In January of 2009, NEYT Founder and Artistic Director, Stephen Stearns, took NEYT actor, Allie Bliss, and Costumer, Sylvianne Shurman, with him to the Gifft Hill School on the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands, to produce the musical play, "Princess Willow and the King of Thieves" written by Stephen and his musical theatre collaborator, the composer Peter Amidon.  In the process, the three NEYT'ers helped the Gifft Hill  School understand the rudiments of Youth Theatre and lit the fire within the school to begin its own theatre training program.  Twenty six Gifft Hill students took part, coming from grade six through grade ten.  The residency was two weeks long and after the final two performances of "Princess Willow", the students met with the NEYT staff and Gifft Hill Headmaster, Ben Biddle, and determined to push forward in setting up a theatre club and acting and improvisation classes at the school immediately.  Many of the Gifft Hill School kids who partook of the two week residency have been in constant email and fact book contact with Stephen,  Allie and Sylvianne and all say that they are being sillier with each other than they were in the past and that they love this new way of being.  They said that one of the most important outcomes from doing the play with Stephen, Allie and Sylvianne was that the upper class kids now feel firmly bonded with the sixth, seventh and eighth graders whom, heretofore, they would have avoided.  One upper class girl said, "We now feel like a family and I don't want to ever loose that."  The Gifft Hill School has invited NEYT to return in January of 2010 to do another play with their students and further their youth theatre aspirations.  Stephen says, "Return to St. John?  How could we not?"