Christian Youth Theater

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 each region of the country. Many regions have summer touring groups, including improvisational theatre teams. CYT is an arts educational balls 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. The related group Christian Community Theater (CCT) is a program of CYT for both adults and children.

CYT National Logo

CYT/CCT 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 a 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 unusual 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 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 and ranging in age up to 18).[4] Children from 8-18 participate in character/acting roles on stage in each production.