Pittsburgh Public Theater will live stream the final four performances of current show Dragon Lady, through a partnership with the emerging nonprofit League of Live Stream Theater.
In a first for the nearly 50-year-old Public and as a charter member of the venture’s 2023-24 digital season, audiences worldwide will have the opportunity to watch writer-performer Sara Porkalob (Broadway’s 1776) in her solo tour-de-force shows as they happen, February 23–25, 2024.
at the O’Reilly Theater will be made available to live stream.
(Inset image: Michael Henninger for Pittsburgh Public Theater)
“The pandemic really made theaters around the country, us included, reinvent how we bring our audiences the art we’re so proud of,” Pittsburgh Public Theater artistic director Marya Sea Kaminski said in a statement. “I’m particularly excited for this first-of-its-kind digital season with The League of Live Stream Theater to see what conversations emerge between the work in Pittsburgh, off-Broadway and across the country.”
Other installments in the LOLST season have included the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre’s Little Comedies, Manhattan Theatre Club’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, and Vineyard Theatre’s Scene Partners. LOLST also has live-streamed Between Riverside and Crazy at New York’s Second Stage and Irish Repertory Theatre’s Endgame.
“In conversations with theater executives across the nation, the themes of remaining responsive and nimble continue to arise,” the Public managing director Shaunda McDill said. “Intentional investment into forward-thinking collaborations, like this one with LOLST, keeps us in alignment with current best practices and opportunities to share our work with communities within and beyond the southwestern Pennsylvania region.”
LOLST was founded in 2022, born out of collaborations between Jim Augustine (former COO of Zuckerberg Media) and tech entrepreneur Oren Michaels, to create their first-ever simultaneous live stream of a Broadway production, Lynne Nottage’s Clyde’s.
“By opening up new avenues of artistic expression, we’re sharing the stories of local and regional theaters with a broader audience,” LOLST co-founder Oren Michaels said in a statement. “This benefits these vital institutions and the communities they serve.”
In September 2023, Pittsburgh Public Theater announced the launch of Streamland, “to bring the magic of live theater into classrooms nationwide.” The company was set to deliver “cinema-quality digital versions of mainstage productions alongside curriculum-based supplementary educational materials on a user-friendly platform.”
Having a created a version of the world premiere of Billy Strayhorn: Something to Live For, for Streamland, allowed the company to pivot to a video presentation when cast illness forced the cancellation of several perforrmancees.
Dragon Lady will be coming to consumers live. It is the second installment of “The Dragon Cycle,” described as “a series of matrilineal family history performances from artist-activist Sara Porkalob, at the O’Reilly Theater, Downtown, through February 25.
The press release announcement explained some of the hows and whys of live streaming theatrical works:
How it works: The Public has installed cameras throughout the O’Reilly Theater that will be operated by a team of remote producers from LOLST during every streamed performance of Dragon Lady. Ticket purchasers log in and sit down to watch their performance, just as they would in-person at The O’Reilly.
Why hasn’t this been done before?: Live-streaming theater is hard. Producers have to consider the unpredictability of live theater, the minute changes that might happen night-to-night. Stage performances are also designed to create the best experience for people in the audience – translating the same effect to the screen requires skilled producers.
Union contracts: Because Pittsburgh Public Theater is a nonprofit and member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), existing contracts allow The Public to live stream productions without inciting new commercial contracts, a new feature of LORT contracts post-pandemic.
Accessibility and reach: Dragon Lady director Andrew Russell said, “We’re grateful to be part of this incredible new initiative that makes theater more accessible, affordable and inclusive.” Added LOLST co-founder and CEO Michaels, “By opening up new avenues of artistic expression, we’re sharing the stories of local and regional theaters with a broader audience. This benefits these vital institutions and the communities they serve.”
STREAMING TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are $49 and available at www.lolst.org/dragon-lady. The League of Live Stream Theater (LOLST), was founded in 2022, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Sherrill Family Foundation. To learn more, visit lolst.org.
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