Starlight Theatre Company
Formerly known as SingOut Musical Theatre
Our History
It all started when…
We have a long, complicated and wonderful history. Once upon a time we were called Youth Theatre Company and we were a part of the City of Walnut Creek’s Arts and Rec program over twenty years ago, in 2000. We started as a theatre program for middle schoolers and quickly expanded into so much more. Adding Kids, Minis and Teen programs and starting to travel to competitions.
We found something truly special in performing and competing with so many different ages. Our youngest students had role models and leaders to look up to and aspire to emulate and our older students took on leadership roles and new levels of responsibility, teaching the younger students, helping with their shows, leading their games and setting positive examples. Our stepping stone program began. We creating leadership and internship programs, allowing our students to step up and be something more. Our motto became Play to Learn, Learn to Grow, Grow to Lead
We eventually outgrew our first home and ventured out on our own, forming SingOut Musical Theatre for Children and Young Adults and partnering with the Diablo Theatre Company (Formerly Diablo Light Opera Company), an amazing adult theatre company with its own rich history dating back to its founding in 1959! Together we were unstoppable and we expanded in every way. Our student body grew, we added a Jr Competition Team and a Teen Competition Team and our stepping stone program as you see it today was complete.
Finding a permanent home was its own journey. For a few years we called the DLOC Firehouse our home but eventually we sold the building and started looking elsewhere for a permanent home. It took us a few years and a few temporary locations along the way, but all the while our families stayed with us! We have kids who started with us at the age of four and stayed all the way until leaving for college!
In 2019, we found our permanent home in Starlight. A dance studio and theater space built by one of our instructors with the specific intent of creating a forever home for our community (and the massive collection of trophies we had accumulated!).
COVID hit us hard and we moved online for awhile before returning slowly and cautiously to a masked, safe environment. In 2022 Diablo Theatre Company decide to shift its focus to finding new ways to serve our community through creating scholarship programs. We wish them so much success in this endeavor and we are deeply grateful for their years of support!
At this point, we decided it was the perfect time to merge our two companies, SingOut Theatre and Starlight Dance, into one: Starlight Theatre Company with the goal of continuing all the years of fantastic programs, traditions and leadership within SingOut, but also of rising to a new level. In the coming years we are working to grow our staff, create a more diverse program, and establish a regional adult theatre program as well. Whether you are joining us for the first time today or you have grown up with us, thank you for being a part of our journey!
