With news about Throughline Theatre, Jimmy Awards, Throughline’s Living News Festival, CLO’s Beautiful, SQUONK at the Three Rivers Arts Festival

🎭 ICYMI

• Commentary: A Brutal Week in Pittsburgh Theater Demands A Reset: Let’s Do Better
• Review: Review: South Park Theatre Stages Talley’s Folly: When Love Makes People Brave
• Review: The Light Without the Longing: Broadway’s ‘The Great Gatsby – A New Musical’ at the Benedum

THROUGHLINE THEATRE’S LIVING NEWS FESTIVAL IS BACK!

Breaking news from Throughline Theatre Company: The Living News Festival returns to Carnegie Stage, June 11-14, 2026.  Based on the 1930’s Federal Theatre Project, six local playwrights present new 10 minute plays “ripped from Pittsburgh headlines.” The playwrights for the third annual event are Eddie Kunz, Arabelle Pollock, Brian Knavish, A.J Wittman, Dan J. Kirk, and Michael A. Buzzelli. 

🎟️ TICKETS: https://events.leapevents.com/event/living-news-festival-2026

JIMMY AWARDS-BOUND BEST ACTORS AND ACTRESSES

Following a rousing 35 annual Gene Kelly Awards ceremony at the Benedum Center on Saturday, May 23, we now know the Western Pennsylvania pairs heading to New York City for the 2026 National High School Musical Theatre Awards, also known as the Jimmy Awards:

• Representing the Gene Kelly Awards and 37 schools in Allegheny County:  Paxton Masters of Avonworth High School (The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera) and Loren Prisuta of Pine-Richland High School (Velma Kelly in Chicago: Teen Edition).
• Representing the Henry Mancini Awards and 21 schools in Butler, Beaver, Lawrence and Mercer Counties: Kash Stevenson of Beaver Falls High School (James Henry Trotter in James and the Giant Peach) and Jersey Diehl of Freeport Area High School (Mae in Tuck Everlasting).

The 17th annual Jimmys, cofounded by Pittsburgh CLO, take place on Monday, June 22, 2026, at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre, home to The Lion King. The ceremony will feature 116 student nominees selected from 58 regional high school musical theater programs nationwide.

LET’S GET ‘MEAN’: NIA SIOUX SET FOR CLO SUMMER SHOW

Playbill reports that Dance Moms’ Nia Sioux “will play a featured ensemble role” in Pittsburgh CLO’s Mean Girls, July 7-12, 2026, at the Benedum Center. Mara Greer is directing the “new staging,” with Dana Solimando set to choreograph. Sioux, currently in the off-Broadway dance show 11 to Midnight, is a Pittsburgher who was among the young dancers of the reality series Dance Moms. She made her off-Broadway debut in 2016’s Trip of Love. Among Sioux’s screen roles is a cameo as herself in the 2024 Mean Girls movie musical. PIttsburgh CLO will be announcing further casting, but first comes Beautiful, The Carole King Musical, June 23-28.

Nia Sioux’s memoir is subtitled: “Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life.”

SQUONK PREMIERES NEW OUTDOOR SPECTACLE JOY MACHINE

Squonk premieres its newest large-scale outdoor production, Joy Machine, June 5–7 at the grand opening of Arts Landing during the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival in downtown Pittsburgh.

Commissioned and presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Joy Machine transforms public space into an interactive musical playground powered by audience participation. The production marks Squonk’s latest immersive spectacle, combining oversized puppetry, live music, visual design, and communal performance.

For the first time, audience members will be invited directly into the performance space to help activate the show’s large-scale creations. Participants will help operate giant puppets, power acrobatic figures, play a communal drum wall, and contribute to the show’s evolving visual and musical landscape.

Performances take place June 5–7 during the opening weekend of the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival. More information: www.TrustArts.org/TRAF

🎟️ 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: CALL BOARD, Celebrity News, Our Posts

Tags: Dance Moms, Mean Girls, Nia Sioux, Pittsburgh CLO, Squonk, Three Rivers Arts Festival, THROUGHLINE THEATRE'S LIVING NEWS FESTIVAL