Corningworks opened its tenth season with the thought-provoking dance theatre piece The Waiting Room. As we take our seats in the New Hazlett Theater, we are welcomed by the sight of a dimly lit coffin seemingly floating in darkness. Beth… Read More ›
New Hazlett Theater
How I Learned What I Learned
August Wilson’s own biography and his plays chronicling life in Pittsburgh’s Hill District during the 20th century are well suited for an actor who fits the bill for How I Learned What I Learned. His life and works comprise big… Read More ›
Corningworks 10th Anniversary Season
Beth Corning’s dance “company” Corningworks launches its tenth season with The Waiting Room. I say a company in quotes because Corningworks doesn’t own a theatre, doesn’t have a staff and doesn’t have a resident corps of full-time dancers. Corning has… Read More ›
The Wiz
For their fiftieth production, The Alumni Theatre Company reprises their first show. The Wiz is a retelling of L. Frank Baum’s classic 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of modern African-American culture. The show is… Read More ›
The Bridges of Madison County
Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale. Caroline Nicolian and David Toole. If you’ve been living under a theatrical rock in Pittsburgh for the last several years or you haven’t yet seen Carnivale Theatrics’ dazzling production of The Bridges… Read More ›
A New Brain
For the first of two shows in their season entitled “Real People, Real Stories”, Front Porch presents an autobiographical musical. Composer William Finn began work on A New Brain after recovering from some trouble in his brain. Finn enlisted his Falsettos collaborator James Lapine… Read More ›
Rushing Horizons
“With each new day comes a new horizon to remind us of the beauty of the present and the promise of growth in the future.” This is the premise of Rushing Horizons the current performance by Texture Contemporary Ballet at… Read More ›
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Prime Stage Theatre’s production of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings previewed on Friday, March 9, 2018 and opened on Saturday, March 10, 2018. I had the pleasure of attending the preview performance, and am happy to report this… Read More ›
Front Porch Theatricals Finds Universal Truths in Two True Story Musicals
Front Porch Theatricals—three words have become synonymous with musical theatre prestige in the city of Pittsburgh—has more than fulfilled its ambitious mission statement over the last six years. The company’s upcoming season, made up of two quirky musicals based on… Read More ›
Holmes and Watson
We read a book, a character is described, we form a mental picture: how she moves, the timbre of her voice, the look in her eye. Some descriptive power is so vivid—theatrical even—that it gives the casting department little wriggle… Read More ›