult to cancel our Spring camps and classes, which many children were looking forward to attending. Finally, we had to make the agonizing decision to postpone what was to be our big, beautiful return of Peter Pan. 

We are doing our best to strike a balance between what are the most sound decisions for the greater good and those that allow us to continue our mission of helping young people be the best they can be. VYTKids need a safe place to be creative and explore or sharpen their talents, so we are determining ways to provide meaningful content that allows them to engage in new ways. In fact, we virtually meet with our VYTeens, twice each week, to talk about our future, the future of theatre and the profound moments each of us experience, each day. Mostly, we look for and share the silver linings that exist in each of our lives.

As we continue to remain positive and look toward a future that includes live youth theatre, we continue to be grateful to our donors and patrons for their past support and hope they will continue to fund our efforts and attend our productions, in the future. 

Instead of simply holding out a hand to ask for money, we truly want to give back the gifts that we have to offer - those of young people working together to create truly stunning, entertaining and uplifting works of performing art. So, for a limited time, we are offering one ticket to each of our next six productions for every $100 investment in our theatre. (In comparison, purchasing individual tickets to these six shows would typically cost $188). You can make your investment by clicking the below button.

Continuing the theme of High School Musical, I look forward to a time when we are “Breaking Free” and can see the “Start of Something New.” In one way or another, that will be with a production of that joyful, lively musical. We hope you will uplift and encourage our performers throughout this process.

We love you all and are sending all of the faith, hope and magic that theatre provides.

- Bobb Cooper and the VYTeam

To invest in the future of VYT