With News about MCG Jazz’s Marty Ashby Honored, Ticket Scams, Resonance Works, Front Porch Cabaret, New Hazlett Premiere, Quantum’s Enron and More
DOWNBEAT HONORS MCG JAZZ EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Marty Ashby, Executive Producer of MCG Jazz, has been awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by DownBeat magazine, the world’s leading jazz publication. Ashby’s name appears on the cover of the November issue, alongside a feature article celebrating his decades-long contributions to jazz.
This honor comes at a milestone moment: MCG Jazz is embarking on its 40th anniversary. Marty Ashby’s recognition by DownBeat underscores not only his personal impact on the jazz community, but also the national significance of Pittsburgh’s jazz legacy.
“No other Pittsburgh jazz figure in recent history has graced the cover of DownBeat,” said Scott Hanley, general manager of WZUM AM/FM. “It’s a testament to the incredible artists, audiences, and supporters who have made MCG Jazz a cultural cornerstone.”
Since founding MCG Jazz in 1987, Ashby has produced thousands of concerts and recordings, earning multiple Grammy Awards and positioning Pittsburgh as a vital hub for jazz innovation. His leadership has fostered collaborations with legendary artists while nurturing emerging talent, ensuring the music’s vibrancy for future generations. Ashby also is managing a multimillion-dollar enhancement to the MCG Jazz facility, creating an Archives Center, Jazz and Technology classrooms, and expanded audio/video capabilities for the music hall.
BE ALERT FOR HOLIDAY SHOW TICKET SCAMS
This holiday season, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) is alerting customers about online ticket scams, scalpers, and price gouging. Many tickets to PBT’s popular holiday tradition, The Nutcracker, being sold online are not issued by PBT. Illegal ticket resellers purchase tickets at their original price, and then sell them on the secondary market for much higher prices due to demand. The practice is not limited to just PBT’s production of The Nutcracker.
High demand for popular events creates an opportunity for resellers to profit from the difference between the original ticket price and the price that fans are willing to pay. Ticket price gouging can make it difficult for fans to get tickets and force them to pay exorbitant amounts — sometimes thousands of dollars above face value — to see their favorite performances.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust provides secure and official ticketing for productions from the Cultural Trust, August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
🎟️ Tickets for the listed companies are available online at TrustArts.org; by phone at 412-456-6666 (412-456-4800 for PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh events); or in person at the venue’s box office or at Theater Square, located at 655 Penn Avenue, Downtown.
RESONANCE WORKS PRESENTS ‘THE JUNGLE BOOK‘
Resonance Works continues its 13th season with the Pittsburgh premiere of The Jungle Book, a “joyful and deeply human” opera for all ages by composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Kelley Rourke. Performances take place November 21–23, 2025, at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie, PA.
In this reimagining of Rudyard Kipling’s classic story, The Jungle Book follows Mowgli, an endangered human cub who finds refuge with a pack of wolves and discovers the meaning of family, empathy, and belonging. Sankaram’s “score blends elements of Indian classical music with Western traditions, to create a sound world as colorful and diverse as the jungle itself.”
“At its core, The Jungle Book is about embracing those who are different; about seeing beauty and value in those we think we have little in common with,” says Maria Sensi Sellner, artistic and general director of Resonance Works. “In a time when the division in our world feels overwhelming, this story reminds us of ‘the heart that beats in all of us.’”
🎟️Tickets availsablde at: https://www.resonanceworks.org
in 2025’s Sunday in the Park With George. (Image: Deana Muro)
FRONT PORCH ANNUAL CABARET LOOKS BACK & AHEAD
Front Porch Theatricals’ 10th annual benefit cabaret and 2026 season announcement is one-night only, 7 p.m. December 1, 2025, at the Greer Cabaret. The evening of song celebrates the 2025 season (Baby and Sunday in the Park With George) and other past productions, heading into the new year. Performers include Allan Snyder, Saige Smith, Aaron Galligan-Stierle, Brady Patsy, Lindsay Bayer Ray, David Ieong, Braden Stroppel and more.
🎟️ Tickets available at: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/front-porch-theatricals/front-porch-cabaret
BIRTHDAY AT TIFFANY’S PREMIERES AT THE NEW HAZLETT
This November 20-21, the New Hazlett Theater invites audiences to the premiere of Birthday at Tiffany’s, playwright Christine CMC Bethea‘s “poignant dramedy” rooted in Pittsburgh’s Homewood and inspired by August Wilson archival research.
Blending wit and purpose, Birthday at Tiffany’s explores race, privilege, and belonging through the perspective of a middle-class couple willing to do anything to keep their 7-year-old’s birthday on track — even if it means playing nice with the impossible.
Bethea, an award-winning mixed media artist based in Pittsburgh, combines lively storytelling and 1980s sitcom nostalgia with relevant social issues.
“Christine CMC Bethea is proof that powerful, relevant art has no age limits. … Her deep love of history, paired with her eye for design and culture, gives her work an unmatched richness,” New Hazlett Theater Artistic Producer Melissa Cardello-Linton says.
🎟️Tickets available at: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36406/production/1254135.
HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE
Quantum Theatre has added a “bonus” performance of the mostly SRO Enron, on Tuesday, November 18 at 7:30 p.m. Limited tickets also are available for this weekend’s performances, at https://www.quantumtheatre.com/enron/ or call the box office at 412-362-1713. … New kid on the theater block Playbox Productions has announced a production of George Orwell’s 1984, adapted by Robert Owens, Wilton E. Hall Jr. andWilliam A. Miles Jr. and directed by M.A.C., December 4 – 7, 2025, at :937 Liberty Ave, Downtown. For tickets and to learn more about Playbox and this production, visit https://playbox.ticketspice.com/1984. … Taking over the Greer Cabaret for the holiday season is the Richard Marsh solo show YIPPEE KI YAY (the parody celebration of Die Hard), Decemebr 2-21, 2025. More at https://www.pittsburghclo.org/shows/yippee-ki-yay. … Songs In Our Key: An ATC Cabaret brings together Alumni Theater Company’s rising young artists and vocalists Lailonny Morris and Chantal Braziel, who “have poured their wisdom into our students as teaching artists and will join our students, adding even more to this evening filled with showstoppers.” The cabaret celebrates music, mentorship, and the power of the Black artistic voice. Visit: https://www.alumnitheatercompany.org/tickets.
👉 Don’t forget—you can always explore the next two months of performances, organized by date or company, anytime at onStage Pittsburgh.
👉Did we miss your show? Send us your updates at info@onstagepittsburgh.com so we can share them in a future Call Board.
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