By Sharon Eberson
PICT Classic Theatre announced on Thursday, May 19, that its production of The Boys in the Band “will not move forward due to insufficient funds to cover production costs.”
The cancellation announcement came in an email from the co-president of PICT’s board of directors, Eileen Clancy.
Speculation about the play, which was due to run June 18-July 9, was ongoing after social media posts by actors Jason Shavers and Jordon Ross Weinhold said the show would be canceled. https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjason.shavers%2Fposts%2F10166478884690578&show_text=true&width=500
PICT Classic Theatre had returned to live performances on Oct. 30 with the large-cast production of As You Like It.
The Boys in the Band was recently on Broadway and filmed as a Netflix movie, with a cast including Zachary Quinto, Jim Parsons, and Matt Bomer. The 1968 play by Mart Crowley is about a group of gay friends in New York City, gathering to celebrate a birthday, when the gathering takes a nasty turn as booze and heavy emotions overflow.
The cast was set to include some of Pittsburgh’s finest, plus some national names, with Shavers leading the production as Michael. The rest of the cast was to comprise Nick Cearley (of the rock duo The Skivvies), Ken Bolden, Dylan Marquis Meyers, Jerreme Rodriguez, Jahir Christian, Tony Lorich II, Allen Law, and Weinhold.
While PICT continues with the run of Endgame through May 28, at its home in WQED’s Fred Rogers Studio, tickets had remained on sale for The Boys in the Band as late as yesterday, May 18.
PICT has said it will provide refunds to ticket holders for the canceled show.
“It is with deep regret that we announce the unavoidable decision to not move forward with PICT’s much-anticipated production of The Boys in the Band at this time,” Clancy said in a statement. “We sincerely apologize and are grateful to our donors, ticket holders, director, actors, production staff, technical crew, and volunteers who have been involved in and supported efforts to produce the play.”
Chita Rivera moves to July 25-26
Broadway luminary Chita Rivera has been rescheduled to appear at the Trust Cabaret Series on July 25-26 after recently testing positive for COVID-19. Performances of Chita Rivera: A Legendary Celebration had been set for May 23-24 at the Greer Cabaret Theater, Downtown.
Tickets purchased from previous dates will be valid for the new dates and times. Guests can retain their tickets, and all guests will be contacted. For questions, please contact Pittsburgh Cultural Trust guest services at 412-456-6666. For more information, visit www.trustarts.org/production/71867/chita-a-legendary-celebration.
Categories: Feature
I’m pretty sure that’s not actually why 🤷🏼♀️
Reports from the former cast of Boys in the Band say they were told the show was cancelled for other reasons. I tend to believe to cast over the company who waited a week to tell their patrons the show was cancelled.
Is anybody going to say the real reason why? It’s certainly not “insufficient funds”. Give us the real story.
Finding the real story, factually verified takes time, but as the saying goes “The truth is out there.”