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ABOUT PHOENIX PRODUCTIONS
From modest beginnings in 1988,
Phoenix Productions has grown in size and stature among the community theatres of
New Jersey. In fact, the label “community theatre” fits rather uncomfortably
for that size and stature. While most community theatres operate in church
basements or high school gymnasiums, we have the advantages and disadvantages
of performing in professional theatres on professional stages.
Advantages include higher visibility
which helps us attract both talented performers and sophisticated audiences
with high expectations. Those high expectations demand that we mount
large-scale highly polished productions. The combination of high production
values, royalties and rents in those professional venues add up to an annual
operating budget of nearly a half-million dollars – many times more than the
typical community theatre.
What
then makes us still a community theatre? Since the beginning, Phoenix has been
and continues to be a volunteer organization. While we pay fees to directors,
musicians and designers, most of the people who build our sets, sew our
costumes and steer the organization work for the joy of bringing theatre to
life. And in accordance with our by-laws, we never pay performers for appearing
in our productions. They too work for the joy, the excitement and the applause.
The center of Phoenix life is the Phoenix
Rehearsal Center, a building where we rehearse, build scenery, sew costumes and
prepare our shows for the main stage next door.
In addition to preparing mainstage productions, the Rehearsal Center
houses Camp Phoenix, our summer day camp for youngsters who love to perform. A
sell-out every summer, Camp Phoenix provides employment to instructors,
experience to interns, and fun-filled instruction to more than 50 youngsters
each year. The Rehearsal Center has also served as a venue for “black-box”
productions, smaller works, sometimes originals, usually experimental, that
profit from the intimate atmosphere of our Studio Theatre.
As proud as we are of
our accomplishments to date, we continue to explore paths to expand our
activities in pursuit of our mission. We yearn to restart our “black box”
initiative and to broaden the Camp Phoenix experience into a robust year-round
educational program. We see value in launching a children’s theatre and a
seniors’ theatre. We see the need to bring shows out into the community to
bring live theatre to those who may not be able to come to a theatre.
Our
vision for the future is of a multi-faceted arts organization working on:
Ø
mainstage productions at the
Count Basie Theatre and the Strand Theater
Ø
smaller works in our own black
box venue
Ø
an outreach program of
traveling shows
Ø
children’s theatre
Ø
senior theatre performing group
and
Ø
a comprehensive musical theatre
educational curriculum.
If our plans seem worthwhile and exciting to you,
please get involved. We welcome your participation!
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