Theater & Arts category, Page 16
Benedum Center stage gets major upgrade
For the first time in over two decades, Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center has a new stage floor. The Benedum Center is one of the busiest theaters in the world, so the old 7,000-plus-square-foot stage had a lot of wear and tear from the past 20 years. According to the trade publication...
Pittsburgh Opera to open season with ‘Opera’s Little Mermaid’
There aren’t many major operas that the 84-year-old Pittsburgh Opera has not performed, especially ones that have been around since 1901. But on Sept. 17, the Pittsburgh Opera will stage the company’s debut performance of Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s “Rusalka” at the Benedum Center. The opera is the Czech version...
Mr. Smalls gives live theater a go this weekend with Sondheim’s ‘Passion’
Jordan Berlin Speranzo and Nick Grosso have a passion for live theater. So it’s only appropriate that the first production they teamed up to stage shares that same name: Stephen Sondheim’s “Passion.” Speranzo’s mother Liz Berlin, rock veteran of Pittsburgh’s Rusted Root and owner of Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale,...
Billy Strayhorn-Duke Ellington’s jazz ‘Nutcracker’ to premiere in Pittsburgh
On Dec. 1, 1938, Pittsburgh resident and jazz composer Billy Strayhorn met the legendary Duke Ellington backstage after a show at what was then the Stanley Theater. Their musical personalities meshed, and Strayhorn’s composition “Take the ‘A’ Train” eventually became the Ellington band’s theme song. The duo also collaborated on...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust gala comes at critical point for Cultural DistrictVideo
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will celebrate the Band of Dreamers who envisioned the downtown Cultural District more than 35 years ago during the Building on the Dream Gala, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 7 in the Benedum Center. Featured entertainer will be Renee Elise Goldsberry, a Tony Award-winner for her role...
Pittsburgh Playwrights staging August Wilson’s ‘Jitney’ at his childhood home
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company will join in celebrating the revitalization of the August Wilson House by staging Wilson’s “Jitney” at the historic property in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright’s childhood home has been renovated as a community art center. Grand opening activities will be held Saturday, with Friday’s...
Cyndi Lauper says ‘Kinky Boots’ offers hope for a new time
NEW YORK — Three years after it closed on Broadway, the musical “Kinky Boots” returns to New York City. The show may not have changed, but the country has. The Cyndi Lauper- and Harvey Fierstein-created musical landed on Broadway in 2013 in the middle of the Obama administration, a big...
Lower Burrell, Monroeville actors step into lead roles for ‘Beauty and the Beast’
When Matt Mlynarski steps onto the stage these days, he finds himself having to take smaller steps, and being careful not to bend his arms too far. That’s because Mlynarski, 34, of Lower Burrell, in his own words, is “slowly turning into a clock,” in the form of the character...
U.S. soprano, offended by blackface, pulls out of Italy opera
ROME — Soprano Angel Blue says she won’t perform in an opera in Italy this month because blackface was used in the staging of a different work this summer on the same stage. The U.S. singer posted a note on her angeljoyblue Instagram page saying she will be bowing out...
Saint Vincent Summer Theatre stages ‘Lend Me a Tenor’
There’s a lot of door slamming in Saint Vincent Summer Theatre’s upcoming production of “Lend Me a Tenor.” The frenetic action is central to the plot of playwright Ken Ludwig’s popular farce, mixing subterfuge with mistaken identity, according to SVST producing artistic director Greggory Brandt. The show will be staged...
James Rado, who co-created groundbreaking ‘Hair,’ dies at 90
NEW YORK — James Rado, co-creator of the groundbreaking hippie musical “Hair,” which celebrated protest, pot and free love and paved the way for the sound of rock on Broadway, has died. He was 90. Rado died Tuesday night in New York City of cardio respiratory arrest, according to friend...
Billy Porter among 3 Carnegie Mellon alumni to win Tony Awards
Billy Porter added to his list of Tony Award wins Sunday, taking home honors for Best Musical as producer of “A Strange Loop.” The Pittsburgh native and 1991 Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama alumnus also won a 2013 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as...
