Children who, four days earlier, didn't know the meaning of the word melody played a Duke Ellington song with professional jazz musicians.

Their peers staged an eight-scene theatrical production they wrote and rehearsed the day before showtime.

And those who hadn't taken a dance lesson before Monday performed the steps to a west African rite of passage.

[read more]

After a hiatus, the Davis Performing Arts Programs has returned to its home performing space in the Columbus Performing Arts Center.
The Phoenix Theatre for Children and the Columbus Recreation & Parks Department are presenting Honk! Jr., which will open Friday for a weekend run at the center's Shedd Theatre.

[read more]

Local audiences have been able to absorb fun and powerful messages via puppetry, as well, thanks to the imagination and handiwork of Upper Arlington resident Tony Auseon.

[read more]

Tucked away on a quiet strip of Franklin Avenue, the Davis Performing Arts Center may be one of the most well hidden arts venues in the City of Columbus. This quiet tree-lined street sits behind the Topiary Park and offers an almost strangely serene environment for an arts venue that is located within Downtown.

[read more]

As of July 1, 2010 Steven Anderson will be the new Artistic Director of

[read more]

The world premiere of a New York-bound musical will launch the 2010-11 season of Contemporary American Theatre Company - its first under a merger with the Phoenix Theatre for Children.

[read more]

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.

[read more]

Phoenix Theatre for Children will present a concert version of the musical Titanic on Saturday—the same day COSI is bringing the traveling show “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” back to Columbus.


Was this planned? Well, not exactly. But it’s not really a coincidence either.

[read more]

Titanic the Musical, the 1997 Tony winner for best musical, is rarely staged.
partly because of the complexities and sonorities of Maury Yeston's score, which offers many echoes and variations on the classical music of Elgar and Vaughn-Williams.
It's also very difficult to fully stage: On Broadway, the massive hydraulic set, which tilted as the great ship began to sink, often malfunctioned, sometimes endangering the cast.
But the staging was simplified for the 2000 national tour.

Phoenix Theatre for Children will avoid the potential pitfalls of a full staging while concentrating on the lovely score in a special benefit performance at 8 p.m. Saturday March 27 at the Lincoln Theatre.

[read more]

The Phoenix Theatre for Children is branching out of its regular season schedule this March to put on a one night only concert performance of the musical Titanic. The musical is being produced by Phoenix Artistic Director Steven C. Anderson and is starring thirty-eight local performers. If that’s not big enough, the performance is being put on to raise funds for Phoenix’s mentor program with the Columbus City Schools in which artists and educators work with fourth graders “considered at risk of failure in the classroom.”

[read more]

Many parents might relish being advised by a wise old woman on how to deal with children who whine and argue.

Flustered adults should find just such a calming, maternal figure in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, based on the series of children’s books by Betty MacDonald.

Steven C. Anderson, artistic director of the Phoenix Theatre for Children, wrote the adaptation, which his company will present this weekend and next.

[read more]

None of these theater talents appeared onstage during their shows, but each made all the difference in bringing it to life.
What did they do? They directed.

[read more]

No theater company has a monopoly on good actors.
Central Ohio's annual Theater Awards Night, held Sunday at the Jewish Community Center, was an eloquent reminder of that.
Among the actors recognized with Roundtable Awards for the best acting of 2009 were local talents associated with Actors' Theatre, Columbus Children's Theatre, Curtain Players, Emerald City Players, Evolution Theatre Company, Gallery Players, Ohio State University Theatre, Phoenix Theatre for Children, Theatre Columbus State and Newark's Weathervane Playhouse.

[read more]

In the age of computers, video games and MP3 players, the magic of imaginative play provides welcome relief.

And so does a tiny pachyderm.

The next two weekends, the Phoenix Theatre for Children will present The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant.

[read more]

Stage presence
Admirers cite his positive attitude, collaborative spirit and resourcefulness. Detractors note a political savvy applied to further his career. Both acknowledge that, in the world of central Ohio theater, Steven Anderson is a survivor.

[read more]

When seeking a 2009 holiday production, Steven C. Anderson -- artistic director of the Phoenix Theatre for Children -- wanted one with a large cast.

He chose Madeline's Christmas, a musical based on the Madeline character in the books by Ludwig Bemelmans.

[read more]

Anna Haught of Upper Arlington is one of the young actresses who will bring the story of 'Madeline's Christmas' to life.

[read more]

The stereotype of a prince rescuing a princess will be turned on its crown when the Phoenix Theatre for Children presents The Paper Bag Princess.

[read more]

The leading professional theater company in central Ohio and a troupe that produces family shows plan to merge next year -- a move that will also include a notable leadership change.

[read more]

With the Columbus Performing Arts Center falling victim to the City of Columbus' budget crunch, the Phoenix, which has consulted on programming at the center (most notably the Davis Performing Arts Programs for youth), stepped in to the rescue.

[read more]

When Steven C. Anderson works to keep the old Davis Center open over the next three years, he'll also be keeping a piece of his own history alive.

'I have a lot of sentimental attachments to the building, inasmuch as I started my career there in Players Theatre,' said Anderson, now artistic director of Phoenix Theatre for Children.

[read more]

Under a three-year agreement with the city of Columbus, the Phoenix Theatre for Children will manage the Columbus Performing Arts Center and its youth arts programs.

[read more]

A savior has materialized for arts groups that feared they would no longer be able to put on plays, concerts and lectures at the Columbus Performing Arts Center.

... [I]t was announced Tuesday that the center will remain open thanks to Phoenix Theatre for Children, which will operate and manage the center under a three-year contract with the city.

[read more]

After last year's critically acclaimed bilingual production of The Secret Garden, the Phoenix Theatre for Children is tackling The Miracle Worker.

[read more]

On stage, audiences will witness the script come to life with words and signs. Some deaf actors sign their lines, while a voice actor stands off to the side speaking for them; others speak and sign their lines simultaneously.

[read more]

Born deaf, Reagan is part of a cast of 17 that includes both deaf and hearing actors, assembled by Phoenix with the help of Columbus Public Schools' Hearing Impaired Program, the Ohio School for the Deaf and Franklin County Deaf Services.

[read more]

An Axe, an Apple & a Buckskin Jacket is a sturdy plaything, rescued from an attic where it was gathering dust and given a fresh coat of paint to provide pleasure to a new generation of children.

[read more]

The Phoenix Theatre for Children is getting into the holiday spirit with a production based on a half-century-old seasonal album by Bing Crosby.

An Axe, an Apple & a Buckskin Jacket, an adaptation by Artistic Director Steven C. Anderson, will open Friday and run through Dec. 21.

[read more]