The Southwest’s Premiere New Works Festival: Announcing the 28th Annual Richard P. Stahl Festival of New American Theatre

  By Shelina Elyse The Phoenix Theatre Company is thrilled to announce Richard P. Stahl Festival of New American Theatre 2026 tickets are now on sale!   Past season hits like The Roads to Loch Lomond, Let the Good Times Roll, and We Ain’t Ever Gonna Break Up: The Hymon & Parfunkel Musical got their start here. Through the Festival, our community helped nurture these stories, shaping them into the productions audiences celebrate…

A Legacy Reawakened: A Q&A With Craig Bohmler

By Jen Barraza As A Christmas Carol returns to the stage with a beautifully reconstructed score using a live orchestra for the first time, this production becomes more than a performance. It is a tribute to legacy, love, and the artists who came before. When it was discovered that composer Alan Ruch’s orchestrations existed only in his…

‘Treat Your Creativity Like Your Breath’ Calvin Worthen Speaks About His Multifaceted Career

By Shelina Elyse Much like the president has their vice president, an actor has a castmate they can count on to take their place at a moment’s notice. The role of understudy is not for the faint of heart. Understudies memorize and rehearse as diligently as leads to ensure their performance, if ever they must take…

The Unsinkable Musical Power of Christmas Carol

The Unsinkable Power of Christmas Carol A message from Michael Grady   By the time Matthew Wiener asked me to co-author this adaptation of A Christmas Carol, I was already a grizzled Carol veteran.  I’d played several Freds, 3rd and 4th Londoner, and the most disturbing Fezziwig dancer you’ll ever see. In all that time,…

Applause Gala Grand Opening: A celebration of legacy and new beginnings

Applause! Gala Grand Opening: A celebration of legacy and new beginnings  By The Phoenix Theatre Company Supporters, artists, and friends gathered for The Phoenix Theatre Company’s Applause! Gala: Grand Opening, marking the historic debut of the Dr. Stacie J. & Richard J Stephenson Theatre. The evening was a tribute to our past, a celebration of…

Humanity, History, and Finding Pride in Every Path: A Conversation with Director Chanel Bragg

  By Elizabeth Montgomery Some stories remind us that purpose doesn’t always look the way we imagined.  In Looking Over the President’s Shoulder, director Chanel Bragg guides us through the life of Alonzo Fields, a man who set aside his dream of becoming an opera singer to serve four U.S. presidents, and in doing so,…

Reviving the Hormel: Local Artist and Phoenix Theatre Scenic Charge Brings the Outside In

  By Shelina Elyse With all the buzz around the new Dr. Stacie J. and Richard J Stephenson Theatre, The Phoenix Theatre Company was inspired to refresh the Hormel Theatre. Last renovated in 1995 when it was known as “The Mainstage”, we looked to connect past to present.   For our Resident Scenic Paint Charge, Rebekah…

The Art of a Survival Job

How Alonzo Fields took a survival job and turned it into a history-making career.   By Theresa Kellar Tonner In the theatre, there is a term that most actors begrudgingly know – survival job. This is the job a performer has that pays the bills between acting contracts. Often, performers will be servers at restaurants,…

Director’s Download: Jeff Whiting on Love, Loyalty, and the Legend of The Roads to Loch Lomond

By Elizabeth Montgomery When Director and Choreographer Jeff Whiting returned to The Phoenix Theatre Company to helm The Roads to Loch Lomond, he was stepping into something rare: a world still being written, refined, and discovered in real time. With the musical currently lighting up our stage, we sat down with Whiting for a Director’s…

Maggie Herskowitz Reflects on Growing up with The Roads to Loch Lomond Ahead of Phoenix Premiere

  By Elizabeth Montgomery The journey of The Roads to Loch Lomond began with two teenagers scribbling notes in rehearsal rooms at the Boston Conservatory of Music.   Sixteen years later, those sketches have grown into a sweeping new musical, one that carries the echoes of history, the weight of love, and the voices of a…