Theater & Arts category, Page 30
Riverfront Theater Company takes comedic look at sibling rivalry
Riverfront Theater Company is gearing up for its 2020 season by treating audiences to a special production of Christopher Durang’s comedy, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” for two weekends in November. The comedy, which won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play, is being presented Nov. 7-9 and...
‘Leading Ladies’ promises ‘simply hilarious’ experience at Geyer PAC
Director Shawn Conway said no moment is left un-mined for comedic value in Actors and Artists of Fayette County’s upcoming production of “Leading Ladies.” Playwright Ken Ludwig, who also wrote two other comedies familiar to theater companies – “Lend Me a Tenor” and “Moon Over Buffalo” – has set “Leading...
Pittsburgh Opera journeys to the ‘magical realism’ of the Amazon
Popularity is the rarest of accomplishments for contemporary opera, but Mexican composer Daniel Catán achieved it when he wrote “Florencia en el Amazonas.” It has been performed successfully around the world, and has elicited enthusiastic praise from performers, audiences and even critics since its premiere in 1996 at Houston Grand...
Leslie Odom Jr. performs at The Pittsburgh Promise GalaVideo
Joshua Devine, Abigail Lutton, Vanessa Thompson and Michael Warren might never have gone to college if it weren’t for The Pittsburgh Promise. Warren, a Pittsburgh CAPA graduate, received a bachelor of science in music education and a master of education administration K-12 from Duquesne University. He is currently pursuing a...
Carnegie Mellon University lauded for its connection to the Tony AwardsVideo
When a Broadway actor wins a Tony Award, he or she often thanks a teacher, that one person who was an inspiration for the winner’s passion for the theater. That’s what the two women who plan the annual Tony Awards shared with a group of Carnegie Mellon University students on...
Penn-Trafford Drama Guild courts cynical politics with ‘The Mouse That Roared’Video
A tiny, fictitious European-ish nation starts a phony war with the United States — in the hopes that they can immediately surrender and the Americans will pay to rebuild their country and economy. That might sound a bit political for a high school play, but it’s nothing new for the...
Prime Stage Theatre opens season with ‘The Scarlet Letter’
“The Scarlet Letter” opens the Prime Stage Theatre’s 23rd consecutive season. The new, commissioned stage adaptation features Nathaniel Hawthorne, the book’s author, as an onstage character. Performances will be held at the New Hazlett Theater Center for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh. Liam Macik, a Mt. Lebanon High School graduate,...
Take a journey with ODC/Dance’s ‘Path of Miracles’
Experiencing a work of the performing arts — a play, a ballet or a symphony — is often described as a journey. That’s because, as it unfolds over time, the route to a destination may be at least as important as the destination. Take a piece of a piece of...
Haunting tale opens PICT Classic Theatre’s new season
PICT Classic Theatre general operations manager Catherine Kolos says the upcoming stage production of “The Woman in Black” is “unlike anything we have ever done.” “It’s going to be a really intriguing show,” she says. And be warned. “Our goal is to scare the pants off of people,” she says....
Stage Right presents annual ‘Rocky Horror Show’ with a groovy twistVideo
To baby boomers, this year’s edition of Stage Right’s “The Rocky Horror Show” will be a psychedelic trip down memory lane to the days of peace signs, tie-dye shirts and the “Summer of Love.” Stage Right Artistic Director Tony Marino says it’s easy to see how “The Rocky Horror Show”...
So fetch — ‘Mean Girls’ takes over Benedum CenterVideo
It’s been 15 years since writer and comedian Tina Fey’s heartfelt and funny movie “Mean Girls” first shined a light on the mistreatment of teenage girls by their peers. The success of her Broadway musical of the same name, with music by her composer husband Jeff Richmond and lyrics by...
‘Chicago’ brings corruption, conniving and ‘All That Jazz’ to Seton Hill stage
Good things are worth the wait, especially if the “good thing” is the opportunity to bring one of the longest-running stage shows in Broadway history to Seton Hill University. It took three tries for Denise Pullen, associate professor of theater at Seton Hill, to secure the rights to produce the...
