Tickets on sale for Expressing Willie at the Phoenix Theatre in Firdale Village

The Phoenix Theatre presents

The West Coast Premiere of Rachel Crothers’ 1924 comedy

EXPRESSING WILLIE

December 4 to December 20

A Phoenix Theatre Production
The Phoenix Theatre, 9673 Firdale Avenue, Edmonds, WA 98020.

Plays: December 4 to December 20. Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Pay-what-you-can Dress Rehearsal on Thursday, December 3.

Tickets: Adults: Single tickets $19; Students/Seniors/Military: $16; Those under 12: $12. Now on sale: 206-533-2000 or online

Interior of the Phoenix Theater in Firdale Village

Expressing Willie by Rachel Crothers is a clever comedy (written in 1924) about a man, who through the urging of his mother becomes obscenely wealthy in Long Island, NY. With newfound money and an increased ego, Willie Smith finds himself in an unfamiliar plane, involved with free thinkers and all that accompanies sordid wealth – until his former, unsophisticated, girlfriend arrives and pits Midwestern values against the idle rich. By the time Willie realizes he has been a self-centered fool, it may be too late.

Before The Great Gatsby (some even say it inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald), Rachel Crothers wrote about this obscenely wealthy group of Long Islanders. The play takes place inside a ridiculously magnificent Italian Mansion with all the ‘down-home warmth of the Metropolitan Museum’.

Cast (Alphabetical Order) Larry Albert as George, Mary Bayley as Mrs. Smith, Melanie Calderwood as Taliaferro, Susan Connors as Dolly, Caitlin Frances as Francis, Alyssa Kay as Minnie, Arin Larson as Reynolds, J. Woody Lotts as Willie, and Jim Thompson as Simpson.

About the playwright:

RACHEL CROTHERS (1878–1958) Not only a playwright, Ms. Crothers was a director, producer, and actor. She was the most consistently successful playwright of her time with many of her plays focusing the audiences' attentions on modern women's issues of equality and choice. After studying acting at the Stanhope‐Wheatcroft School and performing professionally for several seasons, Crothers’ first play, Nora (1903), was produced. Her last play was Susan and God (1937), which described the problems that ensue when a rich matron discovers religion.

The Phoenix Theatre is located in Firdale Village in Edmonds, just north of Shoreline, in a 96 seat theater at 9673 Firdale Avenue, Edmonds, WA 98020.