2024-25 Season Includes New Reading Series, ‘POTUS,’ Pemberley for the Holidays and Celebratory Events
City Theatre is gearing up for its 50th season with the announcement of four of five productions, plus special events such as the new reading series City Rewinds: 50 Years of New Plays, which will revisit some of the South Side company’s most popular offerings.
The semicentennial opens with POTUS or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, a farcical look at, well, just what it says, by Selina Fillinger, and includes a return to Austen World, with The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, a followup to the delightful Christmas at Pemberley, the start of a trilogy presented by City during the 2023 holiday season.
after 2023’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, that included Gabrielle Kogut, Sophia Macy and Hansel Tan (Image: Kristi Jan Hoover)
In addition, recent plays Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle and King James (as in LeBron), by Rajiv Joseph are part of the subscription season, that includes special events Ghosted: Tales from Carson Street and Sister Strikes Again: Late Nite Catechism 2! by Maripat Donovan.
“We designed next season at City Theatre as an epic celebration, looking back at the company’s first 50 years and ahead to what the next half-century might hold,” co-artistic directors Clare Drobot and Monteze Freeland said in a statement. “The season will feature some of the most exciting voices in the American theater [and] each play is new to Pittsburgh and produced with City Theatre’s hallmark vision of connecting Pittsburgh- and nationally-based artists.”
The upcoming season marks the first selected by Drobot and Freeland solely, as Marc Masterson will retire in June.
The 2025 New Year kicks off with a TBA play produced in the intimate Lillie Theatre, followed by Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle on the Main Stage in March.
“Noah Haidle’s warm and poetic Birthday Candles is a celebration of great acting and design,” said Masterson, who will direct City Theatre’s production. “I am eager to gather a talented team to tell this beautiful story.”
City Theatre completes its season with Rajiv Joseph’s King James, a buddy comedy that tracks the unlikely friendship of two super fans during LeBron James’ first go-round with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Freeland will direct the production, noting, “We are thrilled to bring this exciting story of brotherhood and growing pains to City Theatre audiences. Rajiv Joseph is a playwright I’ve been eager to see produced in our region, and I am grateful to be at the helm of a production that illustrates the power and complexities of friendship.”
The City Rewinds: 50 Years of New Plays reading series kicks off September, replacing the annual Momentum Festival of new plays in different stages of development. The 50th anniversary season continues with the 25th annual Young Playwrights Festival and the new Halloween story-telling event, Ghosted: Tales from Carson Street, in October 2024. In June, Kimberly Richards marks 20 years since her City debut as “Sister,” in Sister Strikes Again: Late Nite Catechism 2! by Maripat Donovan.
Freeland and Drobot will co-write Ghosted: Tales from Carson Street, “working with friends from Pittsburgh’s music scene to provide chills and thrills just in time for Halloween.”
City Theatre, whose mission is “to provide an artistic home for the development and production of contemporary plays that engage and challenge a diverse audience,” was founded in 1975 by Marjorie Walker as “City Players.” The nomadic troupe performed at various sites throughout Allegheny County before moving into Oakland digs at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1980s. After becoming a 01(c)3 nonprofit in 1987, City settled in its current campus at Bingham and 13th streets on the South Side in 1991.
The press release announcing the 50th season noted that City was created “during a period of rich cultural growth in the region,” that saw the establishment of arts and cultural mainstays such as established during the early and mid groups including the Pittsburgh Public Theater, Mattress Factory, WYEP, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Contemporary Craft and Kuntu Repertory Theatre.
The company has presented 350 shows, including 85 world premieres, with an extensive reach “in playwriting-based arts education” and community engagement. City is the third largest theater company in Pittsburgh, and largest arts organization located outside of Downtown.
At the end of the season, City Theatre will host a “50th Birthday Party weekend extravaganza,” scheduled for May 16-17, 2025.
“A half-century of anything is no small feat and we remain deeply indebted to the countless artists, staff, volunteers, donors, funders, and other visionaries who built City Theatre and allowed our unique mission and programming to flourish for the Pittsburgh community,” said James McNeel, who will be entering his 10th season as City’s managing director.
“As a contemporary theater, our job is to look at the here and now; but with this extraordinary milestone upon us, it is equally crucial that we take pause and truly celebrate our accomplishments of the past, and the indelible imprint we have made on our audiences and the theater-field writ large. We have not only survived the ups and downs of 50 years, but our mission continues to thrive and the work on stage remains urgently necessary in helping share and understand our world.”
2024-25 CITY THEATRE SUBSCRIPTION SEASON
POTUS Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive by Selina Fillinger I Director TBA I Main Stage Pittsburgh Premiere I September 21-October 13, 2024
The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon I Directed by Kyle Haden I Main Stage Pittsburgh Premiere I
November 20-December 22, 2024
TBA I Lillie Theatre I January 18-February 16, 2025
Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle I Directed by Marc Masterson I Main Stage Pittsburgh Premiere I March 8-30, 2025
King James by Rajiv Joseph I Directed by Monteze Freeland I Main Stage Pittsburgh Premiere I April 19-May 11, 2025
2024-25 CITY EVENTS:
City Rewinds: 50 Years of New Plays I Monday evenings throughout the season: September 30, November 18, January 27, February 24, and April 7
Ghosted: Tales from Carson Street I Conceived and Created by Clare Drobot & Monteze Freeland I Lillie Theatre I October 24-November 2, 2024
Sister Strikes Again: Late Nite Catechism 2 by Maripat Donovan I Lillie Theatre I June 5-29, 2025
Young Playwrights Festival I Local middle and high school students I Lillie Theatre I October 8-20, 2024 (public performances, October 19- 20)
Young Playwrights at 25 I A “class reunion” honoring 25 years of City Theatre’s in-school education program, the Young Playwrights Contest and Festival I October 18, 2024
50th Anniversary Benefit Weekend I A weekend-long celebration featuring a gala and concert experience embedded across the organization’s South Side campus I May 16-17, 2025
TICKET INFORMATION
Subscription packages go on sale March 2, 2024; single tickets, in August 2024. Reservations for City Rewinds, Ghosted and Sister’s Strikes Again! can be made beginning in June 2024. Visit https://citytheatrecompany.org/2024-2025-season/ or call 412-431-CITY (2489).
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