Madison Arts Center

Review: Fishy Woo Woos Re-Enter the Funny Zone in Halloween Comedy

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Welcome back, Fishy Woo Woos!

Monteze Freeland’s Fishy Woo Woo, Part 2 made its deliriously delectable debut at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company this weekend, more than two years after the original. Back are the four core characters, with two OG actors (Mils “MJ” James as Cordero and Cheryl Bates-White as Char), in a spooky Halloween mystery and secrets galore to feast on.

The witty and wise script contains so many rapid-fire references to pop culture, queer icons, and inside jokes (one, in particular, about the Pittsburgh theater scene), that you may not catch them all. In such cases, I take Noel Coward’s advice: “Never mind, dear. We’re all made the same, though some more than others.”

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre in 2026: Four New Plays, Plus August Wilson’s ‘Jitney’ in Italian, and More

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Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company has revealed a four-play 2026 season, including a premiere by award-winning playwright a.k. payne, while also co-hosting a unique international take on August Wilson’s Jitney. The four-play season of premieres — Ty Greenwood’s “The Paradox of Education,” “10,000 Rides” by Cynthia Dallas, “Fishy Woo Woo, Part 2” by Monteze Freeland, and “BURNBABYBURN: an american dream by a.k. payne — plus two add-on productions was curated by Monteze Freeland. Next year, the two add-ons to the season are the Italian translation of “Jitney” and the return of “A Dinah Washington Christmas.” 

Playwright, Musician, Composer Ernest McCarty (1941-2025)

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A Dinah Washington Christmas, a combination of beloved Christmas songs, a celebration of the “Queen of the Blues,” and nod to the jazz heritage of the Hill District, had its debut on Thursday in the festively decked out cabaret space at Madison Arts Center. The show on opening night was held up for a short time, in anticipation of the arrival of the playwright, Ernest McCarty. Mark Clayton Southers, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s founder and artistic director, learned later of the passing that night of Mr. McCarty, 84. (Condolences to the McCarty family and friends. Details to come.)

Reviews of 2 Plays Running – August Wilson’s ‘Two Trains Running’ and ‘Fences’ – in Pittsburgh Playwrights’ Historic Experience

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Mark Clayton Southers kicked off opening night of Two Trains Running by announcing that everyone present was now a part of history: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company was about complete a second round of all 10 plays in the August Wilson American Century Cycle. As history-making goes, Saturday was a night of two plays running in the Hill District, where Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson spent his formative years, and where he set nine of his plays, one in each decade of the 20th century, about the Black American experience. Two Trains Running, representing the late 1960s, a time when the Civil Rights Movements and Black Power were in full swing, is at Madison Arts Center in the Upper Hill, through August 30, 2025. Fences, set in 1957, can be seen outdoors in the Lower Hill, at the August Wilson House, through September 6, 2025.

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