90th Mainstage Season Announced at Phoenix Theatre, Begins With NOISES OFF 8/25

Phoenix Theatre Artistic Director Michael Barnard announced the theatre's 90th season, which includes five hit musicals and a show many call the funniest farce ever written.

The Phoenix Theatre 2010-2011 MainStage season includes;

Noises Off, opening August 25 - September 12, 2010

3 Redneck Tenors - Broadway Bound opening September 29 - October 17, 2010

Hairspray opening November 10 - December 12, 2010

No Way to Treat a Lady, opening January 12 - January 30, 2011

Avenue Q, opening February 23 - March 20, 2011

Nine, opening April 13 - May 8, 2011

"Can you believe it? 90 years old and still going strong," Barnard said. "Phoenix Theatre is proud to serve our community and the many charities we partner with. We celebrate everyday the lives we influence with the art we create."

Managing Director Dan Schay added, "Generations have enjoyed our comedies, dramas and musicals, and hundreds of thousands of young people have been touched by our educational and outreach programs. We're grateful to the Valley for generations of support, and proud to be alive and kicking up our heels with this great season at 90!"

The 2010/2011 Mainstage season will kick off in August with Noises Off, by Tony award winning writer Michael Frayn. This ambidextrous farce features a play within a play that has earned awards for best comedy by the London Evening Standard and Society of London Theatre.

Noises Off follows the onstage and backstage antics of a fifth-rate acting troupe touring in a new, horribly-written sex farce called Nothing On. Starting backstage at dress rehearsal, nothing seems to be going right, and with each production, there's a new disaster that is more hilarious than the previous.

Full of flubbed lines and false entrances, Noises Off kicks off The Phoenix Theatre Mainstage season with honest laughs.

Billy Joe, Billy Bob and Billy Billee make it to New York City in late September, in the Arizona premiere of 3 Redneck Tenors - Broadway Bound.

Arranged by Phoenix' own Craig Bohmler and directed by Michael Barnard, 3 Redneck Tenors - Broadway Bound is set in the middle of Times Square, trailer and all. Now that they've found the perfect venue, the boys and their fearless leader, the Colonel, are in search of the perfect (by their standards) show. Belting out tunes from Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, Annie and Les Miserables, it's apparent there's been more on their radio than a little Johnny Cash.

In November, Phoenix Theatre steps into 1962 with Hairspray. Winner of eight Tony Awards including Best New Musical, Phoenix Theatre will mount Hairspray with all of the passion and excitement of Tracy Turnblad - the big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart. Phoenix Theatre has become the go-to venue for big musicals and this one will drive it home.

Kicking off the new year, Phoenix Theatre opens No Way to Treat a Lady, a musical comedy thriller that blends wicked humor, risqué romance and murder into an entertaining adventure. Based on the best selling novel by William Goldman that became a renowned 1968 movie, the musical brings film noir to life on the stage with class, humor and intrigue.

February 2011 ushers in the much anticipated Avenue Q. The groundbreaking and Tony Award winning Best New Musical in 2004 features characters that include an out-of-work comedian and his therapist fiancée Christmas Eve; Nicky the good hearted slacker and his roommate Rod, a Republican investment banker who seems to have some sort of secret; an internet addict called Trekkie Monster and a very cute kindergarten teaching assistant named Kate. Mix the characters, the story line and the intimate venue that only Phoenix Theatre can offer and Avenue Q will get the letter O for OUTRAGEOUS.

Phoenix Theatre will conclude the 2010/2011 season with Nine, one of the most seductive and exquisite musicals of all time. A two-time Tony award winner and recent film adaptation, Nine is the story of a celebrated Italian film director and his attempts to create a plot for his next film as he is pursued and haunted by hordes of beautiful women from his past, but who won't leave his mind. Nine is based on Fellini's classic film, 8 1/2.

Phoenix Theatre is a not-for-profit corporation that offers a full range of theatrical programming celebrating 90 consecutive, producing years with the new season: Mainstage subscription series of musicals, comedies and dramas; the soon to be 30-year-old Cookie Company, producing professional theatre for young audiences and families; Greasepaint Youtheatre in Scottsdale with the Valley's youth performing on stage; the annual New Works Festival; and PT Education, supporting curricular and extra-curricular educational programs for all ages. It is a member of Theatre Communications Group, the national organization of professional theatres, employs members of the Actor's Equity Association, and is supported in part by the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and hundreds of individual, corporate, and foundation donors.

Phoenix Theatre is located at 100 East McDowell Road, just east of the Phoenix Art Museum at Central and McDowell. The box office can be reached at 602/254-2151. Single tickets and subscriptions are available. Prices vary.

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