When Ed MacKenzie came to Mesquite, he quickly became involved with the Arts Community and joined the Mesquite Arts Council Board in 1999. One of the first things he asked was if there was a community theatre group. When he heard there wasn’t, he took that as a challenge.

He managed to gather eight other people willing to be on the new Board. They created by-laws, a group charter, and submitted the paperwork to become a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

On April 1, 2002, the Virgin Valley Theatre Group was born. The early days were challenging — everything was prepared in Ed’s garage. Sets were built by the cast and his family, loaded onto a truck, and moved to the high school auditorium where the plays were performed.

Eventually, we moved to our current venue, the old school - The Jimmy Hughes Campus. At that time, the theatre was all white with tiny seats meant for grade school children. Thanks to a major renovation, those small seats were replaced with the ones you enjoy today.