New Horizon Theater, a Heinz Endowments’ “Pittsburgh Cultural Treasure,” has entered into a partnership with Pittsburgh Public Theater to present the company’s 32nd season Downtown, at the O’Reilly Theater.
“We can’t wait to bring this exciting season to life in the Helen Wayne Rauh Hall and continue to forge deep partnerships with Pittsburgh arts organizations like The Public, and with like-minded leaders like [Shaunda McDill and Marya Sea Kaminski],” said New Horizon board chair Joyce Meggerson-Moore, in a press release on September 6.
and now, New Horizon Theater. (Image: Sharon Eberson)
New Horizon Theater, founded in 1992, brings the greater Pittsburgh area cultural events reflecting African-American points of view. The theater also “provides an ongoing venue for ethnic writers and performers to further their professional development.”
“Marya and I both are thrilled that New Horizon Theater chose The Public as its 2023/2024 performance space,” said McDill, The Public’s managing director. “Partnerships like these are what we mean when we talk about sharing our resources with groups whose mission and ours align.”
New Horizon Theater, which previously has been seen at venues including the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Homewood and, most recently, City Theatre’s Lillie Theatre on the South Side, opens its 2023-24 season September 28 with Layon Gray’s award-winning WEBEIME. The season will include three plays and one special event celebrating New Horizon’s 32nd anniversary.
NEW HORIZON THEATER’S 2023-24 SEASON
WEBEIME
Written and Directed by Layon Gray
September 28 – October 1, 2023
Thursday, Friday, Saturday | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday | 3:00 p.m.
A man is on death row – and his life is seen through 8 different phases of his life – played by 8 different personalities on his last day of living. The portrayal of one man coming to terms with the repercussions of the decisions that he has made in life before the inevitable happens. With little time on his side, he searches his soul for inner peace and his mind wanders back down the road that put him in his current predicament.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION 2024
Directed by Herbert Newsome
February 8 – 18, 2024
Thursday, Friday, Saturday | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday | 3:00 p.m.
In New Horizon Theater’s tradition of celebrating Black History Month, this production will introduce some historical information, at times combining history, comedy, and drama. The production will be consistent with those presented in previous seasons that have introduced some of the outreach programs to underserved participants learning about some powerful characters or situations from history that may not be known to the audience. The actors will bring alive and make these historical, figures and situations powerful pieces, interesting to the audience.
NEW HORIZON THEATER SPECIAL ANNUAL EVENT
May 4, 2024
7:30 PM (one night only)
New Horizon Theater, Inc. presents its Special Annual Event at the beautiful Pittsburgh Public Theater. Please make plans to celebrate New Horizon’s 32nd Anniversary Season featuring a national/international performer, introduced by longtime supporter, Chris Moore of Chris Moore Communications, Inc., KDKA Radio. Proceeds will assist New Horizon Theater and its mission.
THE NACIREMA SOCIETY*
Written by Pearl Cleage
Directed by Eileen J. Morris
May 31 – June 16, 2024
Friday, Saturday | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday | 3:00 p.m.
In the winter of 1964, ten years after the Montgomery bus boycott, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is planning a massive voter registration drive that promises to put the city back at the center of the Civil Rights Movement. Among those watching closely is Grace Dunbar, pillar of Montgomery’s African-American aristocrats and doyenne of the Nacirema Society, an organization poised to celebrate its 100th anniversary by presenting an exclusive group of debutantes at their annual cotillion. Assisting Grace is her lifelong friend, Catherine, who hopes the cotillion will prompt her grandson to propose to Grace’s granddaughter. Of course, neither woman considers the fact that their grandchildren have their own plans. The anticipation is overshadowed by the arrival of Alpha Campbell, daughter of the Dunbar family’s late maid. Alpha has plans to blackmail the Dunbars into financing her own daughter’s education. But Alpha’s story is closer to the truth than anyone could have imagined, and Alpha is surprised. So is Janet Logan, a visiting reporter from the New York Times who finds herself in the middle of a story that Grace will do anything to suppress. *Permission requested.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Performances are limited engagements presented in the Helen Wayne Rauh Rehearsal Hall in the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Ave. in Downtown Pittsburgh. Tickets are $35 for general admission, $30 for seniors 65 and over and students 18+, and $20 students ages 16 and above. Group rates are available for 10 or more. Tickets and details are available online at newhorizontheater.org, by visiting Dorsey’s Digital Imaging located at 7614 Frankstown Ave., or by calling 412-431-0773.
Categories: Company, Season Listings, Venue
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