The Phoenix Theater used to be called Edge of the World Theater. I had never been there under old management and I'm not very big on small theater. Phoenix recently re-opened after a remodel. An ad in a local free paper caught our attention for a play called "Rounding Third"...a play about little league baseball.
This theater is small and located in an innocuous little strip mall behind another strip mall in a largely residential area. It is also on the 2nd floor of the building which seems odd for a theater.
This operation is pretty "start-up. We went to buy our tickets about 2 hours before showtime...the nice woman who sold us the admission didn't give us tickets. She said just come back at 8 for the show...no receipt, no tickets. She assured us she would be there and would recognize us. When we returned, yes, she did recognize us and there were only about 12 people in the audience.
The theater itself is small...probably as large as the center section of the front section of a movie theater. Restrooms are small, but clean and equipped. Modest refreshment availability sold on donation basis only. The seats are old style theater, not the most comfortable for my back and it was too warm for my husband who likes the room temperature at about 66 degrees.
The show itself was really fun...I think Phoenix features comedies, which is just what we need with the economy at hand. The acting was spot on...funny with some touching moments at the end. Both actors were really great. Of course, since we had personal "hands on" experience in the Little League baseball world, it was easy for us to connect with the drama.
Plenty of parking. Phoenix needs to grow its awareness level among the Snohomish County public, maybe more signage in the front of the front strip mall and a publilc relations blitz on local TV, radio and the Seattle Times. I would have never discovered them had the play not been about baseball.
Cute theater...similar to the Taproot Theater in Seattle proper. Phoenix has better seating and a real front stage compared to the Taproot which has a much larger following. I look forward to seeing Phoenix Theater grow in popularity and wish them all the best and steady growth. read more