Shandaken Theatrical Society: Fifty Years at the Phoenicia Playhouse

The Shandaken Theatrical Society turns 50 this year, and its home stage — the Phoenicia Playhouse — has a history that stretches back even further. Built in 1887 as a lodge for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the building later served as an auction house and a movie theater before falling into disrepair by the 1980s. Community intervention saved it from demolition, and STS has run it ever since.

This episode brings together voices spanning the organization's history: board member and longtime performer Faye Storms, who arrived in the Catskills just three years after STS was founded in 1976; playhouse manager Geneva Turner, who also works as a standardized patient and intimacy coordinator when they're not running the house; technical director George Muller, a veteran of Live Aid and the Philadelphia Orchestra before landing in Phoenicia; and Wallace Norman and Hank Neimark of Woodstock Fringe, in town for a co-production of Songs Mostly of the Theatre.

Fifty years ago, STS opened with a production of The Sound of Music — and there's talk of marking the anniversary with a singalong screening of the film. Beyond that possible nod to their roots, the season has grown into a full slate of drama, comedy, open mics, a concert series with Flying Cat Music, and youth theater camps.

Find out more at phoeniciaplayhouse.com