Theater & Arts category, Page 18
Greensburg Salem Middle School prepares to stage ‘Frozen Jr.’Video
Conveying emotion from a high school stage out into the audience is already a tricky task. When your head is trapped inside a snowman’s mouth, it can be even trickier. “The way the head is can make it tough,” said LeTrey Derry, 13, who will play living snowman Olaf in...
Barebones Black Box Theater in Braddock returns to stage with ‘Misery’
As area theaters go back to producing live stage shows, fans of tightly produced, intimate plays can celebrate the return of Barebones Black Box in Braddock. The brainchild of actor/director Patrick Jordan, barebones productions is bouncing back from a two-year hiatus in a big way with the opening of the...
Celebration of August Wilson’s birthday includes preserving childhood home
The first place where Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson was inspired is coming back to life. The house in the Hill District where Wilson grew up will have him remembered and honored inside the space, which is in the process of being restored. It will be a home to inspire...
Thomas Jefferson High School presents spring musical ‘Legally Blonde’
As a first-time director, Jim Benedek came into this year’s spring musical at Thomas Jefferson High School with a vision. He wanted to use as many of his own talents as possible, but he also wanted to tap into what he sees as a deep well of student talent. Of...
Westmoreland Performing Arts troupe shoulders weighty Sam Shepard drama
The Westmoreland Performing Arts professional company will make its debut with Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize finalist drama, “True West,” playing March 17-19 at the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center. “True West” examines the fraught relationship between screenwriter Austin and his older brother Lee, with the action unfolding in the kitchen...
Pamela Anderson set to make her Broadway debut in ‘Chicago’
One of the planet’s biggest celebrities will play a woman desperately craving fame when Pamela Anderson makes her Broadway debut next month in the musical “Chicago,” The Associated Press has learned. Anderson will play Roxie Hart from April 12-June 5 at the Ambassador Theatre, a remarkable union of one of...
Patti LuPone to miss ‘Company’ shows after catching covid
NEW YORK — Patti LuPone won’t be lunching for the foreseeable future. The Broadway icon announced Sunday that she has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss more than a week of shows of “Company” on the Broadway stage. “Hi Dolls. I showed up for Saturday’s matinee, tested positive for...
Franklin Regional students prepare to stage ‘The Little Mermaid’ in March
Getting into character generally isn’t a huge challenge for Franklin Regional senior Haylee Phillips. Unless that character is Flotsam, an evil eel in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” Then it’s a little trickier. “I get to wear heelies, so I can skate around,” said Phillips, 17, referring to tennis shoes with...
‘Newsies’ is right show at right time for Shaler Area High School
“Newsies” is the right musical at the right time for Shaler Area High School, according to director Jennifer Birch. “One of the big draws of this musical, for me, is its message of perseverance, overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles, to never give up,” she said. “I’ve seen it in the way...
Greensburg Salem thespians resume in-person performances with ‘Les Miserables’
Greensburg Salem returns to the theater to perform its high school musical beginning Friday, with an abridged version of “Les Miserables.” The production also can be streamed from home. “Everyone is excited to have live theater coming back,” said Sue Glowa, who is directing the musical. Because of concerns related...
Stage Right presents Pittsburgh-area playwright’s new musical
Sometimes family is where you find it. That’s one takeaway from “Local Singles,” a Stage Right musical production coming this weekend to The Lamp Theatre in Irwin. With book, music and lyrics by Pine resident Nick Navari, “Local Singles” follows a group of young people looking for connections through a...
Penn Township native returns to Pittsburgh as ‘Hamilton’ company manager
“Awesome” is an adjective often used to describe “Hamilton,” the widely acclaimed song-and-rap Broadway musical about American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The same word can be used to summarize the nature of the undertaking to get the touring version of “Hamilton” from city to city. One of the company managers...
‘Hamilton’ performer to conduct class with Valley High School drama club
A member of the touring company that will be performing the musical “Hamilton” at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh is scheduled to speak Wednesday to students at Valley High School in New Kensington. Nikisha Williams, a singer and actress, will conduct a class with students in the New Kensington-Arnold school’s...
