With news about Pittsburgh CLO Gala and Stephen Flaherty, actor Matt DeCaro, Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, New Horizon Theater’s ‘Motown Extreme,” Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre reading, and more.
🎭 ICYMI:
- Season announcement: The Strand Theatre in Zelienople Announces 2026-2027 Broadway on Main Season
- In the news: Attack Theatre, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, and PearlArts Movement & Sound Launch Equitable Access to Rehearsal Infrastructure in Pittsburgh
- Preview: Prime Stage Theatre Commissions Tammy Ryan to Give Voice to ‘Speak’
- Review: Pittsburgh Opera’s Witty and Uproarious Production of Falstaff
STEPHEN FLAHERTY HONORED WITH RICHARD ROGERS AWARD AT PITTSBURGH CLO 80th ANNIVERSARY GALA
Stephen Flaherty, the award-winning composer of Ragtime, Seussical, and Once on This Island, will be the 13th musical theater luminary to receive the Richard Rogers Award, which has been presented by Pittsburgh CLO since the award was inaugurated in 1988. The award will be presented to Flaherty, a Dormont native, at Pittsburgh CLO’s 80th Anniversary Gala on June 12 2025, at the August WIlson African American Cultural Center.
The gala also will honor the community service of PCLO devoted supporter Carol Hefren Tillotson, and will include a cocktail reception, a sit-down dinner and entertainment by PCLO artists.
In conjunction with the families of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, Pittsburgh CLO established the Richard Rodgers Award to recognize the lifetime contributions of outstanding talents in musical theater. The award has not been bestowed since Stephen Schwartz was so honored in 2009. Other previous winners have been: Mary Martin (1988), Dame Julie Andrews (1989), Harold Prince (1991), Sir Cameron Mackintosh (1992), Stephen Sondheim (1993), Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber (1996), Gwen Verdon (2000), Bernadette Peters (2002), Shirley Jones (2007), Kathleen Marshall (2008), and Rob Marshall (2008).
🎟️ Individual tickets are $750. Click here for tickets and details.
🎭 Related note: It was announced on Wednesday that the acclaimed Lincoln Center revival of Ragtime — music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Terrence McNally, based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow — will launch a North American Tour in 2027.
RIP ACTOR MATT DeCARO, WHO APPEARED WITH PICT AND KINETIC THEATRES
Matt DeCaro, who died at age 70 last week, was a Chicago actor, but he was a Pittsburgh actor, too, to many who worked beside him or caught his performances for Andrew Paul’s Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre and Kinetic Theatre.
DeCaro had been playing recording studio owner Sturdyvant in the Goodman Theatre’s current production, August WIlson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He appeared on Friday night, then passed away from heart failure the next morning, April 25, at his home. The Chicago Tribune reported that the Goodman canceled its Saturday matinee, and the cast decided to move forward with the later show in DeCaro’s honor.
Among the many social media tributes from fellow actors, David Whalen said he was “gutted,” and wrote:
“We all in Pittsburgh LOVED Matt DeCaro!
You will live forever in our collective hearts.
RIP my dear friend, Matty.”
PITTSBURGH YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENTS A NIGHT OF ‘MONUMENTAL’ WORKS
The Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, comprised of standout students from regional high school programs and our universities music schools, takes the stage at Heinz Hall on Sunday, May 17, for a program billed as “rivaling any professional lineup in scope and ambition.”
The evening features Ottorino Respighi’s vivid tone poem Pines of Rome, the Overture to Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, Leonard Bernstein’s energetic Three Dance Episodes from On the Town, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s haunting Isle of the Dead. PYSO cellist Albert Dong — winner of the orchestra’s 2025–26 Conducting Competition — steps onto the podium to lead Beethoven’s Prometheus overture.
🎟️ Admission is free but reservations are required, at: https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/pyso-7/pyso-in-concert-pines-of-rome-2104901629
JOHN NOBLE’S NIGHT OF THE STARS RETURNS
John Noble’s Night of the Stars, the annual showcase of Westmoreland County high school musical theater programs, returns on May 6 to the Palace Theatre in Greensburg. Produced by the Westmoreland Performing Arts, the event gives participating schools 12 minutes to perform highlights from their productions.
Noble, who founded the non-competitive Night of the Stars nearly 30 years ago, raises the money to give each school a handcrafted plaque and between $500 and $1,000 to be used by their musical programs.Taking part this year are: Greensburg Salem High School, Greensburg Salem Middle School, Kiski Area, Greeensburg Central Catholic, Derry Area, Mount Pleasant Area, Yough Senior High School, Burrell High School, Home Town Arts, Apollo Ridge, Charleroi, Words Players Applause Home School troupe, performers from Ligonier Valley, and for the first time, a performance from Greensburg Salem’s Elementary Schools’ musical Fenway and Hattie. In addition there will be a performance by Westmoreland Performing Arts’ Good Vibrations.
🎟️ TICKETS: https://westmorelandculturaltrust.org/events/nightofthestars-2026/ or call 724-836-8000,
HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE
🎭 Playwriting 101: Alumni Theater Company introduces Lessons Learned, a collection of one-act plays written and performed by company members and “exploring how to navigate time, truth, and justice in today’s world.” The lineup, May 1-3, 2026: The Last Day On Earth, by Young Artist Ensemble Member Ka’Miaya Darwin and directed by Dominique Briggs; Bows & Ties by Young Artist Ensemble Member Emory Drain and directed by Hallie Donner; Gone Before Me by Teen Ensemble Member Cayah Leavy and directed by Karla Payne. Tickets and details: https://www.alumnitheatercompany.org/tickets .
📖 A relatively recent addition to the already busy weekend: The Weight of Forgiveness by Leon Ford, a reading directed by Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s Mark Clayton Southers and produced by Madison Arts Center. At 6 p.m. Sunday, May 3, 2026. Tickets are $25 at https://www.pghplaywrights.org/season-info/weight/.
🎵 New Horizon Theater presents Motown Extreme, a musical revue on the O’Reilly Theater‘s main stage, featuring tribute artists performing as Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five, The Temptations, The O’Jays, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, and more. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. Tickets are $50, $75 and $100 at https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/new-horizon-theater/69e3fa59a48aad396493cfb5.
🎟️ Reminder: The discount ticket initiative Go See a Show! is ongoing, with 18 performing arts companies and Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama participating. Find tickets at https://www.goseeashowpgh.com/, and read all about What’s Happening on local stages at onStage Pittsburgh.
👉 Don’t forget — you can always explore the next two months of performances, organized by date or company, at onStage Pittsburgh.
👉 Did we miss your show? Send us your updates at info@onstagepittsburgh.com so we can share them in Listings and a future Call Board.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, CALL BOARD, Our Posts
Leave a Reply Cancel reply