With news about: City Theatre’s record-breaking ‘Hedwig’; Pittsburgh Playwright’s ‘BURNBABYBURN’ reading; Prime Stage on WQED; PSO’s Manfred Honeck and The Clarks; Chamber MusicPuttsburgh Celebrates the 250; 2026 Tony Awards; and more.
🎭 ICYMI:
- News: The Shows Will Go On at Carnegie Stage
- News: Manfred Honeck Set to Become PSO’s Longest-Serving Music Director
- Review: ‘Fun Home’ at The Theatre Factory
- Review: Park After Dark Delivers Raunchy Feminist Wit With ‘POTUS’
- Preview: barebones’ Quartet of Newcomers Summon ‘Our Dear Dead Drug Lord’
- Final Weekend: Full Lineup Unveiled for Three Rivers Arts Festival at Arts Landing
‘HEDWIG’ IS A BOX OFFICE HIT FOR CITY THEATRE
City Theatre’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, presented at the Greer Cabaret, in partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, has surpassed a revenue record set just five months ago with Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Hedwig, City’s first revival and first foray away from its South Side campus, “has already crested $257,000 in total revenue, and is on pace to issue nearly 7,000 tickets, the second most tickets for a City Theatre show in at least 20 years (behind only The Good Body by Eve Ensler in 2006), over 38 performances in the 196-seat venue,” City announced. Once the extended run is completed on Sunday, June 14, “Hedwig is expected to have been sold at over 90% capacity, exceeding national averages.” Hedwig and the Angry Inch, directed by Robert Ramirez and starring Treasure Treasure, is City Theatre’s 2025-2026 season finale. City first produced Hedwig in 2003, with Anthony Rapp.
City offered that its detailed box-office records go back to 2006. Since then, the following shows have grossed the most revenue (inclusive of single, group, and subscription sales):
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2025-26), at least $257,000
- Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (2025-26), $198,223
- Hand to God (2016-17), $192,879
- POTUS (2024-25), $184,932
- The Good Body (2006-07), $175,529
🎭 To read the onStage Pittsburgh review of Hedwig, click here.
PITTSBURGH PLAYWRIGHTS READING & FUNDRAISING
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company is holding a staged reading of BURNBABYBURN: an american dream by a.k. payne , directed by Karla C. Payne, on Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Madison Arts Center. The reading is the culmination of a one-week workshop, preparing the new work for its August 2026 world premiere at the August Wilson House. The Pittsburgh-set play features Hope Anthony as Sky, and Katherine Bruce as Sky II, a young woman on a journey to heal herself and the generations who came before her. The cast also includes Michele Bankole, Anthony Grace, Destiny Nwafor, and DeVaughn Robinson. — Free, but reserve a ticket at
Pittsburgh Playwrights also is holding fundraisers to support its trip to the International Black Theatre Festival, to present Southers’ play Art of Wise (2025). On June 28, there will be a screening of the 2021 feature film Cyril — by Mark Southers, directed by Andrew Paul, featuring the late Cyril Wecht with David Whalen, Sam Lothard and Susan McGregor-Laine. And just before leaving for the festival in North Carolina (July 27-August 1), PPTC will reprise Art of Wise for one night only, on July 25.
🎟️ TICKETS AND DETAILS: pghplaywrights.org.
of Freedom House: Giving Life a Second Chance. (Image: Brandon Pierce)
‘FREEDOM HOUSE’: FROM PRIME STAGE TO WQED
Prime Stage Theatre’s Freedom House: Giving Life a Second Chance, which debuted onstage in January of this year, makes its PBS broadcast debut June 15, 2026 at 11:30 p.m on WQED-TV. The original play by L.E. McCullough dramatizes the 1967 creation of Freedom House Ambulance Service, America’s first mobile EMS program staffed by professionally-trained paramedics from the Hill District.
Directed by Scott Calhoon, the 90-minute video captures the play’s premiere at New Hazlett Theater, and features performances by Willa “Katy” Cotten, Cynthia Dallas, Justin Mohr, Darrin Mosley, Anne Rematt, DeVaughn Robinson and Ryan Warsing.
🎭 Read the onStage Pittsburgh review of Freedom House, click here.
