Phoenix Festival | Live Arts
in Nyack Returns for
2023 Fall Season!
September 22 to October 21
“World-class performances!”
– Hi! Drama
“Phoenix Theatre Ensemble is doing something wonderful in Nyack!”
– Broadway Radio
Hello neighbors, friends, families and Westchester arts enthusiasts.
It’s with great pleasure that we invite you to join the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble for our second annual Phoenix Festival – Live Arts in Nyack from September 22 to October 21.
The Festival offers an exciting mix of live theatre, dance and music for audiences of all interests and ages – a celebration of arts, history and local culture.
We’ll be presenting 30 performances featuring over 30 professional New York City artists on multiple stages in Nyack – our jazzy riverside village on the west bank of the Hudson, just a quick trip from the city or from Westchester across the bridge.
As one audience member described the 2022 Festival, “It’s an E-ZPass to outdoor theater heaven!”
Here are the 2023 highlights:
• Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment: A taut 90-minute, edge-of-your-seat stage version of this famous murder mystery
• The Wind in the Willows: A new interactive adaptation of the beloved novel for all ages, confirming the power of friendship and the courage to make a difference in the lives of others
• Pan American Male: A theatrical dance fable about a boy resisting the call to grow up too soon. Choreographed by Alvin Ailey’s Shawn Rawls
• Drinks With Dead Poets: UK award-winning poet, playwright, and actor Glyn Maxwell finds himself in a bar in Nyack, a village with the distinction of having the last open library in America. Maxwell, playing himself, encounters dead poets offering advice and ordering pints. Site-specific with a cash bar–an unforgettable evening
• Honduras: A deeply moving solo piece based on real life personal stories gathered from mothers and children at the US southern border in the summer of 2018
• Children’s Shakespeare Theatre: Young actors bravely present the best of the Bard in their special fall production
• Reflections from the Shallow End of the Dating Pool: Debbi Hobson’s play shines a light on the fraught and often farcical experience of mid-life dating
• Concert presented by ArtsRock, Rockland’s resource for professional arts and multi-cultural programs supporting underserved communities.
• The Importance of Being Earnest: Oscar Wilde’s frothy, funny, forever comedy–a Festival favorite selected by NYC’s Theatrescene as “one of the top ten productions of 2022”
Venues include the tented outdoor meadow stage at Marydell Faith and Life Center, the garden at Hopper House, the Nyack Center, the ‘little theater’ at Nyack’s RCC Culinary Arts Center and a classic Nyack restaurant/bar which a century ago served as the village courthouse and jail.
The Hudson River Museum amphitheater in nearby Yonkers will host a presentation of Honduras. Plus, Nyack itself will be onstage in a free, smartphone-based augmented reality walking tour of the village.
Along the way, you may want to check out Nyack’s one-of-a-kind retail shops, top-flight restaurants, friendly pubs, live music venues and vibrant night spots – over 100 businesses packed into a walkable space of just over one square mile. If you’d like some fresh air as part of your Festival itinerary, Nyack offers outstanding outdoor activities–bicycling, hiking along the river front, boat excursions and more.
You can begin to plan your Festival experience with a special offer for Westchester audiences – discounted early bird four-ticket flexible admission passes on sale from April 25 – July 15. Call 833-681-4800.
A word about us. Founded in 2004, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble is an award-winning New York City theatre company that makes its second home in Rockland County, where we have created and performed both classics and original works since 2018.
Our mission is to present the great stories of the classical canon, as well as new adaptations and innovative stagings that speak to, and serve, contemporary audiences. We’re proud to be part of the Hudson Valley arts community, and excited about our 2023 Festival in Nyack.
Come explore, experience and enjoy the magic of world class performances in the Hudson Valley. See you at the Festival!
