Charles’ 
Backstage West
Southern Calfifornia, December 3, 2003
Charles Phoenix’s
Retro Holiday Slide Show
Reviewed By Laura Weinert
If you have any interest in stepping through the shag-carpeted scenes of mid-century Americana, Charles Phoenix is a man you should know.
A self-described kitsch-culture archivist, humorist, author, and “histo-tainer,” Phoenix has a charmingly enthusiastic obsession with the artifacts of our polyester past, traced back to a childhood spent rambling through the thrift stores of Ontario, Calif.
Years ago he began collecting orphaned vintage amateur 35mm slides. From his current collection of some 200,000 photos, he has culled an evening’s worth of holiday gems and woven them into a bubbling tour of strange tastes and holiday traditions, ranging from the 1940s to the ’70s and spanning territory from Beverly Hills to the Ozarks.
The stars of the show are of course the families in Phoenix’s slides, who become mysterious characters in a narrative that balances historical information with bemused speculation. But the key to this show’s success is the tone with which Phoenix presents the material. He avoids the temptation to snicker sarcastically at every turn, instead treating the material with loving amusement, which perhaps comes naturally to a man who so clearly adores the past. His enthusiasm is infectious.
With an expert’s ability to point out odd and revealing detail, Phoenix guides us from living room to living room as we witness a parade of offbeat holiday decor and fashion.
We giggle gently at the presents received, the cigarettes smoked, the weird beverages consumed, the preponderance of frilly curtains and ruffled lampshades, the silver tinsel trees, the decorated tumbleweeds, and the gelatin-based food products. Some of the holiday parties are downright bizarre. “How many New Year’s Eve parties do you go to where they have a skeleton you can dance with?” marvels Phoenix at a strange basement party. Indeed half the fun of the piece is guessing about the photos right along with him.
A number of the slides come from collections that span decades, allowing us to witness the families grow and evolve from Christmas to Christmas. The show becomes not only a window into our collective past but also a portrait of the suburban American family.
Phoenix admits that when he decided to put this show together, people asked him why he thought an audience would want to sit and look at strangers’ family photos. This inventive, well-researched, and delightfully presented tour is his answer.
This review first appeared online on Backstage West, December 3, 2003
"Charles Phoenix’s God Bless Americana: The Retro Holiday Slide Show"
Theater: American Cinematheque/Egyptian Theatre
Location: 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.
Phone: (866) 754-3374.
Starts: November 29, 2003
Ends: January 04, 2004
Evenings: Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 1 p.m.
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