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Tonight, The Phoenix Theatre for Children will be presenting Titanic: A Concert Version of the Musical for one night only at the Lincoln Theatre with live accompaniment provided by ProMusica.
Phoenix Artistic Director Steven C. Anderson has adapted this version of the musical and has recruited over three dozen local performers to donate their time and energy to help raise funds for Phoenix’s “at risk” program with Columbus City Schools.
We sat down recently with Steven along with Joe Bishara, Production Coordinator for The Phoenix to discuss tonight’s event.
Walker Evans: Running a theatre company with productions aimed for children probably leaves people to assume that the work produced might not be appealing for adults. Is that a perception that you’ve had to work to overcome?
Steven C. Anderson: I’ve never been interested in theatre for children that pandered or talked down to anyone. It’s the easiest thing in the world to make a child laugh… you can make a funny face or fall down… so that type of production doesn’t seem like much of a challenge. We want to present pieces that will illuminate the essential questions of “Who am I? What am I here for? What is my place in the world?”
Joe Bishara: One of the interesting things about Phoenix is that it’s not just a work produced on stage for the general public. I think the true heart and soul of the company is what’s done in the schools, and that’s the main reason why we’re doing this concert version of Titanic. It’s a benefit to support our work with the at risk programs in Columbus City Schools.
SA: That community involvement and educational involvement is sort of like the iceberg in Titanic… it’s the larger “under the surface” work that we do.
WE: Tell us more about some of those type of school programs.
SA: Five years ago we began creating a curriculum that used drama theatre to teach other core subject matter. When the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) movement began to take root here, educators began focusing intensive education on those core subjects. Very quickly, we’ve realized that intensive study doesn’t create individual mastery because it provides text, but no context. Drama and the other artforms can create context for learning. So we’ve begun a process of infusing the arts as a delivery system for those other subjects and have had some success with that.
WE: Additionally, Phoenix is now helping to provide programming at the Davis Performing Arts Center that was closed last year and later reopened, correct?
JB: Yes, our new affiliation Columbus Recreation & Parks allows us a new opportunity to help fill the gap where a lot of arts education is being cut out from schools. We’re offering year-round classes for children there, and just about to begin rehearsals for a kids-only production of Honk Jr. We’re also trying to serve the community in new ways by allowing the Performing Arts Center space to be available for rental for many other smaller theater and arts organizations that don’t really have a home yet. On the Verge Productions is in our larger theater right now. Available Light was in our smaller theater last weekend. Senior Repertory of Ohio is there, Six String Concerts, the Thurber House is doing author readings there… so we’re really trying to have porous walls in the arts community. It’s not just about serving The Phoenix or CATCO patrons, but about helping to serve a larger community.
SA: The 21st century offers all kinds of opportunities for people to create their own art. 30 years ago, if you wanted to be a filmmaker, you needed a large amount of backing, you need a studio to distribute… but now people have video capabilities, editing capabilities on the computers, and worldwide distribution through YouTube. Song writers can record music on the computer and find distribution online without a record label… so there’s been an insurgence of artistic activity and people claiming artistic expression for themselves that frankly short circuits the old notion of arts & culture institutions. The question now is how can we create arts institutions that supports that, refuels that, and provides a forum for that as well? Do I have the answers to those questions? No I don’t… but I feel really good about working to address those questions. Change is a natural part of who we are. If we don’t change we die. So how can we form a new institution that still serves certain people in a way that they have been served before, but also finds new ways to serve and connect with new folks.
WE: Going back to tonight’s production of Titanic… can you tell us a bit more about how it came about and what attendees can expect?
JB: Yes, we are producing a concert version of the musical Titanic at the Lincoln Theatre and 36 local actors are donating their time free of charge to produce this show. ProMusica is providing the musicians and all of the benefits go toward our at-risk program that we mentioned earlier. It’s also being done as a kick-off for our new affiliation with COSI and their new Titanic exhibit. We’re providing actors for the exhibit.
SA: When we first started talking to COSI about providing actors, I started thinking about Titanic and pulled it off my bookshelf from the spot labeled “Musicals I love but we’ll never be able to pull off because they’re too expensive” and listened to it again. It has such a big, lush sound that I thought it would sustain a concert version. So that’s part of the model for our new merged company with CATCO. Maybe we can’t produce a huge musical, but a concert version could be something that people enjoy. We’ve seen this done at the Kennedy Center in DC and the Lincoln Center in NYC, and we think it’s something that people in Columbus can really get behind.
JB: I also think it’s a new way to say ‘please support us’ but also offer some great entertainment at the same time. We’re hoping that it’s something that people will not only feel good about supporting, but also enjoy a type of event that isn’t normally done very often, particularly in Columbus. I can’t remember the last time a concert version of a musical was done.
Tickets for the event are $50 and can be purchased at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office or by phone at (614) 469-0939. The event takes place tonight, Saturday March 27th at 8pm at the Lincoln Theatre, located at 769 E. Long Street. More information can be found online at www.phoenix4kids.org.
Press Release:
CATCO, Phoenix First Joint Season to Delight, Challenge and Transport
COLUMBUS – For their inaugural season as a combined theatre organization, CATCO and The Phoenix Theatre for Children, in association with Andy Sandberg, will produce a world premiere musical, The Last Smoker in America, Sept. 29-Oct. 24, 2010, providing central Ohio theatre patrons the unique opportunity to be among the first to see this production before it heads to New York.
