82. Phase

Phase, Dalton’s legendary night of student entertainment, continues to endure more than 30 years since its inception. 

Phase, Dalton’s legendary night of student entertainment, is part talent-show and part initiation into the magic of live performance.  Phase began in 1975 as an outlet for high school student performing artists to showcase their talent — from stand-up comedy to rock & roll. One alum recalls “We did three shows that year in the library. We tried to create a nightclub atmosphere with committee members as waiters. We all remember the dazzling (sometimes baffling) talent, the roof-raising jazz bands, side-splitting comedy, and spine-tingling musical genius.”

“I vividly remember my first Phase. I had never attended any type of staged entertainment without an adult. Held in the Dalton Auditorium on a Saturday night, the evening was highly anticipated. Bands, jugglers, comedians….the brave representatives of the high school got on stage and performed for their fellow students, not as part of a standard school assembly but on Saturday NIGHT, with no teachers present! Well, there probably was some adult supervision but I don’t recall that part very well.

For Dalton’s 100th Anniversary we took Phase on the road, out of its traditional home on 89th street and into the heart of Brooklyn, to Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Bowl. The Bowl has featured performances by some of today’s top performers, including Kanye West, Adele, Guns N Roses, and Paul Simon but this special evening was a one-of-a-kind melding of alumni, talent and fun, as alum-based bands and performers hit the stage to celebrate Dalton’s milestone anniversary and the creative magic that only Phase can generate.”
—Peter Shapiro ’91