Our 2019

We’ve had a super busy year. Incase you’ve lost track of all of our antics (we know we have) we’ve compiled this lovely little (potentially quite long) post to round up our achievements this year!

We kicked the year off by welcoming two new leaders to our team. Kyle Davies and Shannon Small had both been part of the Phoenix furniture for longer than we can remember. They impressed us at their interviews and were the best candidates for the role. They have since both gone on to prove we made the right decision at the start of the year, by becoming two extremely passionate, hardworking leaders.

In February we began the audition process for our summer production of Treasure Island. The cast did not fail to impress us! They absolutely blew our socks off!! After several weeks of gruelling auditions lead by our director, Andy Greenow, the cast was announced!

Our Tech Team also went on a road trip to Crewe, at silly o’clock at night to go and collect some new lights. Big Ash’s babies!!

The wardrobe department wasted no time in taking their measurements and beginning to fit costumes. Here’s a great picture of Aidan, our Dame, trying his costume on for the first time.

March was a very busy month at Phoenix. We were asked to perform at the Pavilion Theatre alongside other theatre groups from the area in a spectacular showcase of local talent called Got To Sing, Got To Dance. This was a very special moment for Phoenix, as we took our spot on that stage, giving our young people their well deserved chance to show what they can do. We were so unbelievably proud of their achievements. Suzanne Fox, said that they “totally smashed it – a very proud moment”. We totally agree Suz! They performed to a packed Pavilion Theatre, receiving standing ovations!

In April, rehearsals also heated up with our cast coming off book!

We started April off by getting some Treasure Island admin sorted. The very talented Christina Hailwood lent her voice to the role of Captain Flint’s Ghost. After a little bit of editing, but not that much ?, a couple of hours behind the mic and a whole lot of cropping and trimming Captain Flint’s lines were all ready for rehearsals!

We also spent two very long hot nights in the recording studio in May. Our cast worked super hard to record backing vocals for Treasure Island. These nights also allowed our members to spend time in a professional recording studio, giving them valuable experience.

In May we stepped things up to three rehearsals a week. Our dancers took over Tuesday nights at Rhyl High Dance Studio, whilst our actors used Wednesday nights at Llywelyn.

We tried something new in May, a dedicated media night! It was lights, camera, action! With interviews happening in one room, and a photoshoot in the other! The night was a massive success, with what would normally take a number of weeks, only taking a couple of hours!

One of our tech team’s highlights of 2019 surely came in May when we had some funding to get some super cool fancy ticket printers!

Props, costumes and set all started to appear in June! Our set for Treasure Island was undoubtably the best yet! Big Ash and Jacob worked super hard designing and building the set. Shannon, Suzanne and Nia then spent hours painting it! I’m sure you can all agree, it looked amazing!!

It’s show week!! All systems go! We introduced a matinee performance for the first time with Treasure Island, and it was a great success!

Treasure Island was a huge success! Our cast worked so hard to pull off this fantastic production. We’d like to thank all of audience members, old and new!

We made a really exciting announcement in August. We announced the launch of our new Chicks group. A group for children aged between 4 and 6. Chicks had been a dream of Glenda Hailwood, Company Manager, for many years and with the addition of our Phoenix babies it felt like the perfect time to launch the group. The chicks went on to make their debut performance later on in the year. The group continues to go from strength to strength led by Shannon Small and Suzanne Fox.

In August we had a special delivery from one of our awesome Phoenix Grandparents. He has recreated our Phoenix bird out of wood! How cool!!!!!

In September we announced our next production, Showcase 2!

In October, our Chicks group continued to grow! We held a mini photoshoot with our not so little Phoenix Babies.

(Left to Right: Charlie, Penelope, Leia and Freddie)

November was Showcase 2!! A variety night showcasing the talent of our young people. Our Chicks made their debut performance, to standing ovations! Many of the songs, dances and sketches were directed and choreographed by our young people. Our closing number delivered our message of inclusivity and acceptance. Many of our young wore t-shirts with words, chosen by themselves that described them.