Theater & Arts category, Page 15
Prime Stage Theatre set to open Harriet Tubman play
Most Americans know about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, but there are many more details that aren’t as well known about this fascinating and exceedingly brave woman. A good many of those details are woven into an upcoming Prime Stage Theatre production opening this week at the New Hazlett...
Pittsburgh dancer Maria Caruso’s one-woman show to be available on Broadway on Demand
Maria Caruso has never watched herself perform. On Jan. 20, that will all change. She plans to sit down in her Los Angeles, Calif., home with her husband, Alan Russell, and view her one-woman show “Metamorphosis” streaming on Broadway on Demand. And you can, too. For $3.99, the hour performance...
David Byrne’s next Broadway show will be ‘Here Lies Love’
NEW YORK — David Byrne’s “American Utopia” may have left Broadway but the Talking Heads leader is plotting a return — with disco. Byrne and Fatboy Slim plan to put their musical “Here Lies Love,” a show that charts the rise and fall of Philippine ex-first lady Imelda Marcos, on...
Cabaret Theatre hosts Irwin reading of new ‘Gatsby’-inspired musical
It’s widely accepted in the literary world that writer F. Scott Fitzgerald stole ideas and actual words from his wife, Zelda — including lines that went into his widely acclaimed novel, “The Great Gatsby.” Two Westmoreland County theater veterans have imagined Zelda Fitzgerald’s role in the creation of the novel...
A lion roars on Broadway as box office hauls reveal winners
NEW YORK — It was feast or famine at the Broadway box office as 2022 wound down, with eye-popping revenue for popular shows — including a staggering new Broadway record for “The Lion King” — not lifting all strugglers. Twenty-one of the 33 shows available broke the $1 million mark...
Resonance Works’ ‘Amahl’ stars Victory Brinker in first full opera role
Victory Brinker of Unity has been singing opera arias since she was 6. Now 10, the “America’s Got Talent” veteran is taking on her first full opera role as the title character in “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” Brinker will sing the role on the first two nights of the...
Behind the scenes at ‘The Nutcracker’ rehearsal at Palace Theatre is a winter whirlwind
In the two days leading up to the first performance of “The Nutcracker” at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg, every square inch of the space is a flurry of activity and excitement. Onstage, dancers of all ages — some 4 years old — practice pirouettes, leaps and twirls in fluttering...
‘Disney’s Frozen Jr.’ brings heart-warming winter tale to Scottdale stage
Since the movie “Frozen” was released in 2013, it’s become a favorite tale for people of all ages — and one that’s been on the “must-do” list for the Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale. Circumstances have finally converged, and the winter wonderland of “Disney’s Frozen Jr.” will take over...
Lost Stephen Sondheim musical reveals insight into a giantVideo
NEW YORK — A copy of what’s being called Stephen Sondheim’s first original cast recording has been found on a misplaced CD, capturing the legendary composer’s budding skills in a student-led musical while at Williams College in 1948. Sondheim was an 18-year-old sophomore when he wrote the music for “Phinney’s...
Holiday ‘Nutcracker’ productions run gamut from classic to hip hop
For many people, taking in a performance of “The Nutcracker” is as much a part of the holidays as the shopping, baking, visiting and general merriment. It certainly is for Natalie Ann Kasievich, executive director of the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, who grew up in Allegheny County’s North Hills. “My family...
Western Pa. arts, cultural organizations rebuild post-pandemic programs, audiences
During the covid-19 pandemic shutdowns, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust President and CEO Kevin McMahon frequently reassured colleagues that things would be OK. “Even in the darkest days of the pandemic, I said, ‘We’re resilient; we’re gonna make it through this,’ ” he said. “Of course, there were moments when I got...
Franklin Regional Thespians share world premiere of new play, ‘Elsewhere’
Members of the Franklin Regional Thespians typically have a good deal of reference material when they’re looking for ideas about how to stage a play or present a character. As the group prepares to perform “Elsewhere” later this month, that material is nowhere to be found. That’s because they are...
