Theater & Arts category, Page 13
Bethel Park High School teacher wrote, is directing fall play
Cortney Williams had more actors than parts. Instead of trimming the cast, she added characters. Williams, an English teacher at Bethel Park High School, wrote plays so everyone could be included. “I thought, if they are willing to come and put in the time, then there needs to be a...
Murrysville middle school’s fall play is a lost-and-found story about learning to love
Franklin Regional teacher Christine Klemstine couldn’t have been more surprised when eighth grader J.T. Esposito performed his audition for the middle school’s fall play. “He had half of the script already memorized,” Klemstine said. “I couldn’t believe it.” Memorizing 20 pages of dialogue is a big enough challenge for an...
Greensburg Civic Theatre opens 72nd season with ‘The Last Five Years’
A two-person performance will light up the stage and kick off the 72nd season at the Greensburg Civic Theatre this weekend. The show, “The Last Five Years,” will be performed at the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This will be an early season opener for...
Greer Cabaret Theater hosts its 1st performance with change of scenery
The Greer Cabaret Theater is in character, dressed up and ready for opening night. After being closed for more than a year and getting a re-fresh, the venue will host Pittsburgh CLO’s “tick, tick…BOOM!” It’s an autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer of “RENT.”...
Prime Stage Theatre to host open auditions for upcoming season
Prime Stage Theatre officials will host open auditions for their 27th season Sept. 16-17 in Pittsburgh. Auditions for the “Season of Courage and Discovery” will be from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 16 and 4-9 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Prime Stage Studio, 840 West Saw Mill Run Boulevard in...
Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks stages ‘Cleopatra’ with all-woman cast
William Shakespeare was not averse to including a ballad or two in his plays. Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks is going the Bard one better this year, adding modern dance numbers to its production of “Cleopatra & Antony.” Audience members will hear snippets of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring...
Trafford’s Theatre Factory to debut play this weekend at Pittsburgh New Works FestivalVideo
When Josette Kurey realized she would be directing actors Ron and Mary Ferrara of Vandergrift as part the world premiere of a new play about a married Italian-American couple from Queens, N.Y., she knew things were on the right track. “They’re almost playing themselves, married Italian grandparents. It’s very funny,...
Documentary Week announced at The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center in Sewickley
The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center in Sewickley announced the lineup for its inaugural Documentary Week, Sept. 1-14. Nine films, curated to suit a wide range of interests, will be offered on various days and times. The week also features virtual talkbacks with directors, expert speakers and other special events...
Billy Porter helping to revitalize Pittsburgh’s Homewood Coliseum
The arts saved Billy Porter. Porter wants those dreams for other young people. That’s why he is partnering with Herky and Lisa Pollock and professional cook Rachael Ray on the revitalization of the Greater Pittsburgh Coliseum in Homewood, a part of the city near and dear to Porter. Ray is...
Broadway-bound revival of ‘The Wiz’ finds its next Dorothy, thanks in part to TikTok
NEW YORK — A 24-year-old triple threat who toured in “Hairspray,” competed on “American Idol” and came to the attention of casting agents with her TikTok videos has landed the plum role of Dorothy in the Broadway-bound production of “The Wiz.” Nichelle Lewis will star in the national touring show...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Aug. 4-6
It’s the first weekend of August. In addition to the Pink concert on Saturday at PNC Park on the North Shore, here are some fun ways to spend it. Art crawl The Lawrenceville Art Crawl is from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday. This festival along Butler Street has indoor and...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: July 14-16
It’s the weekend. Here are some ways to spend it. Northside Music Festival The inaugural Northside Music Festival is Friday through Sunday. Previously known as the Deutschtown Music Festival, the free, three-day event will feature more than 70 musical acts, an artist market and more than 30 food trucks. On...
Saint Vincent Summer Theatre offers ‘Enchanted Evening’ for season finale
For its 53rd season finale, Saint Vincent Summer Theatre will present “Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein.” The revue features five performers singing the most popular songs from the celebrated duo of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, whose 11 musicals started with “Oklahoma!” in 1943 and...