“We are very excited to be presenting the world premiere of The Last Smoker in America in Ohio,†said Hair producer Sandberg. “We look forward to being a part of CATCO’s 2010-2011 season and sharing this new musical comedy with Columbus.â€Â
The combined season also includes a children’s Halloween favorite (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow); a never-before-seen in central Ohio version of a holiday classic (It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play); a children’s mystery (Encyclopedia Brown); a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner (I Am My Own Wife); a children’s classic by E.B. White (Charlotte’s Web); an over-the-top sex farce (What the Butler Saw); and a poignant look at our often skewed visions of ourselves (Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins).
In addition to the regular subscription offerings, CATCO will present one add-on production: The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris, Dec. 2-26, starring Jonathan Putnam in his fifth season as Crumpet the elf.
“The combined plays were selected with three guiding purposes: Delight, Challenge and Transport the audience,†said Steven C. Anderson, artistic director of the newly combined company. “Each of these plays is an opportunity for audiences and artists alike to examine the core of what it is to be human. They reflect the irreverent, the nostalgic, the provocative, the zany and the misguided lenses we sometimes use to view a changing world.â€Â
Meanwhile, “Phoenix’s season encompasses a ‘play with music,’ a mystery and a sweet reflection on the sacrifices of friendship,†Anderson said. “Each play reflects the Phoenix Theatre for Children’s tradition of providing families with something to share together.â€Â
In The Last Smoker in America, smoking has been outlawed and Pam is trying desperately to kick the habit. Find out whether she goes smoke-free or fights for the right to light up in this raucous, irreverent world premiere musical with book and lyrics by Tony nominee Bill Russell (Side Show) and music by Drama Desk nominee Peter Melnick (Adrift in Macao).
“With this premiere musical, we hope to begin to position CATCO as a company that can nurture and develop new musicals,†Anderson said.
Just in time for Halloween, Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman will make their appearance in a children’s “play with music†version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Oct. 22-Nov. 5. For the holidays, CATCO will present the central Ohio premiere of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, featuring an ensemble cast that brings dozens of characters to life in a 1940s radio broadcast-style performance Nov. 26-Dec. 12. These will be followed by a series of mysteries that only genius boy detective Leroy Brown can solve – with audience participation – Jan. 7-21 in Encyclopedia Brown.
Other plays in the 2010-11 season are I Am My Own Wife, Feb. 2-20, the moving tale of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transgendered person, who founded a respected museum while sheltering Berlin’s homosexual community in pre- and post-World War II Germany; Charlotte’s Web, Feb. 25-March 11, the all-time children’s favorite and classic; What the Butler Saw, March 30-April 17, a farcical tragedy, impenetrable mystery and a comedic tour de force; and Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins, June 1-19, the story of New York socialite Florence Foster Jenkins, who fancied she could sing and rented Carnegie Hall for the evening to prove it.
CATCO will continue to offer “Talk Backs,†discussions with the actors and other artists, after certain Sunday matinees. One Sunday matinee is also audio-described for those who are blind or visually impaired.
All CATCO and Phoenix shows will be performed in the Vern Riffe Center Studio Theatres, 77 S. High St. For shows in the Studio One Theatre, subscribers can select from rows A-M on the main floor, and limited-view balcony seating. All seats are within five rows of the stage in the Studio Two Theatre. The Studio Three Theatre, where The Santaland Diaries will be performed, is a 60-seat “cabaretâ€Â-style theatre with all seating close to the stage.
Subscriptions are available by calling the box office at 614.469.0939 and include a facility fee.
CATCO subscription prices range from $57.50 to $180.00.
FlexTix subscriptions also are available; the price is $130 for five passes, which can be used at any CATCO performance for best-available seating for one adult admission or for one adult and one child admission at any Phoenix production.
Phoenix subscriptions prices are $48 for adults and $24 for children.
Single tickets will go on sale Aug. 19, 2010. CATCO single-ticket prices are:
Thursday night preview – $32.50 main floor, $20.50 balcony
Wednesday 11@11 matinees– $11.50
All other CATCO afternoon and evening performances – $40 main floor, $25 balcony
Phoenix single-ticket prices are:
Adults, $20
Children, $10
All prices include a facility fee.
For Thursday and Sunday performances, students and seniors may purchase tickets at half price for that day’s show(s) based upon availability. For more information about group sales, please call Jolane Campbell at 614.719.6900.
Tickets for CATCO’s add-on performance, The Santaland Diaries, Dec. 2-26, 2010, are $35, respectively. CATCO and Phoenix renewing subscribers receive a discount on tickets to this add-on performance.
CATCO’s 2010-11, 27th anniversary is sponsored by support from The Columbus Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council, which funds CATCO with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans, Greater Columbus Arts Council, Shubert Foundation and Nationwide.
CATCO is central Ohio’s professional Equity theatre company. Its mission is to produce diverse, high quality, and exciting theatrical work that celebrates our common humanity. For more information, visit catcoistheatre.org.
The Phoenix Theatre for Children is a collective of artists who work collaboratively to create original productions for young audiences. The Phoenix is committed to providing young people and their families with theatrical experiences that encourage and enhance an awareness of self and the world in which we live. Frequent themes of the plays are self-reliance, an awareness of the importance of community, the personal empowerment of young people, and our responsibilities as citizens of the world. For more information, visit phoenix4kids.org.
Together, these two dynamic companies have formed a sustainable arts organization that provides unsurpassed service to Central Ohio theatre audiences of all ages.