(RED BANK | Sept 22 2025) Phoenix Productions, the Count Basie Center for the Arts’ community theatre company, brought home seven trophies at Sunday evening’s Perry Awards, the New Jersey Association of Community Theaters (NJACT)’s annual celebration honoring excellence amongst 80+ of the state’s community theatre companies.

Phoenix’s November 2024 production of The Color Purple took home the most awards, scoring Outstanding Direction of a Musical honors for Jarrod Scott, while Ericka Wilkens took home the trophy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical and Missa Thompson for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Musical. The Color Purple also took home PERRY Awards for Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical (Ashley Cusack) and Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical (Gabe Bagdazian and Jannette Fisher).

Anthony Greco, the Count Basie Center’s Senior Manager Arts Education and Outreach, took home Outstanding Direction of a Play honors for Phoenix’s spring presentation of Peter and the Starcatcher at The Vogel, while Phoenix’s Fran Centofante Katz secured Outstanding Stage Management of a Musical honors for the company’s June production of Kinky Boots.

“It was a pretty special moment a few months back when nominations were announced and Phoenix received 22 nods,” said James Grausam, Managing Artistic Director, Phoenix Productions. “To take home seven awards in some of the most prestigious categories — this is truly one of our highest points. We’re so grateful to the adjudicators, the NJACT Board, the actors, and of course, the patrons who continue to attend our productions and allow our community theatre company to thrive.”

Phoenix Productions and the Count Basie Center merged in 2021, following Phoenix’s 30+ year run of calling the historic performing arts center its home for main stage productions. The addition of Phoenix Productions complements the Basie Center’s long tenure of supporting the Broadway community, from its “Broadway At The Basie Center” series of national touring companies, to the annual Basie Awards, which honors excellence in Monmouth County high school theatre. The Count Basie Center Academy of the Arts also offers a number of Broadway-themes classes and workshops, including fully-mounted junior productions on its historic stages.

The Perry Awards are named in honor of William Perry Morgan, a gifted director, actor, composer and musician who was once a driving force in New Jersey’s community theatre scene. In 1973, Morgan and several of his community theatre colleagues created the AVY Awards, named after the township of Avenel, where he lived. In 2004, NJACT was formed to take over the awards and formally re-branded the program in Morgan’s honor.