Theater company announces new name after Pittsburgh CLO and Pittsburgh Public Theater merger
PITTSBURGH —
The Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO recently closed the curtain on their days as two separate companies.
The two merged into one company called the Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh.
“These two legacy organizations are coming together with 130 years of professional theater here in Pittsburgh, and by coming together, we’re able to do so much more,” said Dr. Brett Crawford, the interim executive director of the new company.
The name, which was unveiled Monday, was picked based on the more than 3,000 responses from Pittsburghers in a naming poll.
“The far majority was ‘pick your own,’” Crawford told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 Reporter Jordan Cioppa. “It became very clear that the one thing that everybody really wanted was it to feel like Pittsburgh. And to have that sense of what these organizations are doing, right? And that is coming together.”
Three upcoming productions in November and December will make up what Crawford said is the “prologue season.” The full season will be announced mid-September.
“We are now going to be producing all year. So, it’s a 12-month operation,” Crawford said. “We will have more shows for audiences to see, more education and community programs for people of all ages to attend.”
Year-round production was something onStage Pittsburgh writer and editor Sharon Eberson said she hopes will be sustainable under the new company.
“I’m still feeling the loss of a lot of things,” Eberson said. “I think it’s really going to be a hard job for them to make this work and not make us forget, but make us feel like this was the right next step for two amazing legacy companies that went away in almost a puff of smoke, really.”
Eberson said the announcement of the merger last year caused concern when it came to professional artists’ job security.
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 was the first to report on company-wide terminations at Pittsburgh Public Theater in May.
While Eberson said the Confluence team has made an effort to be more transparent about the merger process, she still had questions about what the change means for the theater community.
“Will it be a year-round residency for artists?” Eberson asked. “We haven’t heard a lot about how the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust venues are going to be used.”
According to Confluence, productions and events will be held at five downtown Pittsburgh theaters: O’Reilly Theater, Byham Theater, Confluence Theater Academy, Greer Cabaret Theater and Benedum Center.
Eberson pointed out that there is an existing organization called the Confluence Ballet Co.
“I think once again, the artists of Pittsburgh are saying, you know, ‘What’s your process? How did you come up with this name?’ When it’s associated with other things in Pittsburgh,” Eberson said. “Whereas my feeling at this point is, I’m glad they got it out there, and let’s see where we go from here.”
According to Crawford, a nationwide search is under way for a permanent executive producer, in addition to other leadership roles.
Confluence will kick off its prologue season with “How Shakespeare Saved My Life.” The one-man play will run from Nov. 11-12 at O’Reilly Theater.