Author Archives
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Catching up With Michael Kooman and Chris Dimond
With 2025 coming to a close, the Emmy-nominated Michael Kooman and Chris Dimond have months of good will at their backs as they return to Pittsburgh for “I Will Be Me — The Songs of Kooman and Dimond,” a cabaret “celebrating Point Park’s rising stars of musical theater” in the Class of 2026.
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Home for the Holidays: Christmas On Pittsburgh Stages
Here’s a glimpse of some of the live theater of the Pittsburgh holiday season, and the 2025 Holiday Market that has moved into the Pittsburgh Cultural District.
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City Theatre Premieres Alcott/Gunderson ‘Little Women’
“Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women” was put in motion by a mistaken premise. The playwright Lauren Gunderson was asked by a theater leader if he could read her stage version of novel. It was a reasonable assumption, Gunderson said. Except she hadn’t written such a work. At least, not yet. Her adaptation makes its Pittsburgh debut at City Theatre, Nov. 5-Dec. 7, 2025.
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Pittsburgh CLO Has Its Christmas 2025 Scrooge: Tony-Winner Denis O’Hare
Denis O’Hare follows in the miser-to-wiser footsteps of high-profile predecessors as the Ebenezer Scrooge of Pittsburgh CLO’s “A Musical Christmas Carol,” which returns to the Byham Theater December 13-23, 2025.
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Review: barebones’ ‘God of Carnage’ Visits the Funny Side of Grown-Ups Behaving Badly
What happens when two sets of New York parents seek a civilized response to an act of playground violence: one of their 11-year-old sons whacking the other with a stick, knocking out two teeth?
In the case of barebones’ production of “God of Carnage,” it’s a blast, as outwardly responsible adults take wildly inappropriate dives into their darkest sides, played by Daina Michelle Griffth, Patrick Jordan, Gayle Pazerski and David Whalen.
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Review: Dynamic ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Is on Fire at Benedum Center
Extraordinary voices vying for best in show and a vibrant, pulsating production touched down at the Benedum Center this week, as Hell’s Kitchen made Pittsburgh the second stop in the musical’s first national tour.
Featuring more than 20 songs from the catalog of 18-time Grammy-winner Alicia Keys (including best musical theater album), the gritty coming-of-age story, with mother-daughter dynamics front and center, is woven with autobiographical elements of Keys’ own experiences.
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Barebones’ Patrick Jordan Finds Spark that Brings Him Back to ‘God of Carnage’
It was 15 years ago that Patrick Jordan first read the Tony Award-winning play “God of Carnage,” and put it aside. When he picked it up again, years later, something had changed. The Yasmin Reza four-hander will close barebones productions’ season, with artistic director Jordan as part of the cast. “There are hundreds of plays between now and 15 years ago,” Jordan said of when he first read the script. “This play popped into my head, and I went back and reread it, and I was like, ‘Wow, maybe I am 15 years older, but this play hits a very different way right now,’ and it almost comes off as more relevant now than 20 years ago, when it was written.”
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Review: Becoming Invested in Chilling, Compelling ‘Enron’
So much of the play “Enron” is true to life, that to call it a dark comedy, you must emphasize dark, or as a cautionary tale, a better emphasis would be: beware. Quantum Theatre is retelling the tale right on time for the demon season, with a compelling, kinetic staging of the Lucy Prebble play that looks back on the downfall of a corporate giant. The Texas-based energy company was known to all who lived through the turn of the 20th century for its national “Ask Why” campaign, which portrayed Enron as a pioneering, innovative energy and business company. It was all smoke and mirrors, laid bare in the compelling production, a collaboration with Attack Theatre.
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Preview: ‘Enron’ Play Revisits Real-Life Out-of-Control Corporate Greed
Director Kyle Haden on Quantum Theatre Production, New Role at Pittsburgh Public, and CMU ColLABo. By SHARON EBERSON The Downtown parkway ramp spills onto Grant Street with a skyward view of One Oxford Centre, the aluminum, glass and granite skyscraper… Read More ›
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Spooky, Spoofy ‘Night of the Moth Man’: A 3-Parter at Arcade Comedy Theater
You don’t have to be a role-playing gamer to appreciate “Night of the Moth Man,” but it is a bonus, judging by the reaction to every role of the RPG dice on opening night. The spooky, spoofy Dungeons & Dragons-style live comedy show spending three Fridays at Arcade Comedy Theater is based on the Bedlam Arts and Goods game, designed by Pittsburgh-based Eamon McNamee and ready-made for Halloween.
