Caryl Crane Youth Theater has been a prominent hub for the youth drama community of Erie County for more than 30 years. CCYT was founded in 1985 and moved to its home at BGSU Firelands in 1986. The group moved in a new direction when it parted ways with BG Firelands in 2022.
Students from various local school districts take their talents to perform for the organization. Since its break from BGSU Firelands in June, though, CCYT and its competition team, Spotlight Society, has been bouncing around without a permanent residence. That will all change when the Sandusky State Theatre reopens its doors.
“Currently, CCYT is bouncing around to different venues until the theater opens,” says Sandusky State Theatre Executive Director Chris Parthemore
. “They’ve already performed at
HALO Live, the
Sandusky Elks Lodge,
Mylander Pavilion and
Mesenburg’s in Huron. We will continue to explore venues, but once the theater opens, that will be their home.”
Spotlight Society attends three to four national musical theater competitions each year around the country, according to Spotlight Society and CCYT Creative Director Brian Marshall. The students have been ranked in the top percentile for the past 4 years and are the reigning champions in individual talent (
Musical Theater Competitions of America), duet competition (
National Performing Arts Festival) and group ensemble song, and musical revue (MTCA). In January, CCYT won outstanding production at the
Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta. Caylin McCormick, who is featured in
this week's Helm, won outstanding performance by an individual.
Additionally, the group just returned from the
National Youth Theater Experience where it won best staging, best acting, best supporting actress, third place best high school solo, honorable mention high school solo and Performance All Stars.
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The interior of the Sandusky State Theatre prior to the June 2020 storm. (Photo Courtesy of Joey Cassel)Consistently changing venues is a challenge for inexperienced actors to adjust to, but Marshall says the youth performers seem to love it.
“We are enjoying taking our shows ‘on the road’ and exploring different venues around Erie County,” Marshall says. “It was a new and fun challenge for us.”
The group won't have to take its shows on the road for much longer with its upcoming move to the State Theatre. Although the move will be a new step, it’s also a walk into the past. The original Caryl Crane clothing store resided close to the theater on the 200 block of Columbus Avenue in 1946 until the late 1970s.
Both Marshall and Parthemore look forward to the State Theatre’s partnership with CCYT for years to come.
“We’re really excited about having the youth theater downtown,” Parthemore says. “It provides an opportunity to area children that might not have been able to travel out of town to be a part of the group. Arts education is so important to the overall development of children and anytime we provide more opportunities, the whole community wins.”
Christian Smith is a youth writer studying at Sandusky High School. As an invested scholar athlete, he is involved in 20+ programs, organizations and committees around his school. He intends to study film acting and production in university.