‘Giselle’ opens Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s 50th season
To open its 50th anniversary season, which is also the final one for its artistic director, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre will present a restaging of “Giselle,” one of the most popular masterpieces in the repertoire. “Giselle” is a story about love which extends beyond death. Its second act is filled with...
Norwin theater company bringing ‘Sister Act’ to the stage
A convent is a good place to hide from a gangster ex-boyfriend. How singer Deloris Van Cartier ends up there and what happens next will be revealed in Norwin High School Theatre Company’s fall production, “Sister Act the Musical.” Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 24-26 and 2 p.m....
Walk on the wild side with Greensburg Civic Theatre’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’
Greensburg Civic Theatre will open its 68th season with a killer of a musical when it presents “Jekyll and Hyde” Oct. 17-19 at Greensburg Garden and Civic Center. “I seem to be completing a trilogy of horror shows for GCT,” says director Vince D’Angelo of Oakmont, who also directed “Dracula”...
Theatre Factory’s ‘The Fantasticks’ beautiful, clever
Like a true Pittsburgher, James Critchfield’s only complaint these days is with his commute to work. Aside from his lengthy drive to and from rehearsals — from his home in the South Hills to The Theatre Factory in Trafford — he couldn’t be happier about his current assignment directing “The...
Dinner theater focuses on entertainer-activist Josephine Baker
Versatile entertainer and civil rights pioneer Josephine Baker is the topic of the Oct. 25 History Dinner Theater at Saint Vincent College. Presented by the college’s Foster and Muriel McCarl Coverlet Gallery, the program will begin at 6 p.m. in the Fred M. Rogers Center on the Unity campus. “Overcoming...
Jump to the left for Geyer’s ‘Rocky Horror Show’
John Cunnard calls the cult classic musical “The Rocky Horror Show” “the ultimate theater experience” in which theatergoers don’t just watch the iconic stage show; they are part of it. “Many audiences come in their favorite ‘Rocky’ costumes, they get to dance with the characters in the seats and also...
Allegheny County schools offered chance to produce a Disney musical
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has been awarded a grant to bring the Disney Musicals in Schools program to Allegheny County. The program, developed by Disney Theatrical Group to create theater programs in elementary schools with limited resources to do so, will be spearheaded by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s arts education...
Franklin Regional students balance gore, goofiness with production of ‘Dracula’Video
Franklin Regional Thespians Club students are working to strike a fine balance between the hard-R frights of Francis Ford Coppola’s vision of Dracula and the occasional unintentional camp of the original Bela Lugosi film. It’s not always possible, according to director Richard Sunny. “There are some parts of the script...
Pittsburgh Opera’s ‘Don Giovanni’ still relevant today
Even timeless stories can be extra-relevant sometimes, and now is one of those times for the great opera “Don Giovanni.” It was written in 1787 but its story could have been ripped from today’s headlines. It is about a sexual predator brought to justice by his victims, a plot created...
Actor Chazz Palminteri visits Pittsburgh, promotes ‘A Bronx Tale’Video
Growing up in Bronx, N.Y., Chazz Palminteri says he once witnessed a murder. He refused to tell who did the killing at the time. He told his story in “A Bronx Tale,” a one-man play he released 30 years ago. The play became a movie and a book, as well...
Epic struggle of ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ plays out on Greensburg stage
The epic struggle between good and evil will play out in “Jekyll and Hyde,” Greensburg Civic Theatre’s 68th-season opening production. The sweeping Gothic musical based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story, featuring a score of pop rock hits, will be staged at 8 p.m. Oct. 17-18 and 2 p.m. Oct....
Stage Right! clinches world record for fastest production
Greensburg’s Stage Right! theater company set a new Guinness World Record for fastest theatrical production. The company, which also operates a school for the performing arts, received an email Friday confirming that it successfully set a new world record by staging a production of “Children of Eden” — from auditions...
Diamond Theatre of Ligonier holding Christmas play auditions
Auditions will soon take place for a production Diamond Theatre of Ligonier owner Leigh Ann Rice-McCulty has written for the holiday season. “‘The Christmas Storm of the Century’ is a funny and heartwarming play about Christmas Eve shenanigans that take place when a family get-together turns out to be longer...
