Theater & Arts category, Page 13
Aubrey Burchell stars in Scottdale theater’s production of ‘Heathers’
The pressure to behave badly can be overwhelming if it means being accepted by the cool clique. That theme is explored in the darkly comic “Heathers,” a musical based on the cult classic 1988 film of the same name, running Thursday through Sunday at the Geyer Performing Arts Center in...
Tina Turner musical on national tour gains new meaning in the wake of the rock icon’s death
NEW YORK — The national tour of Broadway’s “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical” makes its California debut this week, arriving as a poignant, posthumous celebration following the rock music icon’s death last month. “Tina” opens in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre on Wednesday, steps away from her...
Carnegie Mellon grads make waves — via politics and performance — at Tony Awards
Carnegie Mellon University certainly was recognized — in more ways than one — at the 76th Tony Awards on Sunday. CMU grad Denée Benton, a previous Tony nominee, made perhaps the night’s biggest waves by taking aim at Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. During an evening that...
‘The Boxcar Children’ brings long-running children’s book series to Pittsburgh stage
Author Gertrude Chandler Warner wrote the first book in what would become her “Boxcar Children” series in 1924. It would go on to spawn more than 100 books with the plucky children typically solving mysteries. Prime Stage Theatre’s Sprouts program will bring the stories to life on stage as they...
Pittsburgh Film Office and Pittsburgh Public Theater launch training partnership Create PA
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis walked to the podium, mentioned the word “persistence” and looked directly at Dawn M. Keezer. “When you look up that word in the dictionary you will see a picture of Dawn Keezer,” Davis said Wednesday morning inside the O’Reilly Theater, Downtown, referring to the Pittsburgh...
Florida drama teacher who includes deaf students in school shows will receive a special Tony Award
NEW YORK — The special Tony Award that honors educators will go this year to a drama teacher in Florida who has closed the gap between the deaf and hearing worlds by having productions performed in both voice and American Sign Language. Jason Zembuch-Young, artistic director of the public South...
CLO Construction Center for the Arts in Springdale plays a lead role in theater productions
Some of the physical sets that audiences see on theater stages here and across the country began inside the Pittsburgh CLO’s Construction Center for the Arts in Springdale. More than 50 musical theater sets, ranging from classics such as “1776,” “The Sound of Music” and “Annie” to blockbusters “Mary Poppins”...
‘Some Like It Hot’ leads Tony Award nominations with 13 nods
NEW YORK — “Some Like It Hot,” a Broadway musical adaptation of the cross-dressing movie comedy that starred Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, waltzed away Tuesday with a leading 13 Tony Award nominations, putting the spotlight on a show that is a sweet, full-hearted embrace of trans rights. With songs...
Small-town America takes center stage with Franklin Regional production of ‘Our Town’
Declan Van Soest is used to playing characters with a lot more funny lines. “It’s definitely the most philosophical role I’ve ever had,” Van Soest, 17, said of his role as the stage manager in the Franklin Regional Thespians’ upcoming production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.” Written in 1938, it...
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ brings complex tale of lonely teen to Pittsburgh
Evan Hansen is a lonely, anxious teenager “on the outside always looking in.” A letter he never meant for anyone to see leads to a lie he never meant to tell — offering a chance at friendships and connections he never thought he would have. Whether to continue in the...
A play about the making of ‘Jaws’ swims toward Broadway
NEW YORK — A stage play about the making of the blockbuster movie “Jaws” will soon take a huge bite out of Broadway. “The Shark is Broken” — co-written and starring the son of one of the film’s stars, the late Robert Shaw — will land on The Great White...
Ghosts of Vietnam haunt Greensburg Civic Theatre’s season finale
In Steven Dietz’s 2004 drama, “Last of the Boys,” the main character is a veteran still haunted 30 years later by his experiences in Vietnam. The play itself has had something of a haunting effect on Sue Kurey of North Versailles, who will direct a Greensburg Civic Theater production as...
‘Wheel of Fortune LIVE!’ coming to Greensburg
Audiences will get a familiar spin on entertainment when “Wheel of Fortune LIVE!” comes to the Palace Theatre in Greensburg this fall. The popular game show is set to play the venue Nov. 7. Guests will be randomly selected to go onstage and spin a full-sized replica of the show’s...
