History
Valley Performing Arts was organized in 1976 by a group of dedicated volunteers who were committed to providing quality live theatre productions to the local community. Then as now, our commitment remains the same.
For the first 17 years we performed in the old log Colony Church which had been relocated to the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer. In 1993 we moved into a 2,400 square foot barn-like building that sat on the property and kept the old log church for dressing rooms, lobby, and scene shop.
In 1996 VPA relocated the theatre building to its current location in Wasilla and three years later it was physically joined with the adjacent building allowing for an expanded performance area and additional seating, which brought the capacity up to 150 seats. The physical relocation and on-site modifications were accomplished with the financial commitment from our community. The City of Wasilla provided a generous long-term lease for the property which is located on the Park Strip in downtown Wasilla.
During the summers of 2002 and 2003 the facility was upgraded with a fire suppression and alarm system and many hard working volunteers added to the improvements which included an arctic entry, light and sound booth and additional seating.
The Machetanz Theatre seats over 170 people including special needs accommodations. Over the past ten years we have been able to continuously improve our technical abilities to enhance the experience for our theatre partners both in the Beu Lobby as well as in the theatre itself – these improvements have been made possible by support from those that share our vision of service to the community. We are grateful to the Rasmuson Foundation, BP, The Alaska State Council of the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, Alaska Airlines, Edwin G. Beu Jr. and Dr. Betty J. Boyd-Beu, Fred and Sara Machetanz, The Mat-Su Sertoma Club, JC Electric, Image Audio, and the many other committed individuals, businesses, corporate sponsors and the many volunteers that have continued to support our efforts to improve our facilities over the years.
As we were when we started, all of VPA's actors, musicians, back stage and behind-the-scenes personnel are volunteers. During Season 36, over 700 individuals assisted with the creation of our seven productions and we performed before over 13,000 theatre-goers.
