CYT Blog

Yesterday CYT Lafayette performed Godspell for The Kiwanis Club of Louisiana. In return, The Kiwanis Club wrote a blog about CYT Lafayette, thanking them for their hard work.  It’s re-posted in its entirety, here:

Christian Youth Theatre [Lafayette ] was our “guest speaker” today by performing scenes from Godspell. They were a talented group of young children, and it was a refreshing change of pace. Thanks to everyone at CYT [Lafayette] for all of their behind-the-scenes work putting together this and all of the other shows that they produce. The Kiwanis club recently made a donation to CYT [Lafayette], and they were kind enough to come to today’s meeting and give us a terrific presentation.

This week the Examiner reviewed CYT San Diego’s South County’s Seussical, while The Advertiser reviewed CYT Lafayette’s production, Suessical Jr. BOTH shows got rave reviews! Read the excerpts below.

CYT San Diego’s South County’s Seussical Review:

“Christian Youth Theatre’s (CYT) production of ‘Seussical’ comes very close to perfection. The set is colorful and impressive, the props abundant. The costumes are picture perfect, adorning the huge cast to the smallest detail. The props are abundant and beautiful.

The characters ranging from Cat in the Hat, played by the teenage Patrick Gates with a mischievous sophistication beyond his years, to the comical Gertrude, played by Ivanna Quiceno, the little bird who longed for a longer tail, are wisely cast. Raelene Herrera, playing Mayzie LaBird, the saucy, vain and gorgeous bird who flaunts her big tail and callously leaves her egg, is hilarious. The singing is strong and the live music right on key.

There is absolutely nothing thats stands out for need of improvement in this almost flawless production. Great job by musical director Carolyn Stevenson, costumer Lucy Olson, and set coordinator Ed Garcia….There is not a dull moment in this captivating production directed by Erin Kelly and presented at Mater Dei High School.”

Read the full review, here.

CYT Lafayette’s Suessical Jr. Review:

“There is very little that gives me as much delight as watching the petals of adolescence performing art talent open up to full bloom. Such pleasure occurred last week as I saw Christian Youth Theatre’s Angelle Hall production of Suessical Jr., an adolescent version of the Broadway hit Suessical the Musical.

These colorful characters’ music and acting abilities make up the musical’s antagonistic duel that proved to make Suessical Jr. a delight. The show’s director, Karen Broussard, assisted by choreographer Kallie Broussard, did much to enhance their young charges’ performance to turn the afternoon into a mid-day delight. I was especially charmed by the singing abilities of Miguel Ochoa, Tim Theriot and Cecile Desormeaux, who garnered the show’s Georgies. These youngsters served as the play’s lynchpins, the hub of which became springboards from which the other player’s boing-ed onto the stage.

My congratulations to the Christian Youth Theatre, whose Suessical Jr., is their second production. Based on what I saw, the troupe has a great theatrical future.”

Read the full review, here.

The Seussical Jr. cast at a Chick-Fil-A meet-and-greet.

“All signs point to growth for Christian Youth Theater of Lafayette.”

Ask an abiding citizen in Lafayette, and they would agree. However, last week the media took notice. The quote comes from Lafayette’s local newspaper, The Daily Advertiser. They compared the Seussical Jr. cast of 58 to their fall show Godspell, cast of 25. According to the paper,

“‘We’ve gained experience and have found some leaders,’ said artistic director Karen Broussard. ‘That’s especially important with this group, because we have 15 8- and 9-year-olds….Their attention span is somewhat less, so a lot of the older kids have become leaders and mentors for them. We also have a great group of parents.’

‘We have children who are learning or behavior disordered, whose parents and social workers have been amazed at their progress. And in this production, we have one in a wheelchair who’s one of our jungle citizens. It’s amazing to see the kids who are coming into this.’”

Take a moment to read the complete article.

Last month we posted a blog titled, CYT Lafayette Wins “Baker For The Day” Contest – held at the Great Harvest Bread Company. The store will open for this special event TODAY, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, with 100 percent of the sales going to CYT Lafayette. Read what Great Harvest had to say to The Daily Advertiser a couple days ago:

“‘No one is more excited to see this year’s event than the talented young people and their families who are participating in CYT,’ said Great Harvest owner Michelle MacFadyen. ‘We are pleased to work with a great organization.

‘This event is not only about supporting the causes that are important to our friends and neighbors, but also about allowing our community to participate in making a difference for a greater cause.’”

Read the complete article, here.

CYT Lafayette recently won the “Baker for the Day” contest at Great Harvest Bread Company. Results are shown below.

Gerald Broussard, Board Chair, said, “Thank you for taking the time to go and vote! Get ready to go Bread shopping on Sunday April 18th and all proceeds will go to CYT!”

Oh, the people you’ll meet…

CYT Lafayette was asked by their local Target to participate in their Read Across America Campaign. Target works with the National Education Association in supporting Read Across America- the largest nationwide celebration of children’s reading. The date coincides with Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March 2nd.

“Since our spring show is Seussical Jr., the local Target asked if we could send out the “Cat in the Hat” to read stories to the kids. CYT Lafayette’s very own Victoria Manning showed up at Target in full costume and was able to walk the store inviting kids to come read Dr. Seuss books. We were able to play the sound track to Seussical while Victoria read books to the kids. The store was so thankful that we were able to attend and make the event that much better,” said Gerald Broussard, Board Chair for CYT Lafayette.

Find out more about Read Across America here.

CYT Lafayette is overjoyed with the success of their first show, Godspell.

It ran for one weekend only, November 7-8th, and sold out two of the three shows. Gerald Broussard, Board Chair for CYT Lafayette, said the crowd spoke of nothing but praise,

“We just had the most amazing weekend! Everyone is just speechless. The kids did incredible, and the audience was just mesmerized! Some comments were, ‘I am coming back to every production you do’
and ‘Thank God for CYT!’ Lafayette just got its socks blown off. The cast and crew were so emotional, we started crying after the show all the way through the strike party.”

Definitely check out CYT Lafayette’s FIRST show. This is part 2 of 10, and you can watch the rest here.