Did You Know? All About The Academy Theatre

Written by MaryAnn Lyons

Whether you have been a supporter for 15 years or have just recently joined The Academy Theatre family, there’s always something fun to learn about our organization!

1. The Academy Theatre (TAT) was founded in 2007 initially for young men.
2. Angel Arredondo is the Founder and Executive Director of TAT.
3. His wife, Karen Todd, occasionally acts in plays at TAT. You may also see her running the box office at some events or attending as a supporter.
4. Our original name was Junior Drama Club Academy (JDCA). Meetings took place under a tent in Angel and Karen’s backyard.
5. We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
6. Our programs are run by a 100% volunteer staff.
7. After initially offering only the Junior Drama Club Academy, we expanded our reach and opened the Girls Drama Club Academy (GDCA) in 2012.
8. Both the JDCA and GDCA have their own peer-elected Board of Officers and Club Slogan. Only members may know the slogan.
9. Our first permanent location was inside a former liquor store near 7th Ave. and Camelback in Phoenix.
10. We moved from that site into our current location near 15th Ave. and Van Buren in 2015.
11. 2015 also saw the introduction of the Summer Drama Program. This program runs for 8 weeks and is entirely performance-driven.
12. As of June 2026, there are 16 Magna Alumni. These are students who have completed at least 4 years of the program.
    • The first Magna alumnus graduated in 2011.
    • The most recent Magna alumnus graduated in 2025.
    • Our largest class saw 4 members graduate in 2012.
13. Our alumni have gone on to careers in, among other fields:
    • teaching
    • comic books
    • film production
    • modeling
    • interior design
    • the military
14. Our parlor seats a piano that was donated to us many years ago. Only dead composers are allowed to play it. If you see Mozart’s ghost, let him know we have a spot for him to play.
15. Expanding our programming beyond the youth academies, we also offer:
    • adult Stand-Up Comedy classes
    • family Bingo Nights
    • Movie Madness weekends
    • Saturday Night Jamz for local musicians
    • the Haunted Pirate Ship every October
16. Angel Arredondo occasionally writes plays that our students perform.
    • Two plays, In Another World and Vagabundos, are part of a series that have been performed by the JDCA.
    • He has also written Sketch, Song & Monologue for the GDCA.
    • In previous years when we held First Friday events, Angel wrote short plays for those events that were performed by the JDCA.

How many of these fun facts did you know? Any other interesting facts about TAT that you think others should know about? Let us know in the comments!