Established by T. Edward Hambleton and Norris Houghton in 1953 as a non-commercial theatre production company, the Phoenix Theatre produced landmark productions of classic plays and works by new playwrights. In 1957, the company began operating as a not-for-profit company under Theatre Incorporated, a non-profit corporation in which Houghton had been involved in the 1940s. From 1959 to 1963, the Phoenix Theatre presented a permanent resident company, the Phoenix Acting company, which included Fritz Weaver, Donald Madden, Patrick Hines, Nan Martin, and Rex Everhart, among others. In 1964, Norris Houghton resigned from the Phoenix to pursue a treaching career in academia. From 1966 to 1969, the Phoenix maintained a partnership with Ellis Rabb’s Association of Producing Artists (APA), and produced shows in repertory in New York on Broadway and on tour in the U.S. and Canada as APA-Phoenix Repertory Company. From 1972 to 1975, the New Phoenix Repertory Company, under the artistic directorship of Harold Prince, Stephen Porter, and Michael Montel, featured seasonal resident companies that included Glenn Close, David Dukes, John Glover, Marybeth Hurt, Charles Kimbrough, and others. From the late 1970s until its final productions in 1982, the Phoenix developed and produced new works by emerging playwrights. As part of the company’s Sideshow series, the Phoenix presented theatrical productions, Ballet Theatre Workshop performances, operas and musical reviews, and staged readings.
During its thirty year history, the Phoenix Theatre produced 164 shows and introduced numerous theatre artists to New York audiences. Among them were Carol Burnett, who appeared in the 1959 production of Once Upon a Mattress, and Joan Plowright who made her New York debut in Ionesco’s The Chairs . Among the numerous premieres of new works at the Phoenix were Frank Gilroy’s Who’ll Save the Plowboy?, Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy and Wendy Wasserstein’s Uncommon Women and Others .
The Phoenix first occupied a theater on the corner of 12th Street and 2nd Avenue, and in 1961 the company moved to 334 East 74th Street. From 1966 through 1969, APA-Phoenix occupied the Lyceum Theatre on West 45th Street, and in the years following the breakup of the repertory company the Phoenix presented shows in eighteen additional New York venues including ANTA, Sheridan Square Theatre, the 48th Street Playhouse, the Barrymore, and Marymount-Manhattan, which was its last home.
From the guide to the Phoenix Theatre records, circa 1932-1984, 1953-1982, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
