Based in Issaquah, WA, with operations in Everett, Village Theatre is a leading producer of musical theatre in the Pacific Northwest. Producing entertaining, quality productions since 1979, Village Theatre has grown into one of the region’s best-attended professional theatres.
Through its Village Originals program, Village Theatre is nationally recognized for its contribution to the development of new musicals, having launched over 160 new works to date. Village Theatre also takes pride in nurturing tomorrow’s audiences through its youth education programs, serving young people, families, and schools.
Our Mission
To be a regionally recognized and nationally influential center of excellence in family theatre:
To promote a season of top quality productions
To commission and produce new musicals that achieve national exposure
To train young people in theatre skills for career opportunities and enriched lives
To develop a broad-based appreciation for live theatre
To promote positive values through art
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism
We are accountable to our complete community. We recognize that there are populations we have served well, have historically underserved, and have yet to serve. We aim to foster an environment where people of every race, ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, income, ability, and nationality, both internal and external to our organization, are welcome and empowered.
The pervasive nature of racism reveals itself in myriad ways and throughout most established systems in the United States, and the theatre industry is not immune. Village Theatre is starting an intentional journey from behaving as a non-racist organization—one that believes in equality and views itself as open-minded and non-discriminatory—to an anti-racist organization—one that takes action against inequity and to dismantle structural and institutional racism.
Our Programs
Leadership
Robb Hunt
Executive Producer
Robb Hunt helped found Village Theatre in 1979 and has been involved as producer for the theatre ever since. Robb was an avid performer for many years with experience as a principal actor and dancer in several Puget Sound theatre companies. With a background in business, Robb was a strong hand as a consultant in the field of Arts Management; several of his clients included The 5th Avenue, the Metropolitan Museum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Symphony, The Museum of Flight, The Carnegie, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Robb is dedicated to commissioning and developing musicals and has been the driving force in the inclusion of new musicals in Village Theatre programming. He has collaborated on the creation of productions such as Eleanor, Next to Normal, The Ark, and Making Tracks. Village Theatre has become an active member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and Robb has served on its New Works committee and on the Board of Directors. He has also served as a peer panelist and evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Jerry Dixon
Artistic Director
Jerry Dixon, Artistic Director for Village Theatre, has directed The Full Monty, Show Boat, The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and premieres, or developments, of Take Me America, Great Wall, A Proper Place, and Hart Island. Dixon has developed, and directed world premiere productions of Ferguson, Barnstormer, and Funked Up Fairy Tales. He has been a directing participant in the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, Playwrights Horizons, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Festival, and the National Alliance of Musical Theatre (NAMT). Writing credits include original songs for Laugh Whore (Broadway & Showtime), USO, CBS, VH1, Comedy Central, “The View,” and the original musical Guess Who’s Coming for Chitlins?. Dixon’s guest soloist concert work includes: Belgian, Taiwan, Finland National, and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestras. He directed Lincoln Center’s American Songbook for Tony-winner LaChanze, and Tony & Pulitzer Prize winners Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey. As an actor, Dixon starred on Broadway in original casts of Once On This Island, Five Guys Named Moe, If/Then, and Off- Broadway in Steve, Bright Lights Big City, and tick, tick… Boom!. Television and film credits include: “Vineyards”, “He’s With Me”, “Gotham”, “Everwood”, and “Peacemaker.”
