Theater & Arts category, Page 32
Freeport Theatre Festival performs classic ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’
“Arsenic and Old Lace” is one of those killer classics. Written by Joseph Kesselring, two maiden aunts, Abby and Martha Brewster, have a curious charity. They poison lonely, elderly gentlemen with homemade elderberry wine spiked with arsenic, in order to put them out of their misery. Set in 1941, the...
‘Grease’ is the word at Scottdale’s Geyer
Actors and Artists of Fayette County takes audiences back to those fabulous ‘50s with its production of the popular Broadway musical “Grease” Aug. 15-18 at Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale. Will Dixon of Greensburg is directing the 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey that made John Travolta...
Ladies who lunch — err, sip — take center stage at Apple HIll Playhouse
It’s amazing what determination and the occasional liquid refreshment can do to successfully make friends from strangers. Apple Hill Playhouse’s production of “The Savannah Sipping Society” Aug. 15-25 at the Delmont theater brings together four middle-aged Southern women with very little in common who in six months turn their lives...
Stage Right to host auditions for 2019-20 professional season
In its 2019-20 performance season, Stage Right’s Greensburg theater company will have audiences partying under the sea, doing a dance called the “Time Warp” and delivering newspapers in turn-of-the-century New York City. But first, they’ll need some actors. Auditions for the upcoming season will take place Aug. 24 at the...
Hal Prince, towering Broadway director and producer, dead at 91
NEW YORK — Harold Prince, a Broadway director and producer who pushed the boundaries of musical theater with such groundbreaking shows as “The Phantom of the Opera,” ”Cabaret,” ”Company” and “Sweeney Todd” and won a staggering 21 Tony Awards, has died. Prince was 91. Prince’s publicist Rick Miramontez said Prince...
Sewickley’s Tull theater seeking creative fare options for space
The Tull Family Theater wants restaurateurs to get creative when crafting ideas that would transform its 2,044-square-foot auxiliary space into a food and beverage venue. That could mean anything from pop-ups to shared or rotating spaces to various restaurant concepts and business accelerators. “We are really open. That’s part of...
Faye Dunaway fired from Broadway-bound play ‘Tea at Five’ after crew conflict
Faye Dunaway has been fired from a Broadway-bound play after an alleged altercation with crew members. The Oscar-winning actress was dropped after the Boston run of “Tea at Five,” a one-woman show in which she portrayed Katharine Hepburn. The project was set to mark Dunaway’s return to Broadway for the...
St. Vincent Summer Theatre closes season with ‘Always … Patsy Cline’
The musical “Always … Patsy Cline” is filled with songs — 27 to be exact — made popular by in the late ’50s and ‘60s country music star. But the show being staged by Saint Vincent Summer Theatre is more than a rundown of her hit records that include “Crazy,”...
O’Hara’s Stage Right theater unveils new name
It’s a big year for Stage Right Performing Arts & Education. The group marked 55 years of community theater with a move to a new home at Aspinwall Riverfront Park and announced this week that there will be a name change as well. The new moniker — Riverfront Theater Company...
Apple Hill Playhouse returns to Sondheim’s classic ‘Funny Thing’
Apple Hill Playhouse revisits one of Stephen Sondheim’s classic Tony Award-winning musicals with its production of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” running July 25-Aug. 4. Set in ancient Rome, the musical focuses on the efforts of a slave named Pseudolus (Nathaniel Yost) to win the...
Break out the dictionary for Stage Right Pittsburgh’s summer show
Stage Right Pittsburgh takes high school students back to their grade school days with its Young Artists Summer Musical production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” The Tony Award-winning comedy by Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn revisits the drama and fun of the annual competition that pits an...
‘Lion King’ Pittsburgh run includes sensory-friendly performance
A sensory-friendly performance of Disney’s “The Lion King” will be included in the Sept. 4-29 run of the blockbuster musical in Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center, as part of the 2019-2020 PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is partnering with Disney Theatrical Productions for the special performance at 2...
Mountain Playhouse stages comedy ‘Things My Mother Taught Me’
Moving day doesn’t go quite as planned for newlyweds Olivia and Gabe in the new romantic comedy, “Things My Mother Taught Me,” running July 23-Aug. 4 at Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown. Katherine DiSavino’s script has the couple driving halfway across the country to start their new life together in Chicago....
