Christian Youth Theater

CYT National Logo

Christian Youth Theater (CYT) is an American after-school theater arts education program for children ages 4–18. It offers classes in drama, dance, and singing and performs 3-9 productions a year, in a collection of branches around the country. Many branches have summer touring groups, including improvisational theatre teams. 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 certain behavioral requirements while participating, such as refraining from use of illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products. Branches sometimes provide programming for both adults and children under the name Christian Community Theater (CCT).

CYT groups have performed musicals such as Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Annie, The Music Man, and Les Miserables: School Edition. The group also performs original musicals, some of them musical versions of drama, including musical versions of A Little Princess. The group has also adapted stories such as "Pocahontas," "Alice in Wonderland," and "The Jungle Book" into original musicals.^[1]

Classes are offered each session at each branch, as well as summer camps throughout the summer. Classes are typically 10 weeks long. More specialized topics are often covered such as improvisational theatre, theatrical makeup, set construction, accents and dialects, stunts, special effects and theatre criticism.^[2][3]

In CYT, at least one parent of each cast member is typically expected to serve on a committee. These committees perform tasks such as building sets and props, supervising the backstage crew, and supervising the lights/sound technical team in the booth (which is composed of both adult committee members and non-adults, typically with a minimum age of 10).^[4] Children from 8-18 participate in character/acting roles on stage in each production.

History[]

CCT was founded by Paul and Sheryl Russell and Marjorie Blyth in San Diego, California. CYT was later founded in 1981 as an after-school performing arts program.^[5]

Today, there are over 20 CYT branches across the United States, including: Spokane, WA, Anderson, SC, Denver, CO, Kansas City, MO, Atlanta, GA, Vancouver, WA, Nashville, TN, Fredericksburg, VA, Chicago, IL, Tucson, AZ, Phoenix, AZ, Northern Idaho and New York, NY.^[6] CYT also hopes to start a location in Japan.^[7]

In July 2020, multiple students from the San Diego branch came forward with allegations of sexual abuse by CYT teachers. The students also claimed that they were ignored by the Russell family when they brought the allegations to them in the mid-2000s.^[8][9] The San Diego branch closed for a time, before restarting production less than a year later, with Russell family still in leadership positions.^[10]

Notable alumni[]

• Jason Russell co-founder of Invisible Children, Inc.^[11]
• Michelle Williams, film actress^[12]
• Ryan Hanson, actor, Veronica Mars^[13]
• Ashley Tesoro, Film & TV actress, singer^[14]
• Cami Bradley, singer, America's Got Talent finalist^[15]
• Denyse Tontz, Film & TV actress, singer^[16]
• Melissa Disney, voice actress, As Told By Ginger^[17]
• Joshua Bassett, actor and singer, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series^[18]
• Grace Kinstler, American Idol contestant^[19]
• Charnette Batey, Hamilton cast member^[8]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website