Theater & Arts category, Page 23
Pittsburgh Opera’s ‘COVID fan tutte’ documents pandemic production
With most of the performing arts world shut down by the pandemic, Pittsburgh Opera went ahead with its October production of Mozart’s “Còsi fan tutte.” “Every time we would tell folks we were having the performance, they would ask, ‘How are you going to do it?’” said Chris Cox, the...
Prime Stage production celebrates early activist Sojourner Truth
Prime Stage Theatre will return to its roots with a livestream performance of “Sojourner,” with Delana Flowers portraying the 19th-century women’s suffrage and abolition activist in a Black History Month production. The theater group’s inaugural production 25 years ago was another play about Sojourner Truth. ”Sojourner” is by Richard LaMonte...
High school musical season is again up in the air as pandemic continuesVideo
To stage or not to stage, that is the question for area high schools as musical season approaches. As many productions fell prey last year to the pandemic, school personnel and students didn’t think they would be facing the same challenge this year. But they are. With gathering size and...
Greasepaint Players’ ‘Beauty and the Beast Jr.’ plans livestream, live audience
Greensburg Civic Theatre’s Greasepaint Players are working on a production of “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” to play for both livestream and in-person audiences. About having a live audience, director Becky Ziegler Koch said, “People might say, ‘Why are you doing this now?’ But we thought it was important to...
Stamp honoring August Wilson will be dedicated through virtual ceremony
A Forever stamp honoring award-winning playwright August Wilson will be dedicated today by the U.S. Postal Service. The virtual ceremony can be viewed starting at 11:30 a.m. on the postal service’s Facebook and Twitter pages. “August Wilson was an American trailblazer and literary genius who richly deserves this recognition as...
Pittsburgh Opera postpones 1st-ever staging of Handel’s ‘Semele’
Pittsburgh Opera has postponed its first-ever production of George Frideric Handel’s “Semele” from February to May. The move was made “in response to ongoing covid-19 concerns, including high cases in Allegheny County and the slower-than-hoped-for vaccine rollout,” the opera said. “Semele” will be performed on six dates, May 8-20, at...
Unity native, Broadway vet Jerad Bortz stays thankful after life-changing accidentVideo
Going into 2018, Unity native Jerad Bortz had a lot to be thankful for, not the least of which was a successful career on Broadway, including 12 years with the hit musical “Wicked.” That could have changed forever in early February of that year, when a car accident left him...
Roger Berlind, Tony-winning Broadway producer, dies at 90
NEW YORK — Roger Berlind, a producer of more than 100 Broadway plays and musicals and the winner of 25 Tony Awards, has died. He was 90. He died Dec. 18 at his home in Montana. His family said cardiopulmonary arrest was to blame, The New York Times reported. The...
In ‘Ma Rainey,’ channeling the blues of August Wilson
NEW YORK — Like many of those involved in the making of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” it’s not easy for Viola Davis to summarize what playwright August Wilson has meant to her except to answer, “Everything.” Davis’ first stage role was in Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” She made...
PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh anticipates September return
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is anticipating the return of live Broadway programming to its PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series in the fall. At this point, the series is scheduled to reopen Sept. 7 with “Hadestown.” “Hamilton” will return in 2022. “We are proud to have preserved most of the originally...
Saint Vincent College Summer Theatre cancels 2021 season over covid concerns
Saint Vincent College Summer Theatre has canceled its upcoming season, citing circumstances surrounding the covid-19 pandemic. “After careful deliberation and after exploring additional performance ideas, including virtual, we found it best to suspend our 2021 season,” said Greggory Brandt, producing artistic director. “Overall, in terms of risks and expenses, we...
Little Lake Theatre patrons star in company’s holiday video
Because a live holiday show wasn’t feasible this year, Little Lake Theatre Company invited patrons to share the season in another very personal way. Organizers of the Canonsburg theater solicited holiday stories and photos that became part of “A Very Little Lake Holiday,” a video that will be available for...
Theatre Factory’s Christmas play offers in-person, livestream options
Viewers will have two options for enjoying The Theatre Factory’s production of “Christmas Gifts.” The old-fashioned radio-style play will be livestreamed for three evenings, with the opening night stream also available to an in-person audience at the Oaks Theater in Oakmont. Streaming time is 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, when...
