Last weekend, I attended the opening night performance of “The Sugar Bean Sisters,” at The Phoenix Theatre in Firdale Village. The play, written by Nathan Sanders, was billed as a “Southern Gothic Comedy.” It was funny!

I enjoy evenings at The Phoenix Theatre. A small theatre with the cast close to the audience always appeals to me. It doesn’t hurt that an evening at The Phoenix is no more than a ten-minute drive from downtown Edmonds, with no parking issues.

And, to get back to my evening with “The Sugar Bean Sisters,” the casting was excellent, with each of the five actors settling into character beautifully, playing off one another perfectly.

It was a pleasure—at the end of a somewhat hectic day—to settle in, sit back and become part of an appreciative audience in the mood to laugh.

Sometimes opening nights have their glitches, but not this time.

You can catch “The Sugar Bean Sisters” weekends through Sept. 23.

Call The Phoenix Theatre at (206)533-2000 for ticket information—you’ll save if you buy season tickets.

On the way home from The Phoenix Theatre, my companions and I enumerated the entertainment we have available year around in Edmonds.  Our conclusion?  We are privileged to live in such an arts-conscious community.  (You already knew this, of course, but it bears repeating.)

The Edmonds Center for the Arts offers a broad variety of presentations, from internationally known performers to local symphony and chorale events—located in the marvelous old building where some of us attended high school.

I appreciate that many of our venues for the arts are locations that housed events that impacted my childhood.

Participants travel far to attend the prestigious “Write on the Sound Writers Conference” each October at the Frances Anderson Center, which used to be the location of Edmonds Elementary School, the grade school my brother and friends and I attended.

Every Father’s Day weekend in June, we now take in the superb Edmonds Arts Festival at that venue.

The Edmonds Theatre?  One of the few fine old small-town  movie theatres around, it used to be the Princess Theatre.

My grandfather and I walked to Saturday matinee cowboy movies, and Edmonds High School teens sat in the balcony on weekend evenings.

The Driftwood Players offer a variety of dramatic presentations in the Wade James Theatre, another long-time Edmonds institution.

The Edmonds Conference Center and countless galleries, community schools and churches add to the rich mix of Edmonds arts venues and programs.

An exciting addition to the Edmonds arts scene? Three new murals this season, painted on buildings whose walls have been plain and uninteresting for many years, now transformed into a total of 14 vibrant artistic creations.

I love the murals! Go to www.edmondsmuralsociety.org for a walking tour map. While you’re on the website, please join the society and support this fine continuing project.