By SHARON EBERSON

The 1980s are back in full swing at Pittsburgh Playhouse, where the movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun has been reimagined as a stage musical, in a collaboration across the breadth of Playhouse Point Park University‘s resources, in collaboration with a Broadway-caliber producing and creative team.

In collaboration with producers Lively McCabe Entertainment and Primary Wave Music, the Playhouse and Point Park’s Conservatory of Performing Arts students are working side-by-side with Broadway and entertainment industry professionals, including an all-woman creative team, to revive the coming-of-age story that predates Hairspray, about gal pals determined to overcome obstacles at home and win a spot on a Chicago-based TV dance show. Is there a hot guy who with the same dreams? You bet.

Watching the movie will either hit you with waves of nostalgia or introduce you to music and dance moves that have never gone away, and some that deserve a second look. As for retooling and recharging the movie for the stage, “It’s time to bring back the dance musical,” said Jennifer Werner, the show’s director and choreographer.

WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT:
WITH JENNIFER WERNER AND GEORGIA STITT

BEHIND THE SCENES OF A PITTSBURGH PLAYHOUSE PREMIERE

• The jukebox musical is inspired by the1985 movie that takes its title from Cyndi Lauper’s hit song. The movie by Amy Spies starred Sarah Jessica Parker, Helen Hunt, Lee Montgomery, Jonathan Silverman, and Shannen Doherty.
• Adapting the movie for the stage are M. Dickson and Lauren Marcus. Dickson brings a background in television comedy and stand-up (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon; Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update), while performer/writer Marcus made her Broadway debut in Be More Chill. She was a 2021 finalist for the Jonathan Larson Grant, and was chosen by New York Stage and Film to develop her original television pilot, Honest Living.
• Georgia Stitt, the music supervisor, arranger and orchestrator, is an award-winning composer and music director whose credits include Broadway’s Parade, NBC’s The Sound of Music Live!, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years.

• Director/choreographer Jennifer Werner currently serves as Supervising Associate Director of The Book of Mormon worldwide, with an extensive career directing and choreographing productions across the country and internationally. Her performing credits include tours of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Cabaret.
• The 23-member company of Girls Just Want To Have Fun includes Paige Schmella as Janey Glenn, Caroline O’Neil as Lynne, Alejandro Tinnell as Jeff Malene, Bee Walker as Natalie Sands, Autumn Papczynski as Mother Superior, Bianca Dixon as Sister Eileen, Marshall Benton as Colonel Glenn, Devin Claudio as Drew, Isabella Corea as Mrs. Glenn/Mrs. Dobson, Evan McGregor Williams as Mr. Malene, Cadee Velasquez as Rikki, Sam Welborn as DTV Assistant/J.P. Sands, and Jacqueline Trinh-Juarez as Maggie Malene. The ensemble includes Eric Acosta, Joel Balinao, Casey Rose Colcombe, Kaylee Deenihan, Melissa Garlock, Anthony Raymond, Amber Gibson, and Lucas Lee.
• Lively McCabe “partners with both large intellectual property holders as well as distribution companies to develop and deliver a slate of stage musicals and plays to be licensed globally.” https://www.livelymccabe.com/live-stage
• Primary Wave Music is “the leading “independent publisher of iconic and legendary music … honor[ing] legacy by partnering with musicians and estates to protect the integrity of their artistry and amplify it authentically.” https://primarywave.com/about/

TICKETS AND DETAILS

The premiere of Girls Just Want to Have Fun The Musical is in the PNC Theatre of the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Downtown, November 11-15 and 18-22, 2026 (opening night is November 13). https://playhouse.culturaldistrict.org/production/108882/girls-just-want-to-have-fun-the-musical

Categories: Celebrity News, Feature Stories, Our Posts, Show Previews

Tags: 1980s music, Conservatory of Performing Arts, Cyndi Lauper, Dance Musical, Georgia Stitt, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Jennifer Werner, Pittsburgh Playhouse at Point Park University