A unique recipe for healing: Bill Murray and a biblical text
Against the backdrop of a pandemic’s blight and wounds from an acrimonious election, a group of acclaimed actors on Sunday will stage an online reading of a religious text with remarkable relevance to the current moment: the Book of Job. Audience members may be drawn to the production by the...
City Theatre’s ‘Claws Out’ is bawdy, campy, shameless holiday fun
The holidays aren’t always merry and bright — sometimes the claws come out, as they will in City Theatre Company’s “Claws Out: A Holiday Drag Musical,” set to hit the digital stage on Friday. The action is described thus: “After attempting to give the north a new look, Mrs. Rachel...
Theater uses its creativity to defy pandemic and stage shows
NEW YORK — There’s theater on Broadway. You just have to adjust your sights. More than a hundred blocks north of Manhattan’s shuttered theater district but on that same famed thoroughfare, an actor recently read his lines from a huge stage. But there was no applause. Instead, all that was...
Gather round for haunted Christmas tales via McCarl Gallery podcasts
Spooky stories aren’t just for Halloween. Each Friday leading up to Christmas, the McCarl Coverlet Gallery at Saint Vincent College will present a new podcast featuring the reading of a haunted holiday tale from times past. “Every Christmas, we look forward to the spooky and fascinating tale of Ebenezer Scrooge...
Pittsburgh Opera’s free ‘Soldier Songs’ livestream examines reality of war
In response to Allegheny County Health Department’s Nov. 18 stay-at-home advisory, Pittsburgh Opera will not have in-person audiences for its upcoming production of “Soldier Songs.” The opera will be presented as a free livestream at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11 on YouTube and Facebook, thanks to sponsorship from UPMC. Patrons may...
Westmoreland Ballet films ‘Nutcracker’ at iconic area locations
The Westmoreland Ballet Company takes “The Nutcracker” off the stage and into the community with a new video production of the beloved holiday classic. Filmed at indoor and outdoor locations around the county, the video will debut online at 7 p.m. Friday. It also will stream at 7 p.m. Saturday...
Westmoreland Cultural Trust launches ‘Keep the Arts Alive’ campaign, projects $500K in pandemic-related losses
Between The Palace Theatre and the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center, more than 350 concerts and events have been canceled since March, lending much more weight to the name of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust’s “Keep the Arts Alive” fundraising campaign. “As an organization whose mission is to bring people together...
Stage Right plans 3 online versions of musical ‘Annie’
Mounting a theatrical production is complicated enough with one actor in the lead role. Stage Right is tripling the challenge by casting three Annies in an upcoming online production of the beloved Broadway staple. “Annie” is scheduled to stream nightly from Nov. 27 to 29 through the Showtix4u live-stream service....
Pittsburgh Opera holding ‘online Holiday Bazaar’ in lieu of in-person gala
The Pittsburgh Opera was hoping to have one of its festive in-person fundraising galas this fall, but coronavirus made it impossible. However, the Opera still needed to come up with a way to raise money to support its acclaimed Resident Artists program. So, next month, it will hold what it’s...
‘A Taffeta Christmas’ bringing holiday cheer to The Lamplighter in Delmont
Four singing sisters take a break from their national tour to return to their hometown of Muncie, Ind., for the holidays. While there, they visit a local television show to perform some ‘50s favorites and holiday classics. That’s the premise of “A Taffeta Christmas,” which the Orchard Performing Arts Company...
Prime Stage production explores private side of Albert Einstein
The personal, private side of Albert Einstein, the genius who developed the theory of relativity, is the subject of an upcoming Prime Stage Theatre online production. Matt Henderson will portray Einstein in the award-winning dramalogue, “Einstein, A Stage Portrait,” streaming at 8 p.m. Nov. 13. The one-man play first developed...
Local filmmaker teams with Greater Latrobe cast, crew for virtual fall playVideo
Characters in the Greater Latrobe Senior High fall play find ways to connect despite the separations imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. The play’s cast, crew and authors also are looking for a new way to connect with their audience — with a filmed performance that will be presented online. Director...
