Valley Youth Theatre Grabs 21 National Youth Arts Awards

Phoenix, AZ -  Valley Youth Theatre (VYT) won 21 National Youth Arts (NYA) Awards while hosting the Western Regional Ceremony on Sunday, September 7.

The 9^th Annual NYA Awards recognized performers, staff and productions from June 2013 through May 2014. The Western Region included shows from Arizona, Colorado and Texas.

“This year's award winners were selected from nominations by a panel of more than twenty-five judges and reviewers,” said Rob Hopper, executive director of National Youth Arts. “More than 400 productions were considered for the awards, including shows from more than 130 different theatres in more than 60 cities.”

VYT’s Shrek the Musical won 11 awards including Outstanding Production, Lead Actor(s) in a Musical (John Batchan as Donkey, Brad Cashman as Shrek), Lead Actress in a Musical (Lacy Bookspan as Fiona), Actor in a Musical/College Division (Philip Amerine as Lord Farquaad), and Featured Actress in a Musical (Ali Whitwell as Gingy/Sugar Plum Fairy).

Shrek also won for Outstanding Ensemble, Costume Design (Karol Cooper), Lighting Design (Mike Eddy), Choreography (Molly Lajoie), and Direction (Bobb Cooper).

The company’s production of Seussical won 7 NYA awards for Outstanding Actor in a Musical/College Division (Philip Amerine as Cat in the Hat), Supporting Actress(es) in a Musical (Payton Bioletto as Gertrude, Ally Lansdowne as Mayzie), Featured Actor(s) in a Musical (Connor Baker, Ben Massouras, and Mason Reeves as the Wickersham Brothers), and Musical Direction (Mark Fearey).

Sam Primack won Outstanding Lead Actor/Junior Division as Donald Dunce and Rebecca Caswell won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play, both for Princess and the Pea. Sarah Moss won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical for her role as the Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from April 2014.

VYT productions, performers and staff have won a total of 94 NYA Awards since 2006.