MUSIC DOUBLEHEADER: MANFRED HONECK AND THE CLARKS
On Wednesday, Mayor Corey O’Connor went from one music venue to another … well, from Heinz Hall to the City-County Building.The Mayor was on hand as to honor Maestro Manfred Honeck, who has been signed to a contract extension through 2032-2033, that will make him the longest serving Music Director in the PSO’s 131-year history. Then O’Connor had to hustle back to what he billed as the first concert ever in the Mayor’s Office, where The Clarks were honored by the Mayor for their 40 years as Pittsburgh’s best-known band. The Clarks played a three-song set at the event.
REAL TIME ARTS’ EQUITABLE DINNERS
American Theatre Magazine’s article about the Equitable Dinners program founded by At Atlanta’s Out of Hand Theater, with this year’s theme, “What does America mean to you?,” included RealTime Arts among the companies that have adopted the program. At RealTime Arts, their theme of We Hold These Truths: American Potluck explores “food, health, and American identity,” working with local health organizations Allegheny Health Network, Age Friendly Pittsburgh, and Pennsylvania Community Health Workers Association. Artistic Director and lead playwright Molly Rice told the magazine that invitees will bring dishes that speak to their American identity.
“We feel that the tension around politics and current events has caused neighbors to stop talking to each other as much as they used to,” Rice said in a statement. “We wanted to create events where neighbors could gather, eat together, and express what it means to be an American through food and conversation.”
🍽️ Learn more about RealTime Arts Equitiable Dinners here.
Chamber Music Pittsburgh EXPLORES AMERICA’S 250th ANNIVERSARY
Chamber Music Pittsburgh collaborators INEZ and Michael Chapman have partnered with members of Guardians of Sound’s Hip Hop Orchestra to create A Hip Hop 250, a program exploring what America’s 250th anniversary means to “we, the people” through the lens of hip hop and related musical traditions.
The Hip Hop Orchestra is a multigenerational ensemble of instrumentalists, singers, emcees, rappers, and music technologists who create and perform original works that blend acoustic instruments, contemporary technology, and socially conscious lyrics. Drawing from hip hop, jazz, classical, rock, and popular music, the ensemble seeks to inspire creativity while building new and diverse audiences for live music.
Performances will take place on June 13 at 5:00 p.m. at East Liberty Presbyterian Church and on June 17 at 7:00 p.m. at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center.
Also, as part of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s America at 250 initiative, bassoonist Carlos Clark, a Paul J. Ross Fellow with the PSO, has curated a chamber music program exploring the diverse musical traditions of the Americas.
Entitled The Cowboy Evolves: Journeys Through the Music of the Americas, the program features works by Florence Price, Miguel del Águila, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Wynton Marsalis, performed by Clark and fellow PSO musicians. Combining music and storytelling, the evening examines the lives, influences, and evolving identities of four composers whose work reflects the cultural complexity of the Western Hemisphere.
The program will be presented twice: Monday, June 15 in partnership with City of Asylum on Pittsburgh’s North Side, and Tuesday, June 16 at St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale, presented in partnership with the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka.
Tickets for both events at: https://www.chambermusicpittsburgh.org/pittsburgh-performs
2026 TONY AWARDS SNAPSHOT
Carnegie Mellon alumni were featured throughout the 2026 Tony Awards, led by The Lost Boys producing team of James Carpinello, Marcus Chait and Patrick Wilson, who met at the school more than 30 years ago. Fellow CMU School of Drama alums who led the show to 12 nominations include costume design by Ryan Park, and script adaptation by Chris Hoch and David Hornsby. The show took home four Tonys, while Schmigadoon won Best Musical, a win for prolific producer Jamie DeRoy. An honorary Tony went to lighting designer Jules Fisher (Class of 1960). Read a detailed recap of CMU’s Tony’s night can be found here.
When Ragtime won Best Musical Revival, composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens were front and center on the Radio City Music Hall stage. Dormont native Flaherty will be recognized with the Richard Rodgers Award at the Pittsburgh CLO 80th Anniversary Gala. Read more about Flaherty and the Gala here.
🎟️ 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, Festival, Our Posts
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