Need help with Valentine’s Day plans? We’ve got you covered. Plus news about Romero & Juliet at the Greer Cabaret, Liberty Magic, Madison Arts Center, PMT’s ‘Annie,’ Alumni Theatre Company, Ken Bolden, Michael Campayno, Jessica Vosk at Trust Cabaret, and Cole Vecchio
NEW ZOMBIE / SHAKESPEARE MUSICAL AIMS FOR THE HEART
The 1980s-inspired zombie-rock musical Romero & Juliet debuts in the hometown of modern zombie culture, at the Greer Cabaret, on Friday, February 13th, and Valentine’s Day, the 14th, 2026.
Co-creator Scott Logsdon, with composer Aaron Gandy, reported in November that, “We just had a wildly successful New York City concert premiere [including] a cast packed with Broadway stars and newcomers, and we are ready to bring it to ‘dahntahn’ Pittsburgh.”
The Romero of the musical (Matt Kontur) is a regional guardsman and distant relative of filmmaker George. He meets zombie Juliet (Makayla Wynn) at a music festival called Deadstock on Friday the 13th in September 1985, in a story that fuses Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers with the zombie lore of George Romero. The musical “draws stylistic inspiration from cult favorites such as Little Shop of Horrors [and] an original score inspired by 1980s power pop legends.
The cast includes Becki Toth, Ben Sheedy, Tristan Smith, Ruth Waiwaiole, Max Suwarno, Mikayla Keyes, Ben Allen Carter, Kendal Williams and Vince Tresco, with Nick Mitchell as a standby.
🎟️ Tickets and details: Romero & Juliet runs 2 hours 30 minutes, including one intermission. https://trustarts.org/production/104737/romero-and-juliet
MORE VALENTINE’S DAY VIBES
- Along with the title, the description of the Liberty Magic show Ondrej Psenicka in 52 Lovers (February 5 – March 1, 2026) pulses with suggestive wordplay : “Have you ever seen a Czech man in a turtleneck make love to a playing card? How about 52 at once? Despite what you might be picturing, there is no nudity in this show — imagine the paper cuts! Rather, 52 Lovers is a romantic and ridiculous exhibition of heart-stirring sleight of hand.” Intrigued? Read more and find tickets at https://trustarts.org/production/102089/ondrej-psenicka-in-52-lovers.
- Madison Arts and Entertainment Center in the Hill District is offering a Valentine’s Day candlelit dinner while enjoying the romantic movie Ghost, with musical interludes “to enhance your Valentine experience.” Dinner by KP Catering is a choice of four entrees, dessert included. The night includes entertainment by guitarist Alex Weibel, starting at 6:30 p.m.; dinner will be served at 7, as the movie begins. Tickets are $35 (select entrees following their ticket purchase): https://www.pghplaywrights.org/season-info/valentines-2026/.
LEAPIN’ LIZARDS! PMT ANNOUNCES STARRY ‘ANNIE’
Pittsburgh Musical Theater has named the principal cast for its professional production of Annie, at the Byham Theater, February 19-March 1, 2026, and, leapin’ lizards! It’s a doozy!
Quinn Patrick Shannon directs Allan Snyder as Oliver Warbucks, Caroline Nicolian as Grace Farrell, Connor McCanlus as Miss Hannigan, Daniel Krell as FDR, and Issac Miller as Rooster.
🎭 Details: https://pittsburghmusicals.com/annie/
🎟️ Tickets: https://pmt.culturaldistrict.org/production/102437/annie
HERE, THERE, AND EVERWHERE
CONGRATULATIONS to Ken Bolden, a well-deserved pick as the 46th Post-Gazette Performer of the Year — a series of awardees, no repeats, that started in 1984, all chosen by longtime PG theater critic Chris Rawson (with an occasional assist from colleague Sharon Eberson of onStage Pittsburgh). Read more about Bolden’s standout roles and the rest of the 2025 standouts here.
WICKED PART 1, #THROWBACKTHURSDAY to 2018, when Michael Campayno was onstage in the Wicked national tour as Fiyero — his first Broadway role — at the Benedum Center. Campayno’s talent has taken him from a Central Catholic Gene Kelly Award winner to Carnegie Mellon to TV’s The Sound of Music Live! to The Cher Show, and, last year, in Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Public Works Twelfth Night. As the Wicked tour returns to the Benedum, Campayno is a full-time Pittsburgher once more, as the director of musical theater in the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University.
WICKED PART 2, #THROWBACKTHURSDAY to Jessica Vosk, who played Elphaba on Broadway from July 2018 to May 2019, and who is up next in the Trust Cabaret series, on February 16, 2026. Tickets: https://trustarts.org/production/101832/jessica-vosk.
THEATER KIDS ROCK, and the Pittsburgh area has many opportunities, in school and out, to allow the inner theater kid shine. For instance, Alumni Theater Company is holding auditions February 22, 2026, 1-4 p.m., for members who will be in grades 6–12 in the Pittsburgh area for the 2026–2027 school year. The company is “seeking young artists who love performing — singing, dancing, acting, rapping, or spoken word — and bring confidence, personality, and a great attitude.” Details: https://www.alumnitheatercompany.org/audition.
POSTS WE LOVE, via actor Cole Vecchio: “After 16 years of waiting, I am FINALLY going to play the Tin Man in @littlelaketheatre production of The Wizard of Oz with one of my favorite directors, @patrickcannon_! Thank you for casting me in one of my dream roles, and I can’t wait to journey to Oz with you and the rest of the cast and crew! … #Actor #DreamRole #Theatre #WizardOfOz #TinMan …” Accompanied by 🎶 “I’d be friends with the sparrows, and the boy that shoots the arrows if I only had a heart!” 🎶
Categories: Arts and Ideas, CALL BOARD
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