A curious tale of iTunes success

Everyone in the Phoenix family has been delighted for one of our stars and Phoenix Youth Theatre Junior Class teachers, whose new podcast has shot up the iTunes charts.

Jonnie Milne's classic ghost and horror story podcast, 'Curious Tales' debuted last month and overtook longstanding shows such as The Archers last week, racking up over 10,000 listeners.

The show, which can be found on iTunes and SoundCloud, sees Jonnie perform some of his favourite classic horror stories, from the likes of M.R. James, Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.

Its success was featured in Aberdeen's Evening Express newspaper and you can find that full story by clicking here.

Olivia is set for RADA

Everyone in Phoenix Theatre & Phoenix Youth Theatre are sending the warmest of congratulations to one of our dearest young stars, who has accepted a place at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Olivia Thom has had a special place in Phoenix Youth Theatre over the years - first starting as one of our smallest pupils over 10 years ago before returning to take the stage by storm more recently, including her star turn as Ado Annie in 'Oklahoma'.

She is set to start RADA's Foundation Course in Acting next month and we could not be more proud of her - or jealous of her new classmates for getting to watch her star continue to shine!

Phoenix links in to LinkedIn

We are delighted to announce that we have joined the ranks of LinkedIn companies and users across the globe.

Be sure to head over to LinkedIn to follow us, to find out more about the company and for any corporate entertainment enquiries.

Finals beckon for star Michael

We are sure that everyone associated with Phoenix will join us in crossing their fingers and sending the best of luck to one of our most beloved former stars this weekend.

Michael Lewis has successfully got into the finals of the Young Scottish Musical Theatre Performer of the Year, which will take place on Saturday 20 May at Glasgow's SECC!

The judging panel for the heats commended him for rising above the "exceptionally strong and extremely fierce" competition and that comes as no surprise to those of us who saw Michael's talent from the day he walked into Phoenix Youth Theatre.

We all continue to be incredibly proud of Michael's ongoing achievements and look forward to hearing how things go this weekend!

An ah-mer-zing time at the ball

Members of Phoenix Theatre and Phoenix Youth Theatre were on hand - or on tail! - to help out at this year's JDRF Junior Diabetes Charity Ball last night.

The 'Under the Sea' event took place at Ardoe House Hotel and the guests loved being welcomed by the mighty King Triton and his favourite mermaids!

Our prince climbs a beanstalk

Phoenix Theatre and Phoenix Youth Theatre are delighted that one of our former young stars has won the role of his dreams as Jack in 'Into the Woods'.

Michael Lewis landed leading roles in Phoenix Youth's 'Billy', 'The Pajama Game' and 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying', before going on to play Rapunzel's Prince in Phoenix Theatre's 'Into the Woods' in 2014.

We were all incredibly proud when he secured a place at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and he has made a great success of himself, such as playing the lead part of Ugly in Honk and now securing this part in his school's Sondheim project. We look forward to hearing how his second journey into the woods goes next month!

Chatterating breaks into iTunes top 10

Everyone in the Phoenix family is immensely proud to see Jonnie Milne and Katie Baxter be featured in the Evening Express newspaper for their geek and pop-culture podcast, 'Chatterating'.

The show broke into the iTunes Top 10 for TV & Film podcasts back in the autumn and has been growing in popularity ever since. It is available to download and subscribe to on iTunes, Soundcloud and Stitcher right now!

Read the full Evening Express article on the brother and sister duo here.

We bid goodbye to a canine star

It is with a deep and profound sadness that we report that our beloved Bennie, who starred as Sandy in Phoenix Youth Theatre's Annie, has passed away.

Bennie was an absolute highlight for cast and audience alike in the 2010 show and he loved every second he spent in the spotlight.

We hope that you will join us in remembering him as a sociable, fun and loving dog. He will continue to live on through all of us.

After all, good dogs never die. They just fall asleep in your heart. And they're happy, so they wag their tails and that is why your heart hurts.