‘Abbott Elementary’ star Chris Perfetti feels at home with ‘King James’
NEW YORK — Chances are you won’t find Chris Perfetti fiercely debating on social media if LeBron James is indeed the GOAT, nor will you find him waiting hours outside of hotels, hoping to get an autograph or selfie from the basketball legend — but you wouldn’t know it from...
Aubrey Burchell stars in Scottdale theater’s production of ‘Heathers’
The pressure to behave badly can be overwhelming if it means being accepted by the cool clique. That theme is explored in the darkly comic “Heathers,” a musical based on the cult classic 1988 film of the same name, running Thursday through Sunday at the Geyer Performing Arts Center in...
Tina Turner musical on national tour gains new meaning in the wake of the rock icon’s death
NEW YORK — The national tour of Broadway’s “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical” makes its California debut this week, arriving as a poignant, posthumous celebration following the rock music icon’s death last month. “Tina” opens in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre on Wednesday, steps away from her...
Carnegie Mellon grads make waves — via politics and performance — at Tony Awards
Carnegie Mellon University certainly was recognized — in more ways than one — at the 76th Tony Awards on Sunday. CMU grad Denée Benton, a previous Tony nominee, made perhaps the night’s biggest waves by taking aim at Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. During an evening that...
‘The Boxcar Children’ brings long-running children’s book series to Pittsburgh stage
Author Gertrude Chandler Warner wrote the first book in what would become her “Boxcar Children” series in 1924. It would go on to spawn more than 100 books with the plucky children typically solving mysteries. Prime Stage Theatre’s Sprouts program will bring the stories to life on stage as they...
Pittsburgh Film Office and Pittsburgh Public Theater launch training partnership Create PA
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis walked to the podium, mentioned the word “persistence” and looked directly at Dawn M. Keezer. “When you look up that word in the dictionary you will see a picture of Dawn Keezer,” Davis said Wednesday morning inside the O’Reilly Theater, Downtown, referring to the Pittsburgh...
Florida drama teacher who includes deaf students in school shows will receive a special Tony Award
NEW YORK — The special Tony Award that honors educators will go this year to a drama teacher in Florida who has closed the gap between the deaf and hearing worlds by having productions performed in both voice and American Sign Language. Jason Zembuch-Young, artistic director of the public South...
CLO Construction Center for the Arts in Springdale plays a lead role in theater productions
Some of the physical sets that audiences see on theater stages here and across the country began inside the Pittsburgh CLO’s Construction Center for the Arts in Springdale. More than 50 musical theater sets, ranging from classics such as “1776,” “The Sound of Music” and “Annie” to blockbusters “Mary Poppins”...
‘Some Like It Hot’ leads Tony Award nominations with 13 nods
NEW YORK — “Some Like It Hot,” a Broadway musical adaptation of the cross-dressing movie comedy that starred Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, waltzed away Tuesday with a leading 13 Tony Award nominations, putting the spotlight on a show that is a sweet, full-hearted embrace of trans rights. With songs...
Small-town America takes center stage with Franklin Regional production of ‘Our Town’
Declan Van Soest is used to playing characters with a lot more funny lines. “It’s definitely the most philosophical role I’ve ever had,” Van Soest, 17, said of his role as the stage manager in the Franklin Regional Thespians’ upcoming production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.” Written in 1938, it...
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ brings complex tale of lonely teen to Pittsburgh
Evan Hansen is a lonely, anxious teenager “on the outside always looking in.” A letter he never meant for anyone to see leads to a lie he never meant to tell — offering a chance at friendships and connections he never thought he would have. Whether to continue in the...
A play about the making of ‘Jaws’ swims toward Broadway
NEW YORK — A stage play about the making of the blockbuster movie “Jaws” will soon take a huge bite out of Broadway. “The Shark is Broken” — co-written and starring the son of one of the film’s stars, the late Robert Shaw — will land on The Great White...
