Meet Bobb Cooper, a Phoenix Community Alliance "City-Shaper"

Valley Youth Theatre (VYT) has been an institution since 1998. One person, Bobb Cooper, gave it his all.

In 1996, Bobb Cooper started as the Producing Artistic Director when the theatre was located outside the Downtown Business Core. In less than three years, the theatre moved into the former Gray Madison Ford dealership—an upgrade that brought it even greater acclaim.

Almost three decades later, Downtown Phoenix is unimaginable without Valley Youth Theatre. With dedication and optimism, Cooper built a professional theatre company, inspiring the team to reach their full potential and believe in their own abilities.

Phoenix Community Alliance (PCA) was built on the foundation of industry professionals who all share the same goal: to use their expertise to benefit the Greater Downtown Phoenix community.

PCA: How did you come to work for Valley Youth Theatre (VYT)?

Bobb Cooper: I lived in Los Angeles for 13 years, where I met my wife. We got married in 1989 and had a daughter. We went through the fires, the floods, the riots, and then the earthquake on January 17th, 1994.

My wife had an opportunity to come to Phoenix. She was in the professional beauty industry before we got married, and came out for a 60-day trial period. There was a Trader Joe's [in Phoenix], so she said, “Oh, I can move here.”

I saw a position at Channel 3 for a promotional coordinator. I've written television shows for children, and thought I could meet the right people there. As a temp worker, I was literally responsible for all their promos and those on the WB. Whenever you saw Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight, Oprah Winfrey, Jeopardy, or Wheel of Fortune, I programmed that.

My job was coming to a close, and I took a woman I worked with, Carolyn [McBurney] out for lunch. I said, “Hey, I'd love to work with you writing and producing.” She said, “I’d love to have you, but they won’t pay for that. But, I'm on the board of this children's theatre, and with your background, you would be perfect.”

She introduced me to Hope Ozer, their founding board chair, and asked me to come down for an interview. I came down to the Tower Plaza Mall. As I descended the stairs to the theatre, I was hit by the horrific smell of sewage. I saw the first half of the sequel to Annie called Annie Warbucks.

Afterward, I spoke to Hope, and she was one of the most incredible women I've ever met. She poured her heart and soul out to me about all these wonderful things and had me hook, line, and sinker. After she finished, I took a risk in the interview to say, “What you're saying is incredibly beautiful. Yet, that's not what I saw, but I think I can help you do that." We talked for three hours, and I made an impression on her, as she did on me. I had to go before a panel on the board of directors, and they took a chance on me. I'd run it.

PCA: When VYT eventually relocated to Downtown, what was the draw since the core wasn't proven yet?

Cooper: I started on March 20, 1996, and the budget was barely $100,000 annually, and that was because Circle K gave them $50,000.

I was one of two full-time staff members, and the other was a choreographer. There was a great opportunity, but it needed some love, guidance, and someone to take Hope's vision and help manifest it into magic. From that, it became a phrase that I coined, “The Magic that is Valley Youth Theatre.”

Within the first year, we went from $100,000 to $250,000. Within five years, we had a million-dollar budget. We left Tower Plaza Mall because one of the anchors did not want us there because of parking concerns.

Hope and I visited almost every assembly space in greater Phoenix when we met with Margaret Mullen, who was with the Downtown Phoenix Partnership.

The Downtown Phoenix Partnership was established in 1991 to revitalize the Downtown core through enhanced municipal services. Over time, those services evolved within an operating boundary to include an in-house concierge service (DTPHX Ambassadors), streetscape and landscape (Clean & Green Team). In 2013, an affiliation agreement was signed to bring DPP and PCA, along with Downtown Phoenix Community Development Corporation (CDC), under the new umbrella of Downtown Phoenix, Inc., to collaborate and share resources effectively.

She suggested a couple of spots, including where the theatre is now, which was dilapidated. Hope and I almost got arrested when a police officer stopped by as I was lifting her to see what was inside.

It took us a year to open our first show in August 1999, but there were many problems. The roof was rotted. When we dug an orchestra pit, the floor was eight inches [thick] because it was once a car dealership, and concrete just continued to harden.

