Board member Heidi Bliss of Mountain View will receive much deserved recognition as PYT’s outstanding volunteer at the 12th Annual Celebration of Leaders, to be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 30 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

Heidi joined the board in 1997, serving as president from 2003-05. She remains on the executive committee as immediate past president. In addition, Heidi has been a tireless volunteer, producing CenterStage musicals as well as PYT's Stories on Stage series.

The Celebration of Leaders, organized by the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, honors exceptional contributions and service to the Mountain View community. Past PYT recipients include Elaine Spence, Mike and Judy Meyer, and Lyn Healy.

Tickets for the dinner are $100 per person. To order a ticket and join us in this celebration, please email ksimpson@pytnet.org.

I wanna be a producer
With a hit show on Broadway.
I wanna be a producer
Lunch at Sardi's every day.
-- ‘I Wanna Be a Producer,’ The Producers

Even if MVCPA isn’t Broadway -- and Amici’s isn’t Sardi’s -- you can be a producer of a hit show. Nanci Hull and Kristin Venuti can attest to that. They are co-producing the internationally beloved musical Fiddler on the Roof for PYT, along with mentor producer and board member Brian Burns and production manager Joan Adelman.

Both Nanci and Kristin not only are first-time producers, but they also are relative newcomers to PYT. The Hulls – Nanci, husband Carl, and daughters Audriana and Valerie -- became acquainted with PYT through a friend’s participation in Theatre in the Park in 2003. They were so impressed with what the children had accomplished in the two-week drama camp that Audriana signed up for a session the next summer. The show that introduced PYT to the Venuti family – Kristin, husband Steve, and children Johnathon, Max and Chelsea -- was Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida in 2005. Seeing it prompted the two younger children to audition for the very next CenterStage production, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

As their children got more involved in PYT, Nanci volunteered for the props committee, while Kristin focused on props and, especially, set painting. But the love of theater that they bring to their new role as producers started in their youth. Nanci was involved in theater at her high school in Michigan, and Kristin grew up enmeshed in all aspects of a children’s theater in Las Vegas similar to PYT.

At PYT, producers serve as liaisons between the cast members, parent volunteers, production manager and the rest of the artistic staff. They process paperwork and payments. They also oversee the committees, ensuring that the volunteers know what to do and get it done.

“Most of the committee chairs and parent volunteers are so seasoned that this isn't nearly as daunting as it sounds,” Kristin said. “It's important to note that you don't need a theater background to produce -- just a willingness to work hard and to learn.”

Nanci agreed, adding that she draws on her professional background in master scheduling and production planning. “It taught me to keep track of details, anticipate road blocks and plan paths around them in order to accomplish my work -- not unlike shepherding a production onto the stage,’’ she said.

When the Princess Lenore is "ill of a surfeit of raspberry tarts" and insists that the only thing that will make her well is if she has the moon, the King puts all his advisors on the case. Only the Fool knows the way to give the little girl her heart's desire in this charming stage adaptation of James Thurber's beloved children's story.

Many Moons was adapted by Charlotte B. Chorpenning, and is directed by PYT artistic director Dexter Fidler. It plays Nov. 17-18 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. Show times are 9:30 and 11 a.m. Friday, and 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost $5 to $7

To order, call the MVCPA box office at (650) 903- 6000 or visit www.pytnet.org .

The Dickens Carolers merrily ring in the holiday season throughout the Bay Area. These PYT kids don their Victorian costumes and sing a variety of old and new holiday songs. If the spirit moves you, join them at one of their upcoming performances:

• 7 p.m. Nov. 28, Filoli Estate, Woodside (ticket required).
• 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 14, San Jose Ballet Nutcracker Black Tie Reception at the San Jose Museum of Art (ticket required).
• 2 p.m. Dec. 16, Children's Discovery Museum, San Jose (museum admission required).
• Dec. 23, Disneyland at Carnation Plaza on Main Street (ticket required).
• Christmas in the Park in San Jose, free (date to be announced).

Did you know that your old, outgrown costumes from past shows could star in future productions around the Bay Area, while benefiting PYT, schools and other organizations?

For several years, PYT has stored costumes at TheatreWorks in Menlo Park. As our storage space has increased, so too has the number of costumes we rent for our own shows, as well as for productions by other theater companies and schools. We recently have rented costumes to schools staging The Sound of Music, Seussical, Oliver!, Les Miserables, Annie, The Velveteen Rabbit and A Little Princess.

A small group of volunteers goes to TheatreWorks weekly to process donations, pull costumes for the current show, and clean and repair returned costumes. If you are interested in learning more about or helping with this process, please contact PYT production committee member Alette Mahler at (650) 941-9225 or alette1955@yahoo.com.

We would love to expand our stock with costumes from such previous productions as Once Upon a Mattress, A Little Princess and Seussical. If your children can part with these treasures, please label them as donations and leave them in the costume shop at PYT.

PYT’s board of directors re-elected its entire slate of officers for the 2006-07 season. Cathy Ringstaff will continue as president, Linda Thompson as vice president, Isabel Schreier as treasurer and Carol Doup Muller as secretary.

The board accepts applications for membership on a continuous basis, but votes on them only twice a year, in March and September. A prerequisite for board membership is six months of service on a PYT committee (production, development, finance, education or marketing), though the prerequisite can be waived by board vote if a candidate has made a significant contribution to PYT in some other manner.

Anyone interested in applying for committee or board membership should contact Karen Simpson at (650) 988-8798, ext. 303, for more information.

PYT’s youth advisory board also held elections for the new season. Succeeding Katherine Goldman as president is Amy Thompson. The other officers are Annie Dow, vice president; Alison Koch, secretary; Zach Garcia, treasurer; Molly Murphy, social events planner; and Conner Smith, communications officer.

YAB usually meets at 5 p.m. the first Friday of every month at PYT. Any PYT participant age 12 and up is welcome to join. Every member is encouraged to give feedback and opinions, and also helps in the planning, organization, and execution of events and activities.

PYT's alumni association announces auditions for the second annual alumni cabaret - Steppin' Up Movin' Out. The cabaret will take place on June 30, 2007.

Auditions are Dec. 20 and 26, with callbacks the same evenings as auditions. To audition you must be 18 years of age by June 30, 2007 or have graduated high school as of the end of summer 2007, and you must have previously performed with PYT. Not sure of your summer plans? No problem -- no commitment necessary until April 15, 2007.
To set up an audition appointment, call (650) 743-2154,or e-mail pyt_alumni@yahoo.com.