With news about ... PBT receives $1 million grant to boost The Nutcracker revamp; PSO Passport unveiled; The Next Act, and The Next …; naming the merged Pittsburgh Public & Pittsburgh CLO; Squonk’s Joy Machine; Dallas, Texas, presenter/producer merger; and more.
🎭 ICYMI:
- 🎭 Preview: Kinetic Theatre Starting Five: Agatha Christie’s ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’
- 🎭 Review: Alumni’s ‘Once on This Island’ Showcases Pittsburgh Talent
- 🎭 Feature: The Theater Kids Are All Right: Alumni’s ‘Once on This Island’; CMU’s ‘Midsummer’
- 🎵 Preview: Chamber Music Pittsburgh 66th Main Stage Live
- 🎭 Review: Paragon Theater’s ‘Something Rotten!’ Is Anything But
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Receives $1 Million Grant
In May, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre officials announced they were working on revamping the beloved Nutcracker production, with a debut set for December 2027. This week, the company revealed it has received a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation — some of which will support the reimagined Nutcracker and other “innovative programing.”
“We are extremely grateful for the support of the Mellon Foundation,” Adam W. McKinney, PBT’s artistic director, said in a statement. “The funding has enabled PBT to invest deeply in new artistic development, expand the scope of our programming and create spaces for exploration and collaboration that would not otherwise have been feasible. I am deeply thankful to them for believing in PBT and the arts in Pittsburgh.”
PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ANNOUNCES PASSPORT
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concertgoers now have “the flexibility to choose concerts that interest them, make plans when the time is right, and still enjoy great seats” with a new program called PSO Passport. The monthly membership designed for maximum flexibility includes:
- Unlimited access to BNY Classics, PNC Pops, and Movies series concerts, plus select special concerts, for $23 a month.
- You can reserve prime seats for just $10 each—seats that can normally cost up to $129.
- You can cancel the monthto-month membership at anytime. There’s no long-term commitment.
🎟️ DETAILS: https://pittsburghsymphony.org/pso_home/membership
THE NEXT ACT, AND THE NEXT, AND THE NEXT …
Looking for a phrase to represent change in theater? You don’t have to look far for “The Next Act.” You possibly heard it first as City Theatre’s “Our Next Act,” to launch the coming season; then “The Next Act Pittsburgh” website, www.thenextactpgh.com, chronicling the merger of Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO, and again, when New Hazlett Theater used it to introduce its new producing program, ForgeWorks. And BroadwayWorld.com has just presented the inaugural installment of The Next Act, billed as “a new series spotlighting the artists and creative leaders shaping the future of theater.”
SPEAKING OF PITTSBURGH PUBLIC/CLO’S NEXT ACT …
Do you want to get in on the act of naming the new theater resulting from the merged Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO? The planned announcement of a new name on July 31, 2026, at an O’Reilly Theater event, was curtailed by, um, circumstances. Instead, the Board of Directors and interim staff decided to start anew, and they are asking for the public’s input. You can use the QR code pictured at right; be clicking https://www.menti.com/al7puzk3j5nu?source=voteCode, or go to menti.com and use the code 27016073 to have your say.
SQUONK SPREADS JOY FOR CLP ‘READING EXTRAVAGANZA‘
The latest Squonk Opera creation, Joy Machine, will be presented as part of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s (Main) Summer Reading Extravaganza on Sunday, August 9. Find details of the family-friendly outdoor festival in Oakland at https://www.carnegielibrary.org/event/summer-reading-extravaganza/.
MERGER NEWS ELSEWHERE …
American Theatre Magazine reports that the next act for the multi-venue AT&T Performing Arts Center and Dallas Theater Center (DTC) is a merger, planned for early next year. If approved by both Boards of Directors, the organizations will make DTC the official producing arm of the Texas performing arts center, which until now has been primarily a presenter for resident companies and other entertainment (think the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust). The article put the merger this way: “They already share buildings, so why not share staff, scene shops, and other resources? That’s at least part of the logic behind the newly announced merger … There are some hard economic reasons too: Both organizations have faced significant deficits in recent years.” The Dallas Theater Center’s all-play lineup for next season includes a world premiere and a regional premiere of The Monsters, by Point Park University alum Ngozi Anyanwu. The off-Broadway production was nominated for four Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Drama Desk Awards (winning one), two Drama League Awards, and four Lucille Lortel Awards.
🎟️ 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.
👉 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, Our Posts
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