Hillman Performing Arts offers musicians, mentalists and modern-day circus
With seven new shows announced for the 2019-2020 season, the Hillman Performing Arts Series is bringing music, illusions and a modern-day circus to the stage at Shady Side Academy. The series kicks off Sept. 28 with Dom Flemons, known as the American Songster, in a solo acoustic performance of folk...
Mister Rogers’ ‘fantastical’ operas coming to Pittsburgh stage
The gentle goodness of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” touched millions of families. The show was so successful and individual that it became an American icon, which will be reflected in Tom Hanks’s new film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” scheduled for release on Nov. 22. The television program reflected the...
Legendary funnyman Patton Oswalt comes to the Steel City
Actor, writer and comedian Patton Oswalt brings his stand-up act to the Carnegie Library of Homestead’s Music Hall on Sunday. The performance is scheduled for 7 p.m. at 510 E. Tenth Ave. in Munhall. Oswalt has headlined comedy clubs all across the country the past 23 years and performed specials...
Pittsburgh actress to play Wendy in ‘Peter Pan’ at the Benedum
Lori Eve Marinacci’s career is taking flight, literally. The Bridgeville native who lives in New York has been cast at Wendy Darling in Pittsburgh CLO’s “Peter Pan,” which comes to the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh July 12-21. “I am so excited to fly,” she told the Tribune-Review. “We have the...
Armstrong Community Theater’s ‘Mamma Mia’ is a family affair
This performance of the musical “Mamma Mia,” definitely has a mamma’s influence. Three mothers who introduced their daughters to the theater will be part of the production of the Armstrong Community Theater July 12-14 at the Casino Theatre in Vandergrift. “It’s a family affair,” says Hannah Younkins of Worthington, where...
Baby Shark Live tickets now available for Pittsburgh show
If your kids are expecting to see Baby Shark Live in Pittsburgh you’d be wise to buy your tickets today. The all-too-catchy viral song and video are coming to life on the stage of the Byham Theater on Monday, Nov. 4. and presale is now open. Use the promo code...
Latrobe’s Cabaret Theatre postpones ‘Cotton Patch Gospel’ run
The Latrobe-based Cabaret Theatre has postponed its upcoming production of Harry Chapin’s “Cotton Patch Gospel.” Originally scheduled to open July 10 and run through July 20, the production has been rescheduled for Oct. 16-26 in the Olde Main Theatre in Latrobe. Artistic Director John Carosella cited “production difficulties” for the...
Let down your hair with Apple Hill Playhouse’s ‘Rapunzel’
Apple Hill Playhouse will stage “Let Your Hair Down, Rapunzel” at 11 a.m. July 9, 11-13, 16-17 and 19 as part of the Delmont theater’s Johnny Appleseed Children’s Theatre. The musical adaptation of the classic fairytale revisits Rapunzel on her 18th birthday, when the villain, Witch Izwitch, follows through with...
Apple Hill Playhouse tackles aging with a comedic twist
Getting older is no fun, but as they say, it sure beats the alternative. Apple Hill Playhouse will confront the agony of aging head on when it presents Michael and Susan Parker’s saucy senior comedy, “Sex Please, We’re Sixty,” July 4-14 at the Delmont theater. Ron Ferrara of Vandergrift directs...
Mean girls burst into song in ‘Heathers the Musical’
“Heathers the Musical” could be the equivalent of “Mean Girls” times three — where each of the three snobbiest teens at Westerberg High School is named Heather. Matt Mlynarski of Lower Burrell is directing The Theatre Factory’s production of the dark comedy based on the classic 1989 film, which he...
PICT Classic Theatre previews upcoming season
PICT Classic Theatre’s 2019-20 season will begin in November and include three productions: a ghost story play written by Stephen Mallatratt; an adaptation of a Shakespeare classic; and an Irish play by Hugh Leonard. The performances will be staged at WQED’s Fred Rogers Studio, 4802 Fifth Ave., Oakland. “This season,...
The Freeport Theatre Festival celebrates 30 yearsVideo
Inside this former machinery barn the magic of theater unfolds. The Freeport Festival Theatre has been presenting summer shows in this space in the Allegheny- Kiski Valley for three decades. It’s the mission of actors and married couple Rennick and Marushka Steele. The theater, nestled on the Steele Farm in...
