Theater & Arts category, Page 33
‘Calling All Divas’ musical scheduled for Palace Theatre stop
“Calling All Divas,” a musical hit parade celebrating music, friendship and the power of sisterhood, will make a July 19 stop at Greensburg’s Palace Theatre on its North American premiere tour. Featuring pop, rock, soul and country hits, the show will begin at 8 p.m. in the theater at 21...
Pittsburgh CLO version updates ‘Grease’ for the 21st century
Zach Adkins, a New York-based actor and Broadway veteran, says he has a challenge in playing too-cool-for-school Danny Zuko in Pittsburgh CLO’s production of “Grease.” The 1971 musical “is sort of dated,” he says, so he — and the rest of the company — will be tasked with updating it...
Thought-provoking ‘Moonlight and Magnolias’ takes Apple Hill stage
A glimpse of 1930s Hollywood – for better or worse – is what audiences can expect in viewing Apple Hill Playhouse’s upcoming production of “Moonlight and Magnolias.” An eye-opening look at the social issues that plagued the movie industry during the real-life filming of the hit movie, “Gone with the...
Stage Right students tackle ‘Into the Woods,’ ‘West Side Story’
It’s show time for more than 100 preteen and teen musical theater students at Stage Right School for the Performing Arts in Greensburg as the school year draws to a close. Tony Marino, Stage Right artistic director and acting instructor, is pushing the two groups to give their best effort...
Woodland Hills, Elizabeth Forward, big winners with ‘Mamma Mia’ at Gene Kelly Awards
The musical “Mamma Mia!” and schools performing the popular musical turned out to be the biggest winners of the night at the Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater Saturday. Three schools performing “Mamma Mia!” — Deer Lakes, Elizabeth Forward and Woodland Hills — won in the...
Plenty of great summer shows on area stages
Theater companies in Western Pennsylvania don’t take a summer vacation. In fact, many of the actors, directors and crew members are working even harder during the warm-weather months to provide a wide assortment of live entertainment in the form of plays and musicals for families, adults and kids. Productions being...
5 things to know about ‘Dear Evan Hansen’
Mark Twain was credited 100 years ago with saying, “A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots.” And if that was true 100 years ago, imagine how fast a lie can travel in the internet age of today. That’s the...
Murrysville teen pens play emphasizing importance of arts and humanities
Ariel Rockman, 18, of Murrysville thinks people should place more value on the arts and humanities. It led her to pen her first play, “The Intervention,” staged in late April as part of the Shady Side Academy Senior School’s Original Works Theatre Festival. The play tells the story of Harry,...
Tickets on sale for Pittsburgh’s ‘Lion King’ run
Tickets are on sale now for the September run of Disney’s “The Lion King” at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. Tickets are available at 412-456-6666, trustarts.org and at the Box Office at Theater Square in downtown Pittsburgh. VIP ticket packages, including prime seat location, commemorative souvenir program and exclusive merchandise...
Saint Vincent Summer Theatre kicks off season with ‘Forever Plaid’
Greggory Brandt knows the best way to follow a memorable 50th anniversary season is by offering an even more memorable 51st season. Brandt, producing artistic director for Saint Vincent Summer Theatre and director and professor of theater at Saint Vincent College, is ready to do just that as the equity...
Vandergrift’s Casino Theatre presents ‘Age of Aquarius 3’
The Casino Theatre in Vandergrift is turning back time to the days of peace and love with its “Age of Aquarius 3” and wants everyone to dress the part. “We dress up for this show, and we invite the audience to do the same,” says one of the performers Linda...
Sit back and enjoy all 10 shows at Apple Hill Playhouse
Apple Hill Playhouse wants its audiences to sit back and enjoy the shows — all 10 of them — as the Delmont community theater gets ready to open its 37th season. Two musicals, five plays and three children’s shows comprise the lineup of productions to be presented from May through...
CMU alums bring ‘Dear Evan Hansen,’ musical message to Heinz Hall
Two Carnegie Mellon University alums are starring in the cast of the first national tour of the popular contemporary Broadway musical, “Dear Evan Hansen.” Ben Levi Ross, who studied musical theater at CMU, portrays the title role of troubled teen Evan Hansen in the Tony Award-winning musical. Christiane Noll, who...
