So being on stage is one of our favorite things to do as we celebrate the community arts.

And we're with Phoenix Arts here in Goshen, at the Goshen Theater and Ashley and Cody, are joining us because you guys have a Christmas program coming up.

And it is a classic.

Oh my gosh, if you don't know this one, I need them to come talk to me.

Right.

But we're doing Irving Berlin, Berlin's White Christmas.

So the classic story you know and love from the movies years and years and years ago, but live on stage.

So it's very similar to that old film.

So it's what everybody has sat around and watched growing up.

Hopefully.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah, maybe.

Cody, what is your role in this performance?

I'll be playing the role of Phil Davis.

He's the sidekick of Bob Wallace.

The singer dancer combo.

I will be the dancer on stage.

Just going out and living my best life.

That's awesome.

If you're familiar with the movie, it's the Danny Kaye Crosby Carol.

Okay.

Yeah.

Very good.

So is this your, first production with Phoenix or have you done.

Done a bunch?

No, I've been in, pretty much every one except for one, production with Phoenix.

That's awesome.

Now, actually, for this, there's probably somebody out there that hasn't seen this.

No shame.

So so give us a sense of really kind of what this storyline is.

Yeah.

So the story follows two gentlemen performers.

They start out as Army soldiers, and then we transform ten years later and see them, you know, on stage in New York at Broadway setting.

And it's about their journey of finding love.

And, kind of reclaiming some moments from the past.

So you'll see kind of some stories intertwine with their general that they had.

I don't want to give too much away, but general that they had in 1944 during the war, and then they end up seeing themselves come back together with him when they find themselves, in, in, in, in Vermont, following, two girls, Betty and Judy Haynes, a sister act that performs and they come to find out that the end they end up in is actually run by their previous general, General Waverly.

Oh, that's so cool.

Yeah.

And it really is a classic.

And so it brings kind of back those familiar memories and things like that.

So it'll be great to have the community come be a part of it.

So what has it been like for you preparing for this?

Because there's song and there's dance and there's all the lines.

So what has this been like for you?

It's been a lot of like pretty much hours and hours of, dancing, of singing together, of just running through lines.

I mean, even just the other day, we were just going through and just reading through the script just to make sure that we're on on deck for it and ready to go.

Just simply becoming the character and spending nothing but hours to do that.

So, community theater, the keyword community is really about being a family.

So, we've heard what what that's like from your point of view, what has it been like for you being a part of, you know, this family, the Phoenix Performing Arts?

I mean, it couldn't be more than, the family that I have at home.

I mean, Ashley and I, we've been together for 17, 18 years now.

You know, when we were five.

Yeah.

So, I mean, we've all been best friends for the longest time, so, I mean, blood couldn't make us any closer when it comes down to production like this.

That's very cool.

And a big part of a show is the set.

And the set is just getting started, put together.

Because you guys just gained access to this, to the theater, like yesterday.

Yeah.

Your husband is kind of leading the way on that.

Give us a sense of what the stage is going to be like.

What I love about this.

And if, again, if you're familiar with the movie, the film, there are certain nuances, certain scenes that if you really are a white Christmas fan, you close your eyes and you can picture it.

And I am one of those.

I mean, cliche, like, I love White Christmas.

And so I had my own expectations and then he took them and just elevated them.

I mean, you literally feel like you are transformed in every scenario.

So we aren't just in an in in Vermont, you know, we're in New York, we're in, TV like television screen, you know, on stage stuff.

We're in dressing rooms.

You are transported right from 1944, middle of war, Christmas Eve to 1954.

And kind of what that meant, you know, ten years later.

And so, there's rustic, there's fabulous, there's grandiose, there's sparkles, there's technical aspects.

And so it's a feast for the eyes and I think a feast for the heart, too, you know, perfect timing for right before Thanksgiving and all of the holiday season starts.

I can't think of a better way to kind of get you in the feels right for what?

The warmth of what the holiday season brings, right?

And it really is about like pulling that community in and then taking them somewhere else.

Oh yeah.

Right.

And so the sets a big part of what you guys are doing on stage is really a big part of it.

How have you seen the reactions, from the audience?

