Theater lights in Pittsburgh haven\u2019t dimmed \u2014 even if the theaters themselves are a little less grand.<\/p>\n
Despite funding cuts to arts organizations, concerns over future audience retention and even some shuttering or merging of bigger names in town, smaller local companies are staying strong with innovative productions and a more do-it-yourself sensibility.<\/p>\n
Companies, including Pittsburgh Playwrights, barebones productions, Kinetic Theatre and others, are seeing sold-out shows, extended runs and mounting audience enthusiasm with their latest seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know times are tough everywhere, but we\u2019ve had a string of very successful shows,\u201d said Patrick Jordan, founder and artistic director of barebones productions.<\/p>\n
The company was founded in 2003 and now works out of its own theater \u2014 the barebones black box \u2014 in Braddock. Depending on the configuration, the space can seat about 70 patrons per performance. And as of late, its plays have been filling those seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had one of our biggest hits last season with a play called \u2018The Shark is Broken.\u2019 We extended it as many times as humanly possible and added as many shows as we could,\u201d Jordan said.<\/p>\n
The play was a humorous take on the behind-the-scenes aspect of the original blockbuster film \u201cJaws,\u201d and it ran from May 30 to June 26, 2025, adding nine shows to its original run to meet clamoring demand.<\/p>\n
Jordan said that barebones also saw enthusiasm for its most recent production, \u201cOur Dear Dead Drug Lord,\u201d which ran last month. Owning the Braddock theater and keeping a small staff has also helped to keep costs down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, we have an opportunity to let other people use our spaces and have other companies be able to get work or have things seen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As far as staffing at barebones, Jordan has done everything from directing to costume design to cleaning up the theater after the show. Other local artistic directors also know the \u201clabor of love\u201d of doing multiple jobs for each show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do everything from the box office to the curtain speech to directing the shows,\u201d said Andrew Paul, producing artistic director at Kinetic Theatre.<\/p>\n
Kinetic is currently producing plays at Carnegie Stage in Carnegie, which can fit about 75 people. Paul, who previously founded Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre (now called PICT Classic Theatre), has built Kinetic from the ground up since 2014. Its production of David Mamet\u2019s 2023 play \u201cHenry Johnson\u201d will run through July 26.<\/p>\n
Paul stressed the importance of building relationships among directors, actors and companies. \u201cI know a lot of people who are in the community who really like the work and want to support it. I\u2019ve known some of these folks for 30-some years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That built-in audience and base of support for donations to keep the company going is crucial for smaller companies, especially with concerns about larger foundation support and government funding.<\/p>\n
He agreed with Jordan about keeping overhead low.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we don\u2019t have a lot of staff and we keep things lean and mean, I think that\u2019s one of the reasons we\u2019ve done a little bit better in terms of getting back to where we were pre-pandemic than the larger groups, because they\u2019re very top-heavy,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n
A similar model has worked for Mark Clayton Southers, founder and artistic and technical director at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company in the Hill District. He\u2019s owned the Madison Arts Center for three years now and has created three theatrical spaces within the building. Shows are also staged at the August Wilson House in the Hill District.<\/p>\n
Playwrights\u2019 main stage theater seats 130 patrons, while its cabaret theater fits 75. The company filled them both for many sold-out shows during its August Wilson\u2019s American Century Cycle Experience run of three plays last summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, I think it\u2019s August Wilson\u2019s writing,\u201d Southers said of the Experience\u2019s success. \u201cSecond, our enormous pool of acting talent that we have in Pittsburgh. Third, our audiences, who, because of our track record, will come. And I think you can\u2019t discount the lure of seeing an August Wilson play at the August Wilson house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFences\u201d was staged outdoors at the landmark. Southers said that Playwrights will be doing another American Century Cycle Experience next year. According to Southers, more than 3,000 tickets were sold for the three plays last year.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s season has also been \u201cgreat,\u201d according to Southers. They brought in an Italian-translated version of Wilson\u2019s play \u201cJitney\u201d in May. \u201cWe sold out all three shows,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Southers sang the praises of Jordan at barebones and Paul at Kinetic, pointing to them as examples of smaller companies running smoothly by keeping costs low.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have as big of a house to fill, but we don\u2019t have to advertise as much, and we don\u2019t have to have as much staffing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Quantum Theatre is in a transitional period, with founder and artistic director Karla Boos set to retire later this year after 35 years. She\u2019s currently directing her last show for the company, William Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cThe Tempest,\u201d which will be performed at Carrie Furnace. Quantum specializes in site-specific productions, meaning that they have no set performance space and fit the setting to the play.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been preparing for a transition and really leaning into our strengths,\u201d Boos said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been enabling our directors that we\u2019ve worked with over the last year with strong resources and hoping they would courageously fill their slots. Wonderful work \u2014 they surpassed our expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quantum\u2019s run of \u201cSeagull\u201d last summer was one of its best-selling shows ever, and it has seen robust attendance post-covid. Boos has a lot of confidence in the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels really good; it\u2019s really affirming. I really don\u2019t worry as much as everybody that post-pandemic people have no appetite for live performance. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n
She believes strongly in the audience and in the theater\u2019s ability to weather difficult times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an appetite for innovation right now,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve all been through a lot of change in the world and we\u2019re transitioning. So, performance is going to find ways to answer that appetite.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Theater lights in Pittsburgh haven\u2019t dimmed \u2014 even if the theaters themselves are a little less grand. Despite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-247140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}