Compiled by SHARON EBERSON

It’s time for curtains to rise on an annual rite of spring that begins in February: A comprehensive listing of high school musical theater productions throughout Western Pennsylvania.

Among the more than 100 schools on our list, the Woodland Hills High School Department of Performing Arts will become one of two schools in the country to produce a “pilot” production of Wonderland, a reworked edition of a 2011 Broadway show that has never before been licensed for high schools to produce. Wonderland is a contemporary version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll.

Also on our list, Shrek the Musical and the teen edition of Chicago made gains in popularity, while The Addams Family continues as a favorite. 

The spring musicals in our region are listed in alphabetical order by school name, noting participants in the annual Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater (GK) and Henry Mancini Awards (HM). The ceremony for Pittsburgh CLO‘s Kelly Awards, with 33 participating schools from Allegheny County, is May 25, 2024, at the Benedum Center, Downtown. The Mancinis, with 16 participating schools from Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer counties, will be held at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center in Midland. The top actor and actress from these programs have the opportunity to compete in the national Jimmy Awards, June 24, 2024, at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre.

(Sources: Gene Kelly Awards, Henry Mancini Awards, school websites, phone confirmation, Theatrical Rights Worldwide and Music Theatre International. Links lead to info and ticketing web pages or to the high schools’ home pages. Contact info@onstagepittsburgh.com with additions and corrections.)

2024 SPRING HIGH MUSICALS IN WESTERN PA
(Listed in alphabetical order by high school)

A through F

Ambridge, The Drowsy Chaperone, February 29, March 1-3 HM

Apollo-Ridge, The Addams Family, February 29, March 1-2

Armstrong, Grease, March 15-16 

Avonworth, Into the Woods, March 15-16, 22-23 GK

Baldwin, Rodger + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, April 10-13 GK

Beaver Area, Rodger + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, March 15-17 HM

Beaver County Christian, Anne and Gilbert: A Musical, March 14-16 

Beaver Falls, Elf the Musical, March 24-26 HM

Belle Vernon, Shrek the Musical, March 14-17

Bethel Park, Big Fish, March 13-16

Bethlehem Center, Mamma Mia!, March 14-16

Bishop Canevin, All Shook Up, April 25-27 GK

Blackhawk, Mary Poppins- The Broadway Musical, and runs April 11-14

Brentwood, Sweet Charity, April 18-20 GK

Burgettstown, Chitty Chitty Bang, April 11-13

Burrell, Shrek the Musical, March 21-23

Butler, Elf the Musical, March 15-16

Canon-McMillan, Shrek the Musical, March 14-17

Carlynton, The Addams Family, April 11-14 GK

Central Catholic / Oakland Catholic, Hello Dolly!, March 22-24 

Central Valley, My Favorite Year, February 29, March 1-2 HM

Charleroi, Shrek the Musical, March 1-3

Chartiers-Houston, Big Fish, March 8-10

Chartiers Valley, Mamma Mia!, March 6-9 GK

Commodore Perry School District, Beauty and the Beast, April 11-13th

Deer Lakes, The Sound of Music, April 4-7

Derry, The SpongeBob Musical, February 16-18

East Allegheny, The Wedding Singer, April 11-13

Eden Christian Academy, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, April 22-27 GK 

Elizabeth Forward, Big Fish, April 4-7 GK

Fort Cherry, Willy Wonka, March 1-2 

Fox Chapel, The Little Mermaid, February 29, March 1-2

Franklin Regional, West Side Story School Edition, March 7-10

Freedom Area, Matilda, April 4-7 HM  

Freeport, Chicago: Teen Edition, March 4-7 HM

G through N

Gateway, Chicago: Teen Edition, April 10-14 GK

Geibel Catholic Jr. Sr. High School – Little Mermaid, April 27-28

Greater Latrobe, The Wizard of Oz, March 1-3

Greensburg Central Catholic, Newsies, April 19-21

Greensburg Salem, Footloose, March 1-3

Grove City, The Addams Family, April 4-6

Hampton, Tuck Everlasting, April 12-13, April 19-20 GK

Hempfield, The Addams Family, March 13-16

Highlands, Disney’s Descendants the Musical, March 22-24

Hopewell, Disney’s Newsies, March 15-17 HM

Karns City, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, February 29, March 1-2

