Originally founded as Roanoke Children’s Theatre (RCT) by Pat Wilhelms in 2008, Virginia Children’s Theatre (VCT) has been a vital part of the performing arts scene in the Roanoke Valley (and beyond) for more than 15 years. From its inception and under Wilhelms’ leadership, Virginia Children’s Theatre has always been dedicated to providing high-quality theatre education and entertainment to families, schools and children with year-round programming; crafting new and exciting partnerships and programs that engage our youth in a world of communication, imagination, creativity, empowerment and learning. Under Wilhelms’ tenure, RCT’s productions, tours, educational outreach programming and theatre education classes served more than 396,000 people. Under her leadership, over 7,000 school aged children attended student matinees annually and over 9,000 were served by touring throughout the summer to libraries, community centers and schools in  areas that do not have a professional theatre.

Creating community among other organizations was a top priority while Wilhelms was the Artistic Director of RCT. Her mission to produce plays with a literary focus allowed a partnership with Star City Reads to encourage grade-level reading in all children. She was instrumental in creating SOL-compliant in-school residencies for many schools and grades in our community; theatre skills are life skills. Through her creation of the RCT4TEENS program, tough teen social issues such as social media addiction and teen pregnancy have been given a spotlight and students have been connected with agency health professionals. Wilhelms also helped RCT provide access to live theatre and theatre education for kids of all backgrounds and abilities. The access to theatre and arts education occurred through RCT’s in-school residencies, a partnership with Smith Mountain Lake Good Neighbors and the creation of Kaleidoscope Camp - a camp specifically designed with special needs in mind – for children with autism, learning disabilities, hearing impairments and physical disabilities.

In 2017, Brett J. Roden joined RCT as Director of Education and later took over leadership of the Company, becoming the Producing Artistic Director in 2019. The planned transition allowed RCT to continue to maintain its core values and high-quality production elements and paved the way for the rebranding to Virginia Children’s Theatre. Under Roden’s tenure, the theatre’s partnerships expanded: adding classes and outreach programming with the Boys & Girls Club of SWVA and Charity League of Martinsville and Henry County. When the COVID pandemic hit, VCT did not stop programming. Instead the staff created classes that could be held online  and offered full day summer camps outside in a safe and healthy environment. Productions were even adapted for outside venues, launching an annual outdoor VCT concert. 
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In early 2023, VCT faced one of its most significant challenges to date, prompting an emergency fundraising campaign. The goal of this campaign was to raise funds to eliminate the debt that had accumulated due to inflation, rising costs associated with mainstage productions and higher rental facilities. This financial strain was exacerbated by the critical challenges that theaters across the country, including VCT, experienced in the post-pandemic era.