As far as the different productions you've been in up until now, their response to the shows that you guys have been putting on?

We are just so blessed to have been so well loved and just loved in not only in this community, but, I mean, we've had people, from all over the United States, all over the Michiana area, come and see our shows.

This is the final production of our second season.

And so it's sometimes it just catches you off guard in a really positive way, because we really do.

We pour our hearts out not only on the stage but all of the people.

You know, my husband and myself, the team of people we have underneath us, they give so much of their time and their talents, and it's things that people see as the finished product on the stage.

But you don't know what we know, but they know the audience doesn't know how much they actually give to just so to see them love that it's people's hearts.

It's their it's their lives that they put up on these stages.

More than just the song and dance, and it's really special and nostalgic for me to get to watch them enjoy the people that I love so much.

So talk also about the people who are helping you guys present this story on stage by being backstage, because if you're going from New York to an inn in Vermont, like this stuff's changing all the time and people are running around, talk about all the people who are putting those same hours in behind the scenes.

Yeah, we have just I mean, from our stage manager, Ryan Shoemaker, I, I couldn't love him more.

We went with him for decades and decades now.

But he he's a teacher during the day to teach math.

And then he comes here at night to give of his time.

And he is like the general backstage.

He's he's kind, but he gets things going.

And so you just know when you have a team like Ryan and our costume team and everybody that works so hard behind the scenes, there's a sense of just trust in each other, to make these things happen.

And I think when you have that trust and you feel safe and you know that someone's got your back or, you know, 35 plus people have your back, it just it's different.

And so, yes, I mean, the set pieces are huge.

It's it's when you have those like movie musicals where it's it's was cinematic first before it was on stage, the things they expect you to do as far as where you're heading and how fast.

It's like, okay, we're doing it, but we do.

And the team of people back here that make it happen are there like the actual show?

We're just the sparkly part.

They are the ones that are running the ship.

So, Cody, do you have a favorite scene or number or whatever that's part of the show?

Absolutely.

That'd be let yourself go.

Just because I get to be on a stage with my best friend.

Pretty much.

We got this history together, and then we get to actually just be ourselves and let go and just be loose on stage.

And I just enjoy and enjoy that.

I haven't got to do that in years.

So it's just like the highlight of my day at that point.

We got Zach back up on stage.

He doesn't want anybody to know.

I don't think so.

He actually plays the Bing Crosby part his Danny Kaye.

So they're Bob and Phil and they've been best friends since pretty much high school.

And so it as a as a third party viewing you know person it's really neat to watch their camaraderie and just their natural chemistry together transform on stage.

And we just add a little 1950s flair, you know?

Yeah, that's very cool.

It really is a cool memory to be able to share that experience on stage.

So tell us when the show is happening, how many nights is it going and where can people get tickets?

Just three days only.

We got Friday and Saturday night, November 21st and 22nd at 730, and then Sunday, a matinee at 3 p.m.

on the 23rd.

And then that's it.

You can get tickets at the door if you'd like.

I will tell you they are selling pretty fast.

If you want your pick of the litter, so to speak.

You could I would get them online, which is at our website, the Phoenix arts.org.

Now, last time we were here, we talked a little bit about season three.

It's awesome.

The, the first two seasons you guys have done and season three is going to be even bigger.

So give us just a reminder again of some of the shows that are coming up in season three.

Let's see, I was like, we have a couple special announcements this weekend, so you'll want to be here for White Christmas for us to do those.

Okay.

So no sneak peeks of that yet.

But the first show of the, 2026 season is actually next to normal.

Auditions for that are before 2026 happen.

So December 4th and seventh and then our first youth show is Fame Junior.

We have, frozen and frozen junior this summer.

We have the Wedding Singer, Little Women, Aristocats, junior, tick, tick, boom.

Daddy longlegs, one that I can't tell you.

So basically no shows that anybody has ever heard of.

Yeah, not at all.

I know really small names.

No one has any correlation with them, so I'm going to be surprised.

Right.

Well, we really are looking forward to this production as well as what's coming forward in season three.

So thank you both so much for taking time to share.

What's going on this weekend as the show happens right here at Goshen Theater.

Thank you.