Keystone Oaks, Anything Goes, April 11-13 GK

Kiski Area, Phantom of the Opera, March 20-23

Knoch, Hello, Dolly, March 1-3 HM

Lakeview, Footloose, March 7-9

Laurel, The Wiz, March 15-17

Mars Area, Mary Poppins, March 1-2 HM

Mercer, Hello, Dolly, April 11-13

McKeesport, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, April 11-13 GK

Mohawk, Shrek the Musical, March 21-23 HM

Monessen, The SpongeBob Musical, March 21-24

Moniteau, Guys and Dolls, March 15-16

Montour, Chicago: Teen Edition, April 25-28 GK

Moon Area, The Drowsy Chaperone, April 11-14 

Mount Lebanon, Meet Me in St. Louis, May 2-4

Mount Pleasant Area High School, Little Shop of Horrors, April 12-14

New Brighton, Seussical, February 22-24 

New Castle, Anything Goes!, April 11-13 HM

Neshannock, Curtains, March 21-23

North Allegheny, Sweeney Todd School Edition, February 28-29, March 1-3

North Catholic, Chicago: Teen Edition, March 1-3 HM

North Hills, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, March 15-17, 21-23  GK

Northgate, The SpongeBob Musical, April 11-13

Norwin, Grease, March 21-24

O through Z

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, March 1-3, 8-9 GK

Penn Hills, Shrek the Musical, April 25-28 GK

Penn-Trafford, Bye, Bye Birdie, April 5-7, 12-14

Peters Township, All Shook Up, March 14-17

Pine-Richland, Mamma Mia!, March 15-16, 22-23 GK

Pittsburgh Allderdice, On the Town, April 18-21 GK

Pittsburgh CAPA, Sweeney Todd, April 12-14, 18-21 GK

Plum, Bye, Bye Birdie, April 11-13 GK

Quaker Valley, The Addams Family, March 14-16 GK

Redeemer Lutheran, The Music Man, April 11-13 GK 

Ringgold, Footloose, March 7-9

Riverside, The Addams Family, March 21-24 HM

Riverview, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, March 7-10 GK

River Valley, Disneys Beauty and the Beast, March 22 – 24

Saint Joseph, Disney’s Tarzan, March 25-28 GK

Seneca Valley,  Something Rotten!  Feb. 29 – Mar. 3

Serra Catholic, The Addams Family, April 19-21 GK

Seton LaSalle, The Wizard of Oz (RSC Version), March 25-27 GK

Sewickley Academy, Singin’ in the Rain, March 7-9 GK

Shady Side Academy, Zombie Prom, Feb. 23-25 GK 

Shaler Area, Anastasia, March 1-3 & 8- 9 

Slippery Rock, Disney’s Newsies, April 11-13 HM 

South Allegheny, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, March 15-17

South Fayette, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, March 15-17

South Side, The Little Mermaid, March 1-3 HM

Southmoreland, Mamma Mia!, March 14-17

Springdale, Little Shop of Horrors, April 4-6 GK 

Steel Valley, Matilda the Musical, March 14-17

Thomas Jefferson, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, March 14-17 GK

Trinity, The Sound of Music, February 29, March 1-3 

Trinity Christian Schools – Forest Hills, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
April 25-27 and May 2-4

Union Area, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, March 1-3

Upper St. Clair, Disney’s Newsies, March 14-16

Valley, The Addams Family, April 11-14

West Allegheny, Bye Bye Birdie, April 11-14 GK

West Mifflin, Mean Girls, February 29, March 1-3

Western Beaver, Disney’s Newsies, March 1-3 HM

Westinghouse Arts Academy, Chicago: Teen Edition, April 26-18 GK

Wilmington Area, The Wizard of Oz, March 21-23 

Winchester Thurston, TBA

Woodland Hills, Wonderland, April 25-27, May 2-4 GK

Categories: Arts Education, Feature Stories, Our Posts, Season Listings, Show Previews

Tags: 2024, Chicago Musical, Gene Kelly Awards, Henry Mancini Awards, High School Musicals, Musical Theater, Shrek, Spring High School Musicals, The Addams Family, Western Pennsylvania, Wonderland, Woodland Hills High School