Pittsburgh Playwrights marks 20th year with show about race relations, social unrest
To help mark its 20th anniversary, the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s production of “Pyramid Builders” turns to racial issues of the past to bring its audience into a stark future that is meant to demonstrate the dangers of hatred—and make audiences think. Director Bianca LaVerne Jones said her motivation for...
Time, ticket price set for Westmoreland Night of the Stars musical revue
The showtime and ticket price have been finalized for Westmoreland Night of the Stars, after the annual showcase of area high school musicals was in peril of being discontinued earlier this year. The show will go on at 6:30 p.m. May 3 at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg. Tickets will...
With ‘Camelot,’ a legendary fight director exits the fray
NEW YORK — In a hushed and empty Broadway theater, two men appear onstage in street clothes, each wielding fearsome-looking broad swords. One lunges at the other, who quickly strikes back. They exchange a flurry of slices and counter-slices, with the screech of metal on metal. Watching it with a...
Stage Right cuts loose with ‘Footloose’ at The Palace Theatre
Even though it’s set in the 1980s, “Footloose” has a message for today’s audiences. So says Christopher McAllister, executive director of Stage Right, which will present the musical Friday and Saturday at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg. The story, familiar from the 1984 movie starring Kevin Bacon and the 2011...
‘Perseverance’ tells story of Squirrel Hill jeweler’s journey from Holocaust camps to U.S.
During his nearly four decades at the G&S Jewelry Store in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, Melvin Goldman created custom jewelry. But the shiny pieces belied Goldman’s much-darker journey to reach the United States. His story will be told onstage Saturday and Sunday at the New Hazlett Theater, when “Perseverance” opens....
Penn Hills High School to present spring musical ‘Mamma Mia!’
Penn Hills High School choir teacher and musical vocal director Briana York knows talent when she sees it. She and a few other staffers spend hours upon hours, week after week, fine tuning young pitches. York also understands all work and no play make students dull performers. It was no...
Music, mayhem mix in upcoming Saint Vincent Summer Theatre shows
The upcoming Saint Vincent Summer Theatre season is feeling like “a return to normalcy” for producing artistic director Greggory Brandt. For its 53rd season, the theater will present three productions and welcome back its popular after-performance cabaret. Following a two-year pandemic shutdown, SVST presented two productions in 2022. This year’s...
Pitt-Greensburg thespians delve into women’s lives in spring play
Pitt-Greensburg Theatre Company will close out Women’s History Month with a production of “Talking With …” a play composed of 11 monologues by women relating the ordeals of their lives. Among the idiosyncratic characters portrayed by four student actors are a baton twirler, a fundamentalist snake handler, an ex-rodeo rider...
Themes of romance, revenge drive Pittsburgh Opera’s ‘Il Trovatore’
Audience members at the Pittsburgh Opera production of “Il Trovatore” might be reminded of a popular medieval fantasy television series. “In many ways, the setting and staging of ‘Il Trovatore’ feels like it could be from scenes of ‘Game of Thrones,’ minus the White Walkers and dragons,” said Christian Cox,...
Greensburg Civic Theatre’s ‘Pinkalicious’ has laughs, lessons for all ages
“Pinkalicious” is about a girl who ignores her parents’ warnings and turns pink after eating too many cupcakes. Obviously, there’s a lesson in there for children — but adults also can learn a thing or two from the story. Greensburg Civic Theatre’s Greasepaint Players will present a musical based on...
‘9 to 5 the Musical’ set to open on North Hills High School stage
On the surface, a story about three downtrodden women working hard to make an honest living in a male chauvinist-run environment might not appear to be much in the way of breezy entertainment. Though set in the 1970s, many of the issues raised about the challenges faced by working women...
Penn-Trafford goes ‘Under the Sea’ with spring musical ‘Little Mermaid’
For seniors in the Penn-Trafford Drama Guild, this year’s musical is exciting but perhaps a little bittersweet, it being their last before graduating. But it’s not stopping any of the 16 seniors from working as hard as they can to make “The Little Mermaid” a show to remember. “It’s a...