Hope and I were the little engines of seeing the vision beyond what was awful, which was part of the VYT mission. Don't sweat the small stuff. You can make anything happen if you put your mind to it.

Jon Kitchell, with Kitchell Construction, was a friend of the theatre and helped us access resources. All the rental equipment was free. We got doors, wood, and concrete for free. In 1998, we did a $750,000 renovation for less than $250,000. A majority of that money was spent on theatre seats, lighting, and sound equipment you couldn't get for free.

We won the DREAMR (Downtown Revitalization Effort Awards of Merit and Recognition) Award [a previous Downtown Phoenix, Inc. effort to recognize Downtown excellence] in 1999, as a program or project that serves as a magnet to attract people to Downtown. The past recipients were [Phoenix] City Hall and the [Arizona] Science Center.

Brian Kearney [of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership] said so much of what VYT is was because of Downtown, and what Downtown is was partly because of VYT.

We grew together as Phoenix grew. It was huge the first time I saw Valley Youth Theatre on the signs as you travel into Downtown.

PCA: What factors do you cite for how VYT rose in stature when you were its artistic director?

Cooper: I'm a relationship builder. When discussing the impact we can have on children if we all work together, I have the power of persuasion. My whole life has been about impacting children's lives to give them something I didn't have as a child. I didn't have the greatest upbringing, but my dad taught me something: “can’t never could do anything” [meaning that if you don’t try, nothing is possible.]

During the renovation, I called everybody and asked for favors. Alltel donated their phone service for a couple of years, and Mars Candy gave us all their candy for free to sell to buy things, like lighting.

When we performed a musical of Titanic, the key was having a ship that could sink. And I knew of this set in Redondo Beach, and I called up the artistic director there and asked about renting it, and he said, “Whoa, perfect timing. We're about to dismantle it and throw it away. If you pay to take it away, you can have it.”

NBC had built a quarter-million-dollar set. It had been on stage for three weeks and then went into storage for two years. It was one of the most gorgeous things we’d seen. When they built it, it took five semi-trucks, three of which were flatbeds because they were too tall to fit in a truck.

He gave me a few days to figure out storage, and finally, on a Thursday, I said, “I can’t find anything we can afford. And I don't want the burden of storing it because we needed to take it months before we actually needed it.”

Then, a few hours later, I got a call from the old Sears Distribution Center on Buckeye. It was a 65,000 sq. ft. place for $100/month. There you go, the universe [at work].

It was incredible. Not only did the ship tilt, but it also had different levels. When you went to the Grand Salon, it was this giant marble staircase with wood-carved walls. There was even the crow's nest on the top where he goes, “Iceberg, right ahead!” I thought we were only getting the set, but we got every prop from the China, to the crystal, and silverware. It was cuckoo.

That was the only show I've ever done where the children came up to me every day and said, “Thank you for this experience.”

It’s a new era for Valley Youth Theatre, in more ways than one. After almost three decades of service, Cooper retired in the spring and is adjusting to a less structured world that comes with not being tethered to the theatre.

Throughout his VYT career, he juggled multiple positions as the de facto administrative, artistic, and production manager, in addition to his regular responsibilities. When he eventually set a retirement date, various positions were created to fill the gaps.

In 2023, Phoenix voters approved the theatre to receive $14 million in funding to find and build a new “place of permanence,” through the General Obligation (GO) Bond election. With assistance from the City of Phoenix's Community and Economic Development department, they are identifying land that can accommodate a 30,000 sq. ft center to include a costume shop, dance rehearsal studio, and more. At their current facility, they outgrew it by the time they moved in.

However, those things will happen outside Cooper’s view, except potentially for his instilled ethos that moves the organization forward. In the meantime, there are playwrights and young thespians to mentor:

“What happened to [prior VYT student] Emily [Emma] Stone does not happen to everybody. All the stars aligned for her. I know it’s hard to get an agent. It’s hard to get into the union. Therefore, I can send emails [to Agents in LA and NYC] saying, ‘If I see a child with a “it factor,” will you open the door [for them]?’ And everybody says, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’”