Christian Youth Theater Portland
Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus, 13405 SW Hall Blvd, Tigard, OR 97223
About
Christian Youth Theater Portland offers after-school theater arts training that includes classes in drama, music, dance, and technical theater, along with camps, workshops, and performance opportunities. The program produces full-scale, Broadway-style musical productions and offers school day shows for students to attend.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
• Schedule: Each yearly calendar is made up of three ten-week sessions in Fall, Winter, and Spring, with additional Summer camps, workshops, and performance opportunities.
Christian Youth Theater was founded in 1980 and has grown to include branches in 17 states, training more than 20,000 young people annually as of March 2018. Each local program offers camps and classes for ages 4–18 and full-scale productions for ages 8–18, and CYT Portland offers school field trips with school day shows for students to attend. Christian Youth Theater’s mission statement is that it develops character and creativity through quality theater arts training that brings families and communities together while reflecting Jesus.
Christian Youth Theater is described as the largest after-school theater arts training program in the nation, with classes held in Fall, Winter, and Spring, camps held every summer, and shows produced in Fall, Winter, and Spring. CYT offers New Here, Start Here video tutorials to help families get started and lists current shows such as Mary Poppins, Frozen Kids, and The Little Mermaid with specified performance dates and locations.
The organization states that it stands in the forefront in its commitment to the highest ethical, moral, technical, and artistic standards of excellence. It also states a commitment to putting safety first at all times through the Safety Scene program, a CYT National initiative that goes beyond background checks to prevent, detect, and respond to physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse in CYT programming. CYT states that any act of abuse is unacceptable and counter to its beliefs and that it is committed to maintaining a community where participants can work and learn together free of harassment, misconduct, or abuse of any kind, including verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual.
CYT Portland’s leadership team includes Theresa VanWetten as Artistic Director, Jeff Lippert as Managing Director, Alison Geist as CYT Portland Accountant, and Jen Straite as CYT Portland Class Coordinator. Theresa VanWetten received a BA in Public Relations from the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon with a dance emphasis, spent 20 years as a certified fitness/dance instructor for Nautilus Plus of Oregon and Gold’s Gym, has been on, coached, and choreographed for professional dance teams including The Portland Trail Blazers and The Portland Forest Dragons, and has taught at June Taylor’s School of Dance, Thunderbird High School Dance camp, and coached and choreographed for several high school dance teams in Oregon. Jeff Lippert received his BS from Willamette University. Alison Geist has spent 23 years working in tax and accounting. Jen Straite is a former high school teacher.
A student testimonial from Nina Noelle Russell states, “Every time I step out onto that stage, I have the opportunity to use my God given talents and passion to portray a soul, a portion of another’s story.”
Last updated July 4, 2026.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
• Schedule: Each yearly calendar is made up of three ten-week sessions in Fall, Winter, and Spring, with additional Summer camps, workshops, and performance opportunities.
Christian Youth Theater was founded in 1980 and has grown to include branches in 17 states, training more than 20,000 young people annually as of March 2018. Each local program offers camps and classes for ages 4–18 and full-scale productions for ages 8–18, and CYT Portland offers school field trips with school day shows for students to attend. Christian Youth Theater’s mission statement is that it develops character and creativity through quality theater arts training that brings families and communities together while reflecting Jesus.
Christian Youth Theater is described as the largest after-school theater arts training program in the nation, with classes held in Fall, Winter, and Spring, camps held every summer, and shows produced in Fall, Winter, and Spring. CYT offers New Here, Start Here video tutorials to help families get started and lists current shows such as Mary Poppins, Frozen Kids, and The Little Mermaid with specified performance dates and locations.
The organization states that it stands in the forefront in its commitment to the highest ethical, moral, technical, and artistic standards of excellence. It also states a commitment to putting safety first at all times through the Safety Scene program, a CYT National initiative that goes beyond background checks to prevent, detect, and respond to physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse in CYT programming. CYT states that any act of abuse is unacceptable and counter to its beliefs and that it is committed to maintaining a community where participants can work and learn together free of harassment, misconduct, or abuse of any kind, including verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual.
CYT Portland’s leadership team includes Theresa VanWetten as Artistic Director, Jeff Lippert as Managing Director, Alison Geist as CYT Portland Accountant, and Jen Straite as CYT Portland Class Coordinator. Theresa VanWetten received a BA in Public Relations from the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon with a dance emphasis, spent 20 years as a certified fitness/dance instructor for Nautilus Plus of Oregon and Gold’s Gym, has been on, coached, and choreographed for professional dance teams including The Portland Trail Blazers and The Portland Forest Dragons, and has taught at June Taylor’s School of Dance, Thunderbird High School Dance camp, and coached and choreographed for several high school dance teams in Oregon. Jeff Lippert received his BS from Willamette University. Alison Geist has spent 23 years working in tax and accounting. Jen Straite is a former high school teacher.
A student testimonial from Nina Noelle Russell states, “Every time I step out onto that stage, I have the opportunity to use my God given talents and passion to portray a soul, a portion of another’s story.”
Last updated July 4, 2026.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.