Stage Write

It’s fitting that the last main stage play at the current Phoenix Theatre was the Pulitzer-Prize-winning “Sweat”. It was full of gritty dialogue, realistic portrayals of regular life, a diverse cast, and had an ending that left you reeling long after the final bow. The show closed this past weekend but as the Phoenix wraps up its time at the old church theater and prepares for its move to its new home on Illinois, you have one more chance to see a play in a building that has held 30 years of great performances.  “Fairfield” opens this weekend on the intimate Basile stage. A grade school is thrown into chaos when a young white teacher decides use role playing to celebrate Black history month with her first grade class. Emotions run high and prejudices are revealed as the parents and superintendent get involved. The script is full of dark humor and is reminiscent of “Gods of Carnage”. The play’s conversations are all too familiar, but they’re approached in a way that uses humo...

In May the Phoenix theater will hold its grand opening at its new location. That exciting fact makes this Xmas show particularly special. This year is the very last time audiences can see the holiday hit in the old church the Phoenix has called home for decades. There are years of new memories to be made on the new stage, but for those of us who have made A Very Phoenix Xmas part of our annual holiday tradition, there was something special about seeing this final show. The Phoenix decided to bring back some crowd favorites from the previous 11 iterations of the show. They let people vote and the winners included "Tacobel Canon" and "Don't Eat the Baby". My personal favorite, "Les Miserabelves", was just as fantastic the second time around. The mash up of the Rudolph Christmas special and Les Miserables is beyond hilarious. Paul Hansen’s rendition of "Hallelujah" backed by a chorus of hymn singing cast members was incredibly movin...