The Phoenix Theatre for Children enters its 16th season in Columbus with a lineup of five plays which continue the company tradition of challenging young minds to broaden their view of themselves and the world.

The 2008-09 season opens on Halloween with the Mark Twain classic Huck Finn’s American Song, featuring authentic songs and folk music from the 1800s. Phoenix offers another musical production in December with An Axe, an Apple, and a Buckskin Jacket, a holiday tale based on the popular Bing Crosby album, A Christmas Story.

Following the success of last year’s bilingual production of The Secret Garden, which received a Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle citation for outstanding theater and a nomination for the prestigious GCAC Artistic Excellence Award, Phoenix will undertake another bilingual presentation in January 2009. The Miracle Worker, a depiction of the early years of inspirational American icon Helen Keller, will be presented utilizing a combination of deaf and hearing actors who will simultaneously perform in spoken English and American Sign Language.

The Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel will debut in February 2009, and will blend the use of puppetry with live actors.

The 2008-09 season finale in March 2009 is based on a children’s picture book by James Thurber. Many Moons, which is both the name of the book and the Phoenix play, was selected in honor of the 25th birthday of Columbus’ Thurber House, a literary center and museum of Thurber materials.

“This season’s lineup engages our strengths while still challenging us to grow as an organization and as artists,” says Phoenix Artistic Director Steven C. Anderson. “It’s a diverse and exciting body of work, and we look forward to bringing our best efforts to the young imaginations of Central Ohio.”

Phoenix will be based in the Riffe Center in 2008-09, shifting between Studio One and Studio Two.

The 2008-09 Phoenix season subscription package is $37.50 per child and $75 per adult for renewing subscribers, and $40 per child and $80 per adult for new subscribers. Single ticket prices are $10 per child and $20 per adult. Subscriptions can be purchased by calling the CAPA Ticket Office at 614-469-0939.

Weekday morning matinees and touring performances are also available at discounted rates for school groups. For more information, call 614-464-9400 or visit www.thephoenixonline.org.