Christian Youth Theater

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Christian Youth Theater (CYT) is an American-Canadian after-school theater arts program for children ages 4–18. CYT offers classes in areas such as drama, dance, and singing and performs 3 productions a year. CYT is an arts educational organization and not affiliated with any church, nor are participants required to be members of any particular church, denomination, or religion (although participants are expected to adhere to several basic behavioral requirements while participating, such as refraining from use of illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products). Related group Christian Community Theater (CCT) is the "equivalent" organization for performers of all ages.

According to CYT/CCT's mission statement, "CCT/CYT is dedicated to developing character in children and adults through training in the arts and by producing wholesome family entertainment, all of which reflect Judeo-Christian values."

CYT/CCT performs many popular musicals, such as Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. The group also performs original musicals, some of them musical versions of drama. For example, the group has performed a musical version of A Little Princess. The group has also adapted popular stories such as "Pocahontas," "Alice in Wonderland," and "The Jungle Book" into original musicals.

Numerous classes are offered each session at each branch, as well as summer camps throughout the summer. Classes are typically 10 weeks long. In addition to covering areas such as dance, drama, and voice, more unusual topics are often covered such as improv, makeup, set building, accents and dialects, stunts, special effects and theatre criticism.

In CYT, at least one parent is typically expected to serve on a committee. These committees perform tasks such as building sets and props, supervising the backstage crew (which is composed of both adult committee members and non-adults, typically with a minimum age of 10 and ranging in age up to 18).

Contents

[edit] History

CCT was founded by Paul and Sheryl Russell in San Diego, California. Paul Russell still serves as the artistic director of the group. CYT was later founded in 1981 as an after-school performing arts program.

CYT/CCT has grown significantly since being started. Today there are many branches of CYT in the San Diego region, as well as Spokane, WA, Chicago, IL, Anderson, SC, Denver, CO, Kansas City, MO, Atlanta, GA, Vancouver, WA, Richmond, VA, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Tucson, AZ and Phoenix, AZ, and North Idaho. The latest branch is also the first international branch and is located in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.

Many branches have multiple locations; for example, the Chicago branch has locations in McHenry County, Lake County, Cook County, Kane County, DuPage County, the Rockford Metro, Aurora, Oak Park/River Forest area, Kenosha and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.)

Each area has its own artistic director, and each county has a production coordinator and a class coordinator (although these jobs are sometimes combined). For example, the entire Chicago area has a single artistic director, while each county has one area coordinator (combined class/production).

[edit] Locations

Christian Youth Theater can currently be found in the following cities:

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Further reading

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