By SHARON EBERSON
The Greer Cabaret continues as the Downtown place to be for locally produced musical revivals. Next up: BDE Productions rents the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust venue for Rent, September 24-October 18, 2026.
In May and June, City Theatre ventured from the South Side with an extended run of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Carnegie’s Stage 62 brought productions of The Prom and Company there, and Michael McKelvey is bringing Assassins to the Greer this week.
Jonathan Larson’s Rent has been celebrating its 30th year with cast reunions and benefit concerts. The 1996 rock musical in Pittsburgh will be directed at the Greer by Sewickley native and Point Park College (now University) alum Peter Matthew Smith, who was a replacement in the original run of the Broadway smash that ran for more than 5,000 performances. Among his many credits, Smith played King George III (“You’ll Be Back”) in the first National Tour of Hamilton that came through Pittsburgh.
Rent, featuring a local cast and creative team, is presented by Pittsburgh-based BDE Productions, which premiered the new musical Romero & Juliet at the Greer in February.
Anthony Marino will move from performing in Assassins to the role of Mark in Rent, alongside another Westmoreland County native, Alexander Podolinski, as Roger. Podolinski was seen at the Greer as Frank-N-Furter in the 2025 Pittsburgh CLO production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Brady Patsy will play Tom Collins and Adrian Escalona will reprise the role of Angel Dumont Schunard that they performed for Point Park University. Marissa Buchheit (CLO’s Tick, Tick … Boom!, among others) will play Mimi, with Ruth Waiwaiole as Maureen, Chelsea Davis as Joanne, and Sati Rogerson (Point Park, Class of 2028) as Benjamin Coffin III. The local ensemble includes Marshall Benton, Tessa DeJeet, Gabrielle Hernandez, Mel Holley, Sydney Rose, and Dixie Surewood.
Rent, based on the Puccini opera La Boheme, follows a group of friends, artists and squatters in New York City’s East Village from 1989 to 1990, as they struggle with poverty, gentrification, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
BDE Productions presents Rent at the Greer Cabaret, Downtown, September 24-October 18, 2026. Tickets: https://trustarts.org/production/109626/rent.
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