Former New Horizon Leader Died As Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Debuted His Latest Show, ‘A Dinah Washington Christmas.’
By SHARON EBERSON
A Dinah Washington Christmas, a combination of beloved Christmas songs, a celebration of the “Queen of the Blues,” and nod to the jazz heritage of the Hill District, had its debut on Thursday in the festively decked out cabaret space at Madison Arts Center. The show on opening night was held up for a short time, in anticipation of the arrival of the playwright, Ernest McCarty. Mark Clayton Southers, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s founder and artistic director, learned later of the passing that night of Mr. McCarty, 84. (Condolences to the McCarty family and friends. Details to come.)
The Chicago-born composer and bass player, who played with Pittsburgh native Errol Garner, was artistic director of New Horizon Theater from 1994 until 2008, and had previously collaborated with Pittsburgh Playwrights on Dinah, a 2015 revue that was repeated last year.
In all three shows, Pittsburgh’s Delana Flowers has played Washington, the singer of What a Diff’rence a Day Makes and other hits, until her death at age 39, in 1963.
(Dwayne Dolphin and Jason Washington Jr. are hidden),
with Destiny Nwafor and Marissa Lily as backup singers.
(Image courtesy of Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company)
The new Christmas show places the songstress at a fictional Pittsburgh jazz club called Jimmy Sykes’ Sugar Top Lounge — a reference to the once thriving artistic center of the Hill District, after Harlem’s Sugar Hill — for a fundraising night of holiday-themed songs, backed by a starry band and two feisty singers.
Saxophonist Tony Campbell was front and center in almost every number, with Dwayne Fulton on piano, Dwayne Dolphin on upright bass and young Jason Washington Jr. on the drums. Campbell and Fulton are childhood friends of PPTC founder and artistic director Mark Clayton Southers, who co-directed the production with his daughter, Ashley Southers.
Les Howard takes the stage as singer/songwriter Brook Benton, and Marissa Lily and Destiny Nwafor brighten the stage as Dinah’s spirited backup singers. Krystall Waller, as LaRue, also lifts spirits, as Dinah’s companion and confidant.
According to the notes, the show is set in December 1963 – the month Washington died in her sleep. At the time, she was married to the former NFL player Dick “Night Train” Lane, (she may have been married as many as nine times), portrayed via video by Sam Lothard.
There is some tension in the first act, as Flowers’ Dinah worries about her friend possibly losing his club. She has come to help pay off his debts, but appears to be working out stress of her own.
Mostly, though, this is a Christmas revue, with a few of Washington’s hits, and featuring a Flowers-Howard duet on the winter-weather seduction song, Baby It’s Cold Outside.
The band also kept the holiday hits coming, and I walked into the cold night thinking fondly of Vince Guaraldi’s Christmas Time Is Here.
At intermission of A Dinah Washington Christmas, Mark Southers was presented with a cash award from The Pierians, Incorporated, whose focus is “advancing the arts of the African American experience” and “recognizing[ing] individuals in the community for their contributions to the arts,” including the awarding of scholarships. Southers said the money he received will go toward producing a new work by the award-winning Pittsburgh playwright a.k. Payne.
Photo: Mark Southers with Sheena Walker, president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of The Pierians.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
A Dinah Washington Christmas continues in the cabaret of Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s Madison Arts Center, 3401 Milwaukee Street, Upper Hill District, through Monday, December 22, 2025. For tickets, visit https://www.pghplaywrights.org/season-info/dinah-xmas/dinah-xmas-tickets/.
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