COMMENTARY by SHARON EBERSON
I have been a very small cog in the media landscape of Pittsburgh for 46 years. I understand downsizing. I have witnessed the high cost of failures to adapt. Change is inevitable, and too often, heartbreaking.
I also know about treating people with dignity and respect, and displaying forethought and empathy.
And what can come of doing none of those things.
I have seen the fallout from mismanaging expectations, a lack of transparency, and those who don’t appear to give a rat’s ass about the humans whose jobs are in their trust. Nor do they seem to care about or understand the importance of public perception.
I use “appear” and “seem” because I am not in the business of speculation, although, lately, there has been a lot of easy bait for those who wish to do so.
The team transitioning Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO into a single entity, as well as those performing a “strategic review” of Point Park University’s Pittsburgh Playhouse, chose to fire a whole bunch of people (three at the Playhouse) within a few days of each other, without providing any public-facing explanation.
Media outlets received the information from sources other than the decision-makers, after the fact. I have been inundated with questions and suppositions while witnessing heartache and vitriol from members of the theater community and patrons.
Like them, I can’t figure out the strategies here. That’s not to say I don’t understand the necessity for some brutal choices; that’s another story.
Our community is hurting, and the way the axe fell has caused lasting pain.
The information on the Public — more than 40 people are still listed on their website, although there had been previous layoffs — was given first to Pittsburgh’s Action 4 News. I followed up by asking for a statement from the transition team, specifically, Krystia Kubiak, the former Public Board Chair who signed the termination letters. I was granted two paragraphs, neither explaining why people had to be told by letter that their jobs were terminated on the day they received the letter.
ICYMI, the statement read:
“With the Pittsburgh Public Theater facing ongoing financial constraints and foregoing a traditional fall season as it prepares to become part of an entirely new, unified organization with Pittsburgh CLO, it is unfortunately not possible for the Public to sustain normal staffing levels. As a result, we have had to say goodbye to some cherished colleagues whose talents and contributions have been invaluable.
“The new entity is expected to create additional staff positions over the next few months, and we hope to have the benefit of their talents in the future as we work toward the next bold chapter for extraordinary theater in Pittsburgh.”
In case you are wondering why this nor any other statement precede the layoffs, I’m wondering, too.
Public staff members had been living in limbo since it was announced on March 18, 2026, that the Public, the resident professional company of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s O’Reilly Theater, and 80-year-old Pittsburgh CLO would become one entity, under a new name.
How much dismantling that would entail was to be determined in time for an announcement of the new entity in January of 2027.
For Pittsburgh CLO, working with an already downsized staff, it will be business as usual, at least for a while. The organization has an upcoming 80th anniversary gala, a three-show summer season, camps and workshops, and the CLO Academy is ongoing. Also PCLO has been granted two holiday shows, the long-running A Musical Christmas Carol, and Who’s Holiday!, while the Public’s A Christmas Story was dropped for 2026.
The Public also had been denied a planned 52nd season for fall 2026. Further layoffs were inevitable. But, and here are my most burning question: Why was it decided that everyone remaining on the Public’s staff, top to bottom, would have to go, all at once, and right away? Who will lead the summer sessions still being advertised on the Public’s website, when the people who planned them are gone?
Also … Was there a private, in-person gathering prepared, before the news was leaked? Did something happen that called for an immediate blood bath? Was there a press release prepared, or some way to explain to Pittsburgh audiences and donors how this figures into the planning for a local professional company residing in the Pittsburgh Cultural District?
Perhaps we’ll never know. At least, in her statement, Kubiak said there was the possibility of some people being rehired.
A couple of days after that news broke, I woke up to a TribLive story that said it had obtained an email dated May 15, that said three staff positions at the Pittsburgh Playhouse had been eliminated. In a statement to the Trib that followed, Ted Black, senior vice president of institutional advancement and strategy at Point Park University, said the firings were “part of a ‘strategic review’ of the Playhouse’s operations to ‘ensure long-term success and alignment with its artistic and educational mission.”
Positions eliminated include general manager/producer, Playhouse administrator, and production manager, the Trib story said.
This came as a surprise. With the recent announcement about the return of a professional repertory company and Playhouse Jr., I had thought the next news out of the Playhouse would be about hirings.
When I inquired about who was let go, I was told by Point Park’s public relations representative, “as a matter of University policy, we do not publicly name employees in these types of situations.”
I went to the Point Park website to see if I could find Kim Martin, the Director of Production/Stage Management at Point Park University. When I was with the Post-Gazette, it was Kim who gave me an exit tour of the old Playhouse, on Craft Avenue in Oakland, before the move to Downtown.
I emailed Kim at Point Park, and got the reply, “The recipient of this message no longer has access to this email box.” A search for her on the website took me to a “404 Page Not Found” message that included a cartoon with the text, “We’re sorry! The herd has moved on …”
It’s a generic message, to be sure. Maybe the parting was amicable. But I felt that silly cartoon showed such disrespect. I am not sure why that set me off, as I struggled with all that was happening, but I thought, “I can’t stay silent.”
I am not here to comment on what has led to the loss of these and many other theater jobs. There remains much more to be dissected about the impending end of two storied Pittsburgh companies, and what their future holds. And I look forward to hearing more about the restructuring of the Pittsburgh Playhouse team.
I should add, there was good news in my Inbox this same week, from Little Lake Theatre, which has expanded its leadership, with the hiring of Katie Flanigan as Director of Production, and Nathan Walter, moving from his part-time role as Director of Production into a new position as Associate Artistic Director.
Artistic Director Patrick Cannon called the hirings “a historic moment for the 78-year-old organization, which will now operate with three full-time leadership positions,” including Managing Director Patti Knapp.
The added positions follow “unprecedented growth” at the Washington County company. Little Lake has “surpassed a record-setting $110,000 in subscriptions this year, with overall ticket sales … currently running 31% ahead of last year’s record-breaking pace.”
A thriving company in our region, where theater-makers can earn a living wage, is something to celebrate.
However, I can’t help but worry about the artists and arts leaders who contribute so much to the city’s Downtown vitality. It is a troubling fact nationwide: The high cost of union wages and materials, combined with funding losses and the changing leisure habits of a post-COVID world, have been crippling to the performing arts in most mid-size American cities.
I fear for the hometown pride that locally produced professional productions bring to the Pittsburgh Cultural District, and for the aspirational spirit that emanates to the region’s high schools and universities, and to Pittsburgh’s reputation as a theater town.
I feel this keenly, writing on the weekend of Pittsburgh CLO’s Gene Kelly Awards, not just for those who have endeavored to make the performing arts a lifelong career, but also for those who hope to follow in their footsteps.
To state unequivocally that theater artists deserve our support and patronage is obvious to me, but perhaps not to everyone. To add that they should be treated with respect by those with the power to say, “You’re fired,” is beyond self-evident.
My hope, as we move forward in transitioning, restructuring, and adapting to the times is this:
Let us not leave brutal choices open to speculation. Let us be transparent.
Let us be responsible, be respectful. Let us lead with empathy.
Let’s do better.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Feature Stories, Our Posts
Leave a Reply