‘Aladdin,’ live and on film, showing at Diamond TheatreVideo
Diamond Theatre of Ligonier is presenting “Disney’s Aladdin Jr.,” double cast and over two weekends, at its 210 W. Main St. site. The magic carpet ride to the mystical town of Agrabah will take place at 6 p.m. May 24, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. May 25 and 3 p.m....
Catch ‘Spamilton’ all summer long in the Greer Cabaret Theater
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Parody is probably another one. Hard on the heels of the record-breaking Broadway hit musical “Hamilton,” there is “Spamilton: An American Parody.” Called “smart, silly and often convulsively funny” by the New York Times, “Spamilton” will have a summer-long run with...
Western Pennsylvania’s Shirley Jones to receive Pittsburgh Opera honor
Shirley Jones has dedicated her life to the arts. The Pittsburgh Opera will honor Jones’ devotion on May 18 when it presents the Charleroi native and former Smithton resident with a Renaissance Award at the 35th annual Maecenas Gala at Downtown’s Benedum Center. “I’m thrilled to be receiving the Renaissance...
Scottdale theater group tackles Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’
Arthur Miller’s Tony Award-winning drama, “The Crucible,” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. May 16-18 and 2:30 p.m. May 19 in the Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale. “The Crucible,” Miller’s most popular and frequently-produced work, retells the story of the Salem (Mass.) witch trials of 1692-93. It was written...
Apple Hill seeks students for theater apprenticeship program
Apple Hill Playhouse officials are looking for high school students interested in theater for their apprenticeship program, which begins in June and runs through August. “What we want to do is give them as much experience working in the theater as we can,” said Vince D’Angelo, who manages the apprenticeship...
EQT kids’ theater festival draws talent from around the globeVideo
Cyril Lancelin, an artist and architect from Lyon, France, is known for using random shapes in exaggerated proportions to create unique immersive installations. The world premiere of his “circle circle circle,” a colorful 15-foot-tall cube of oversized rings creating a maze to walk through, will be located on Penn Avenue...
Experience ‘King Lear’ at the Carrie FurnaceVideo
The Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark is definitely not your typical stage, but it’s the perfect setting for a play with a very rich history. The Swissvale site, part of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, will be the setting for Quantum Theatre’s production of William Shakespeare’s “King...
‘Sleeping Beauty’ concludes Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre season
Dreams can come true, and not only in fairy tales. Amanda Cochrane has known “The Sleeping Beauty” story since she was a little girl growing up in Spokane, Wash., and admits she was obsessed with Disney’s animated film adaptation. She was 18 when she first performed in it with her...
Sit back and enjoy all 10 shows at Apple Hill Playhouse
Apple Hill Playhouse wants its audiences to sit back and enjoy the shows — all 10 of them — as the Delmont community theater gets ready to open its 37th season. Two musicals, five plays and three children’s shows comprise the lineup of productions to be presented from May through...
Woodland Hills, Elizabeth Forward lead Gene Kelly nominations with 9
And the nominees are … Pittsburgh CLO has announced the nominees for the 29th annual Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater. Patterned after Broadway’s Tony Awards, the event will begin at 7:30 p.m. May 25 in the Benedum Center, 237 Seventh St., and will celebrate the...
Young-at-heart seniors take another shot at love in ‘Kalamazoo’
The Theatre Factory’s two-character play, “Kalamazoo,” which opens on May 3 at the Trafford theater, is what actor Howard Elson of Squirrel Hill says is a great example of a genre he calls “Last Chance at Romance Comedies.” It’s a funny look at the complications and challenges that occur when...
‘The Soap Myth’ tells gripping Holocaust story
Jeff Cohen distinctly remembers the day about 17 years ago when an elderly gentlemen approached him at his small theater in downtown Manhattan. The man handed him a manila envelope and said “maybe there is something you can do with this.” The man’s name was Morris Spitzer and it was...