Board of Directors
Officers
- Jill Klinge
President - Bruce Wanta
Vice President - J. Patrick Ostrander
Treasurer - Julie Bailey
Secretary - Beth Meidinger
Past President; Vice President, Board Development - Lissa Griffith
Vice President Board Operations - Twyla Lucas
Vice President, Strategic Fundraising - John Seethoff
Vice President, Capital Initiatives
Board Members
- Dan Anderson
- Aaron Coe
- Eric Emans
- Amy Gibart
- Carrie R. Holmes
- Lynn Juniel
- Gwendolyn King
- Lisa McQueen
- William McSherry
- Leslie Peng
- Matt Poischbeg
- William Rall
- Lydia Rapidah
- Joshua Rodriguez
- Trina Schurman
- Todd Thull
- Don Weston
- Judy Yu
Our History
1979-1985 THE EARLY YEARS
- April 20, 1979: Village Theatre debuts its Mainstage season with How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, directed by Founding Artistic Director Carl Darchuk
- 1980: Robb Hunt named Producing Director
- 1980: Production of Carl Darchuk and David Maddux’s musical, Beanstalk. This represents the theatre’s first foray into new musicals
- 1981: Purchase of the historic 1914 Theatre at 120 Front Street North
- 1982: Creation of the first version of KIDSTAGE with a Student Summer Stock program at Issaquah High School
- 1985: Carl Darchuk departs and Robb Hunt named Executive Producer
- 1985: Official creation of KIDSTAGE, and first summer production: Bye Bye Birdie, created entirely by youths under 21
Our History
1986-1993 GROWING AT FIRST STAGE
- 1987: Commission and production of Eleanor, with New York writers Tom Tierney, Jonathan Bolt, and John Foster and leading lady Bijou Clinger, a New York actress
- 1987: Steve Tomkins’ Village Theatre debut as choreographer of West Side Story
- 1989: A production of Heidi features future Hollywood star Anna Faris in the title role
- 1990: Book of James, a new musical developed by Village Theatre, taken to the NAMT Festival in New York, along with the original cast
- 1990: After-school KIDSTAGE classes held for the first time
- 1993: Jesus Christ Superstar becomes first Village Theatre show to use wireless body microphones
- 1993: Steve Tomkins named Village Theatre’s Artistic Director
Our History
1994-1997 A NEW THEATRE FOR A NEW TIME
- 1994: New Francis J. Gaudette Theatre in Issaquah opens with a production of Babes in Toyland
- 1995: First Stage New Musical series debuts at First Stage Theatre
- 1996: Technical Theatre Production and Performance (TTP) program begins Technical Theatre classes at the First Stage Theatre
- 1997: KIDSTAGE Company is formed to give young performers advanced training in Theatre Arts
- 1997: Village Theatre ratifies formal agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
Our History
1998-2006 A BEGINNING IN EVERETT, AND MORE
- 1998: Contract formed with the City of Everett to be the Resident Performing and Management Company at the Everett Performing Arts Center, bringing Youth Education Programs and Mainstage productions to Everett.
- 2000: Pied Piper is added to Village Theatre’s Youth Education Program through a non-profit merger
- 2000: Brian Yorkey is hired as Associate Artistic Director, focusing on new musical development where he continued on a part time basis until 2007
- 2004: The KIDSTAGE Teen Apprentice Program (TAP) is formed, putting students alongside theatre professionals for training and mentorship
- 2005: The Theatre is awarded the Eastside Destination Award by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, attesting to the theatre’s vibrancy, artistic excellence, service to the community, and economic impact to East King County
Our History
2007-2010 REACHING NEW HEIGHTS
- 2007: The Craig and Joan Watjen Technical Studios opens, with The King and I as the first production built in the new facility
- 2007: Mainstage production of Million Dollar Quartet. The show was remounted with three of Village’s Quartet members in Chicago and on Broadway, and won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Village Theatre performer Levi Kreis as Jerry Lee Lewis
- 2009: Whidbey Island Children’s Theatre produces Last Exit. This marks the first time a KIDSTAGE Company Original production is licensed for production elsewhere
- 2009: New musical Next to Normal, which was supported and developed through Village Originals and Village Theatre’s own Brian Yorkey, opens on Broadway to rave reviews. It was later awarded the prestigious 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tony Awards
- 2010: Seattle Magazine names Executive Producer Robb Hunt and Artistic Director Steve Tomkins “Most Influential People in 2010,” noting that they have turned Village Theatre into “a nationally-renowned incubator of powerhouse productions”
Our History
2011-2017 A TIME OF PROSPERITY
- 2011: Reconstruction of the beloved 1914 First Stage Theatre in Issaquah is completed, creating a new home for KIDSTAGE and Village Originals programs
- 2011: Village Theatre KIDSTAGE creates Institute, an intensive school-year program open by audition for students in grades 6-12 who are ready to study, train, and perform at an advanced level
- 2011: Village Theatre leases a City of Everett building and renovates the facility into what is now known as the Cope Gillette Theatre, housing the KIDSTAGE program in Everett
- 2014: Xanadu marks the Theatre’s first co-production, in collaboration with Arizona Theatre Company. After the show’s run in Issaquah and Everett, it traveled to Arizona and ran in both Tucson and Phoenix.
- 2015: It Shoulda Been You, another Village Theatre original production (2012), opens on Broadway.
- 2016: Brandon Ivie (a former KIDSTAGE student) hired as Village Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director to lead the Village Originals program
- 2016: Village Theatre creates Beta Series, a program providing new musicals an opportunity for off-book, fully-staged performances, with audience feedback
- 2017: Mainstage subscriber base grows to over 20,000 season subscribers
Our History
2018-PRESENT A NEW ERA
- 2018: Steve Tomkins retires after 25 years as Artistic Director
- 2018: Jerry Dixon becomes Village Theatre’s Second Artistic Director
- 2018: Opening of The Anderson Family Artist Housing (aka The Anderson House), to provide lodging for visiting directors, writers, and actors
- 2019: The Theatre celebrates it’s 40th Anniversary with a season of all-musicals, including the return of Million Dollar Quartet
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