‘How to Train Your Dragon The Musical Jr.’ opens in September at Mesa Arts Center

East Valley Children’s Theatre will launch its 30th anniversary season this September with an opening production filled with Vikings, dragons and young performers ready to take flight.

EVCT’s young cast will bring the world of Hiccup and Toothless to life through imaginative dragon designs, high-energy music and movement, and a custom-built Toothless puppet in the first production of the anniversary season, “How to Train Your Dragon The Musical Jr.”

It runs Sept. 18–27 at Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St. in Mesa. An ASL-interpreted performance will be presented at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20.

Tickets, performance times and additional information are available at evct.org/dragon-2026.

Based on the DreamWorks Animation motion picture and presented in association with Universal Theatrical Group, the musical follows Hiccup, a young Viking who challenges his community’s traditions by befriending a dragon named Toothless. Their unlikely friendship sends Vikings and dragons alike on an adventure that asks them to reconsider what they believe about one another.

Filled with humor, heart and high-flying theatrical adventure, the production reflects qualities central to EVCT’s work: courage, creativity, collaboration, belonging and the confidence to find your own path.

East Valley Children’s Theatre is a nonprofit children’s theater serving young people and families throughout the East Valley. EVCT offers mainstage productions, classes, camps, performance troupes, technical theatre education and adaptive theatre programming. Productions are presented at Mesa Arts Center, with classes and rehearsals held at the EVCT Studio in Mesa.

For information, visit evct.org.