Meet Cory Phelps

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cory Phelps and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cory, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
During the pandemic and after having lost my job, I was sitting with my girlfriend (now wife!), Amy Duffy. We both had a deep desire to create theatre again. We knew it wasn’t the ideal time as the conversations surrounding vaccines have only just begun. We started all of the legal work to open a non-profit in late 2020, we took the first six months of 2021 to get the mission put together and brainstorm our first project. In June 2021, we launched our first project which was a touring theatre for young audiences musical called How I Became a Pirate. The little cast and crew of six vaccinated artists hit the road touring to primarily outdoor locations all summer long. At the end of that joyful journey, we found that our theatre company, Destination Theatre was on to something. We toured to food pantries, parks, behavioral health centers for kids, and we even performed in Horizon Theatre’s parking lot! People needed joy at that time of isolation. When the tour concluded, Amy and I looked at each other and said “I guess we have a theatre company now”. Our next question was “who else needs theatre in this time?” and that has been the question that has sparked every project since including our senior living tours, education programs, holiday productions, and immersive theatre experiences. DESTINATION THEATRE is dedicated to creating excellent and imaginative touring productions for people of all ages, backgrounds, and demographics. We aim to provide exciting, educational, and high-quality theatre experiences in communities across the U.S. and beyond.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Destination Theatre exists to meet people where they are both geographically and in life through theatre. Amy and I started the company from scratch. It has grown significantly year or year. We tour show stories audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and demographics. Some of our programming includes:

The Memory Lane Series – a touring musical cabaret series which plays over seventy times per year at senior living, assisted living, and high-care/memory care communities across Georgia & Tennessee.

The Bar Crawl Series- an immersive theatre series that tours to breweries and pubs all over metro-Atlanta. Our 1920s experience, The Speakeasy Encounter played breweries and restaurants from Sugar Hill to Newnan. Up next: a 1970s immersive game show experience, The Game Show… Show. In this program, we aim to bridge the gap between the non-theatre goer and art.

The Greatest Christmas Story Ever Told by Two People or, … A Christmas Carol? – a two person adaptation of A Christmas Carol where one person plays Scrooge and one person plays everyone else! This show has toured several different states throughout the southeast and midwest.

In our education department, we have a national summer camp series where we teach students of all ages and abilities in five different states. We create customized theatre education curricula for specific student populations including youth who are in psychiatric treatment, on breathing technology, and experience a cognitive or physical impairment. Our biggest education project is our partnership with a behavioral health center where we mount a full musical with their adult clients who have a severe and persistent mental illness and/or they may have experienced homelessness. These clients perform and work onstage and backstage alongside Destination Theatre’s professional actors, directors, designers, and teaching artists.

Building a non-profit is NOT easy. Building a non-profit arts organization is DEFINITELY NOT easy. At DT, we aim to provide access to the arts by going into communities and meeting people where they already gather. We have built a company that helps people in a very direct way. If we stay on that mission, we can continue to grow and help others. To create a show is an amazing thing and we love it but our work on all fronts should help people in all kinds of communities and we do that by going to them.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
For brunch, we’d hit up Ria’s Blue Bird in Grant Park.

Then a stroll through the Oakland Cemetery.

We’d head over to Krog Street Market for drinks and lunch on the belt line.

After that, catch an improv show at Dad’s Garage.

After the show, late night cocktails and pizza at Lloyds.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My greatest collaborator is my wife, Amy Duffy. She is the most multi-talented, grounded, and intelligent individual I know. To make art with her is a dream.

My best friends, Jesse Allard and Drew Starkey. They live in LA now but we grew up together in college, moved to Atlanta at the same time, and still find opportunities to collaborate.

My mother is a brilliant business woman and she has been a guiding force in my entire career including the start of Destination Theatre. My father passed a few years ago but he was an athlete turned theatre lover and never-ever doubted my abilities. They had a village of friends that helped raise me too and they all try to catch a show when they can.

Jaclyn Hofmann-Faircloth, local actor/director/educator has been my mentor for close to ten years. I can tie almost every single gig I’ve ever had back to this wonderful artist and friend.

I live in Southwest Atlanta with, as we call it, “The Compound” – an amazing group of artists that all live on the same street as each other and lift each other up in this craziness of life and the arduousness of an arts career. Shoutout to: Candy McLellan, Jeremiah Davison, Anthony Nash, Amy Duffy, and while they don’t do art professionally, they are deeply creative and talented friends, Midge & Josh Carter-Kephart.

I’m involved in my church, Redeemer Community Church and the folks there are just stellar individuals who I hold dearly.

Lastly, I had an amazing undergrad theatre experience at Western Carolina University. My professors (especially Claire Eye) helped to build the creative bedrock that I stand on today.

My apprenticeship experience at Aurora Theatre was a formative time as well. I’m very grateful to Aurora for jump starting my career. Additionally, I met Justin Anderson during this year of training and he has not only stayed a mentor but serves on the Board of Directors at Destination Theatre with his lovely husband, Michael Crute.

Website: https://www.coryphelpsarts.com

Instagram: @corymphelps

Other: https://www.destinationtheatre.org
IG: @destinationtheatre
https://www.facebook.com/destinationtheatre

Image Credits
Beautiful at Aurora Theatre – Casey Gardner Ford
The Mousetrap at Stage Door Theatre (plaid sweater) – Casey Gardner Ford
Romeo & Juliet at The Atlanta Shakespeare Co. – Jeffrey Watkins
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Stage Door Theatre – Robert Mitchel Owenby Photography