Tony Award moments: A night for Broadway to reclaim its groove
NEW YORK — Surely many in the audience were thinking it, but “Company” director Marianne Elliott said it most directly at Sunday’s Tony awards: In the devastating two years since the pandemic hit, it “felt at times that live theater was endangered.” As in, the industry might never recover. The...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust drops masking requirement
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will no longer require masks at its theaters and facilities starting next week after the number of covid-19 cases in Allegheny County dropped below a high rate of transmission. Beginning Tuesday, guests are not required to wear masks at indoor events. The announcement came after the...
Split Stage musical salutes those about to rock at Irwin’s Lamp Theatre
If there’s a lack of ’80s rock in your life, Split Stage Productions has a remedy. The theater company will shake the walls of Irwin’s Lamp Theatre beginning Friday with a five-night run of the jukebox rock extravaganza “Rock of Ages.” First a Broadway musical and then a movie, “Rock...
Prime Stage kicks off children’s programming with ‘The Amazing Lemonade Girl’
Pittsburgh’s Prime Stage Theatre is planning to bring literature to life for children and their families through its new Prime Stage Sprouts programming. The inaugural Sprouts production, “The Amazing Lemonade Girl,” is set for June 16-19 at the New Hazlett Theatre in Pittsburgh’s North Side. The play by Jim DeVita...
Kinetic Theatre stages ‘Illustrious Invalid’ world premiere in Pittsburgh
Kinetic Theatre is going meta with its next production, the world premiere of actor/playwright Simon Bradbury’s “The Illustrious Invalid.” The comedic romp, inspired by French playwright Moliere’s “The Imaginary Invalid,” will be staged Thursday through June 26 at City Theatre Mainstage, 1300 Bingham St. in Pittsburgh’s South Side. Moliere’s 1673...
Book celebrates the 50th anniversary of musical ‘Grease’
NEW YORK — On Valentine’s Day 1972, a musical opened off-Broadway needing a lot of love. It was already $20,000 in debt and the reviews were mixed to poor. A decision had to be made: Keep going or give it the kiss off? The choice to continue was a risky...
Pittsburgh CLO’s Gene Kelly Awards recognize top high school musicals
Aspiring stars of tomorrow were recognized for their talents at the 31st Annual Pittsburgh CLO Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater on May 28 in Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center. Named for the legendary song-and-dance man and Pittsburgh native, the awards recognize excellence in high school musical theater...
Pittsburgh CLO marks 76th season with diverse summer lineup
Pittsburgh CLO will celebrate its 76th season with six award-winning musicals and added opportunities for fun, starting June 7 with the national tour of “Jersey Boys.” The 2022 Summer of Musicals promises a showcase of national, regional and local performers. Productions will feature enhancements like a new video wall, along...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces plans for expansion and update to Greer Cabaret Theater
This show intermission will last about a year. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announced an extensive remodel and expansion of the Greer Cabaret Theater and Backstage Bar in Downtown’s Cultural District on Monday. It’s expected to take about 12 months. For almost 20 years, the venue has been known as being...
Saint Vincent Summer Theatre returns with 2 audience-favorite shows
Saint Vincent Summer Theatre will return from a two-year pandemic intermission by presenting two familiar romps from past seasons. The theater’s 52nd season will feature the musical “Nunsense,” running June 14-19; and the popular farce “Lend Me a Tenor,” July 12-17. Performances will be staged in the Robert S. Carey...
EQT Children’s Theater Festival returns live to Pittsburgh
The EQT Children’s Theater Festival returns live and in-person Saturday and Sunday to Pittsburgh’s Cultural District for the first time since 2019, following online iterations of the event during the pandemic. Now in its 36th year, the festival fosters children’s imaginations through professional theater performances from around the world. This...
Murrysville girl excited to be part of coming-of-age story
The Pittsburgh Youth Chorus and Hill Dance Academy will collaborate to present a coming-of-age story told through choral ballet this month. “‘Crossings’ is a coming-of-age story — told through dance, vocal music, and spoken word — of a young African-American woman growing up ‘Uptown’ and confronting racism in her community,”...
Temptations’ musical story comes to Pittsburgh in ‘Ain’t Too Proud’
From the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, “Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of The Temptations” covers the story of the iconic Motown super-group. The first national tour of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical comes to Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center from May 17...
