Phoenix Theatre

Phoenix Theatre (New York). Organized in 1953 by T. Edward Hambleton and Norris Houghton, the group took over the old Yiddish Art Theatre on Second Avenue, which it renamed and where it remained for eight years. Among its notable productions were Sidney Howard's Madam, Will You Walk (1953), Coriolanus (1954), The Golden Apple (1954), Phoenix '55, A Month in the Country (1956), The Littlest Revue (1956), The Duchess of Malfi (1957), Once Upon a Mattress (1959), The Great God Brown (1959), and The Octoroon (1961). Financial problems forced the company to find a smaller house in 1961, where its biggest hit was Oh, Dad, Poor Dad. . . (1962). For five years beginning in 1964 the organization joined with Ellis Rabb and the Association of Producing Artists, during which time its successful mountings included revivals of You Can't Take It with You (1966) and The Show‐Off (1967). Thereafter, the group continued to produce Off Broadway until its dissolution in 1982.