Lottery opens for $10 ‘Hamilton’ tickets in Pittsburgh
The first of a series of digital lottery for tickets to the Pittsburgh run of multi-award-winning musical, “Hamilton,” is now open — through noon Feb. 18. Subsequent digital lotteries will begin on each Friday and close the following Thursday for the upcoming week’s performances. A limited number of tickets will...
Greensburg Civic Theatre stages multi-award-winner ‘Rent’
Edward Bostedo loves “Rent” so much that he has a lyric from the musical tattooed on his leg. When Greensburg Civic Theatre needed a director for its upcoming production of the multiple award-winner, he applied right away and was accepted. Though the Delmont resident has been directing community theater for...
Sewickley’s Tull Family Theater celebrates 5 years of movies, more
Since the day it opened, The Tull Family Theater in Sewickley has been more than a place to show films. “From the beginning, the goal was to create a cultural organization of relevance and service to the region,” said Carolina Pais-Barreto Thor, CEO of the theater. “We knew because the...
Extra ticket release, lottery coming for ‘Hamilton’ in Pittsburgh
If you are looking for “Hamilton” tickets and are seeing the “No Availability” notice on the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust website, don’t despair. “Additional seats will be made available for sale closer to the engagement,” said Marc Fleming, the Trust’s vice president of marketing, communications and Broadway programming. “We encourage people...
Tickets going fast for upcoming ‘Hamilton’ run in Pittsburgh
The hit musical “Hamilton” returns to Pittsburgh for performances Feb. 22 through March 13 at the Benedum Center in the downtown Cultural District. Prospective audience members who haven’t purchased tickets yet would be well advised to do so soon, said Marc Fleming, vice president of marketing, communications and Broadway programming...
‘Harry Potter’ fired from Broadway’s ‘Cursed Child’ production
NEW YORK — The actor playing Harry Potter has been fired from the Broadway production of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” following a complaint by a co-star about his conduct. Producers said Sunday night that, after an independent investigation of the incident, they decided to terminate the contract of...
Trafford’s Theatre Factory stages Tony, Pulitzer award-winner ‘Doubt’
Some dramatic themes are relevant generation after generation. So it is with “Doubt: A Parable,” according to Jeff Johnston, who is directing a production of the play opening Jan. 28 at The Theatre Factory in Trafford and running Thursdays-Sundays through Feb. 5. “This piece calls into question a lot of...
‘Pretty Woman’ musical headed for Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center
Broadway regular and Tony Award nominee Adam Pascal will tread the boards of the Benedum Center in “Pretty Woman: The Musical,” coming Feb. 1-6 as part of the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh Series. The national touring cast also features rising Broadway star Olivia Valli, playing the role of Vivian Ward...
‘Trolls Live’ national tour opens this weekend in Pittsburgh
Who doesn’t need a hug right now? The popular movie and television Troll characters will provide plenty of their signature hugs during “Trolls Live,” coming Saturday and Sunday to PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Trolls are “all about positivity and happiness. Every hour on the hour, they love to hug...
Pittsburgh’s City Theatre revisits 25-year-old play exploring media, technology
City Theatre in Pittsburgh is bringing back a play that first appeared on its stage 25 years ago. “The Medium,” a postmodern deconstruction of the musings of writer/philosopher Marshall McLuhan, will run from Jan. 22 through Feb. 13 on the City Theatre Main Stage on Pittsburgh’s South Side. The third...
Betty White’s memory to be honored at ‘Golden Girls’ parody show at Oakmont’s Oaks Theater
Part of Andrew Gold’s song “Thank You For Being A Friend” became the theme for the show “The Golden Girls.” The sitcom created by Susan Harris featured four previously married women who live together in Miami, Fla. They experienced many issues still relevant today. The show debuted in 1985 on...
Theater groups combine for Sondheim tribute at Irwin’s Lamp Theatre
Six area theater companies are joining forces to celebrate the life and work of Stephen Sondheim, the renowned musical theater composer-lyricist who died Nov. 26 at age 91. “For Stephen: A Review in Remembrance of Stephen Sondheim” is scheduled for 8 p.m. Jan. 15 at The Lamp Theatre in Irwin....
