The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announced Wednesday the cancellation of one show and the rescheduling of another for its PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series.
“Beautiful — The Carole King Musical” has been canceled. “Hadestown,” originally scheduled for Oct. 27-Nov. 1, has been rescheduled to Sept. 7-12, 2021.
These decisions had to be made “because the Benedum Center stage remains dark at the moment,” wrote Marc L. Fleming, vice president marketing and communications and Broadway programming for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust in a statement.
He added “our ghost light remains lit.”
A ghost light is a single bulb, usually screwed into a floor lamp, that shines throughout the night after performances have finished for the day and the house lights are turned off, according to a release. It’s a custom that most every performing arts theater follows.
“Unfortunately, even as the region enters into the green phase, our Benedum Center ghost light will remain on duty around the clock for now,” he said.
There are several challenges to reopening, he said, such as not being able to have gatherings of more than 250 people.
Performing on stage and in the orchestra pit in most Broadway shows requires close and sometimes intimate contact, which current health procedures and practices do not safely allow, he said. And there is concern about shows traveling from theater to theater. And the production process requires months of planning.
The goal is to have people back in the theater as soon as possible, but until then the guest services team will be contacting ticket buyers about postponed and rescheduled shows. People can also call 412-456-1390 for more information about ticket refunds and/or exchanges.
?Important PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh Update?
— PGH Cultural Trust (@CulturalTrust) June 24, 2020
Read about the 2020-2021 season changes at https://t.co/iwKFbwBfCT
Our goal is to have you safely back in your seats with the curtain rising again as soon as possible. Until then we will keep the (ghost) light on for you. pic.twitter.com/ZsfvxCMXKe
Here is the updated schedule (all shows at the Benedum Center, Downtown):
“Hamilton,” Jan. 5-Feb. 7
“Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” Feb. 16-21
“Oklahoma!” March 9-14
“Pretty Woman: The Musical,” March 30-April 4
“My Fair Lady,” April 13-18
“Tootsie,” Aug. 10-15, 2021
“Hadestown,” Sept. 7-12, 2021
There is an optional production: “Blue Man Group,” April 27-May 2.