Shaler grad returns to Pittsburgh with touring production of ‘Les Misérables’Video
Not that long ago, Daniel Bittner was performing in musicals on the stage at Shaler Area High School. Now, the 23-year-old is returning to a Pittsburgh-area stage, but this time it will be the Benedum, as part of the U.S. touring production of one of the world’s most popular musicals,...
Chazz Palminteri brings ‘Bronx Tale’ 1-man show to PittsburghVideo
What do a charismatic mob boss, an Italian-American boy being brought up in a law-abiding family, and Bill Mazeroski have in common? They all factor into actor, writer, director and producer Chazz Palminteri’s “A Bronx Tale.” Before it was a movie, it was a one-man stage play. The 70-year-old Palminteri...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust names new president and CEO
Duquesne University graduate Kendra Whitlock Ingram has been named the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s new president and chief executive officer succeeding Kevin McMahon, who is retiring. Ingram will be the first person of color and the second woman to become president and CEO in the Cultural Trust’s 38-year history. She takes...
Pittsburgh’s Prime Stage Theatre reimagines ‘Frankenstein’
Movie and theater-goers are widely familiar with “Frankenstein,” the eerie tale of a scientist’s ill-advised creation of life in a laboratory. Not so well-known is that Frankenstein is the name of the creator, and not of the creation, as well as the story’s origin — how it was imagined by...
Great Scott! Westmoreland Performing Arts stages ‘Rocky Horror Show’
As much fun as actors might have on stage, sometimes performing is just a job. That’s not the case for those involved in the Westmoreland Performing Arts production of “The Rocky Horror Show.” “There are shows that actors do because they’re actors, and there are shows they do because it’s...
Actor brings Lenny Bruce to life in 1-man play
Before comedians like George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle came along, there was Lenny Bruce. Many considered Lenny Bruce to be ahead of his time. When he first hit stages in the late 1940s, stand-up comedians mostly played it safe. Politics and religion were considered controversial topics. In those...
Yough grad takes director’s reins for Grand Theatre production of ‘The Wedding Singer’
After graduating from Yough High School, South Huntingdon native Nik Nemec pursued his passion for theater at Point Park University. After spending several years working as a stage manager for the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut, Nemec is taking...
Greensburg Civic Theatre’s ‘Play That Goes Wrong’ promises big laughs
If calamity befalls Greensburg Civic Theatre’s upcoming production, they’ll know they did it right. Organized chaos is the goal when you’re presenting something called “The Play That Goes Wrong.” The award-winning comedy will be staged at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Greensburg Garden &...
Prime Stage earns American Council of the Blind award for audio description services
Nathan Ruggles’ work as an audio describer at Prime Stage Theatre means he is responsible for bringing the visual elements of live theater to visually impaired audience members. “It’s all about making that visual imagery present and accessible to people who have visual impairment,” said Ruggles, 48, of Pittsburgh’s Mount...
Aubrey Burchell joins cast of ‘Footloose’ at Scottdale’s Geyer theater
Fresh from her run to the semifinals of “America’s Got Talent” Season 17, Aubrey Burchell is getting back on stage to challenge herself in a new way. The 21-year-old singer from North Huntingdon is playing Rusty in the Actors and Artists of Fayette County production of “Footloose The Musical,” running...
‘Bat Boy: The Musical’ will open Theatre Factory’s new season
If you say the phrase “supermarket tabloid” to someone and ask what image comes to mind, there’s a good chance they will mention “Bat Boy,” the infamous (not to mention fictional) subject of a 1992 Weekly World News story and the poster child for the height of tabloid silliness. “Bat...
‘The Phantom of the Opera’ to close on Broadway next year
NEW YORK — “The Phantom of the Opera” — Broadway’s longest-running show — is scheduled to close in February 2023, the biggest victim yet of the post-pandemic softening in theater attendance in New York. The musical — a fixture on Broadway since 1988, weathering recessions, war and cultural shifts —...
Broadway theater renamed in honor of James Earl Jones
NEW YORK — The newly restored Cort Theatre on Broadway has been renamed after James Earl Jones, becoming the second theater on the Great White Way named after a Black artist. During Monday’s ceremony included Norm Lewis singing “Go the Distance,” Brian Stokes Mitchell singing “Make Them Hear You” and...
