Pittsburgh Playhouse
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Pittsburgh Playhouse
Pittsburgh Playhouse is Point Park University's performing arts center located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It houses three performance spaces and is home to The Rep, Point Park's resident professional theatre company, as well as three student companies—Conservatory Theatre Company, Conservatory Dance Company, and Playhouse Jr.[1] The Conservatory Theatre Company offers five productions each year that are performed by undergraduate students at Point Park; this season consists of a mixture of established plays and musicals, as well as occasional new works.[2][3] The Conservatory Dance Company offers ballet, modern, and jazz dance productions featuring Point Park undergraduates; these consist of works by established choreographers as well as new pieces choreographed by both students and professionals.[4][5] The Playhouse, Jr. offers children's theatre performed by Point Park undergraduates; it is the second oldest continually running children's theatre in the United States.[4] Playhouse, Jr. has also participated in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival.[6] The Rep offers four productions performed by professional actors; the season usually consists of a mixture of established and new plays.[4][7] The Rep has hosted regional premieres by such playwrights as Amy Hartman, Tammy Ryan, and Edward J. Delaney.[8][9][10]
|
Contents
|
History
Pittsburgh Playhouse got its start in 1933 as Pittsburgh Summer Playhouse, a stock company in residence at a suburban preparatory school. It shortly reformed as the Pittsburgh Civic Playhouse, a group of volunteer performers with professional aspirations. In 1934 it was incorporated as a nonprofit educational institution and soon became Pittsburgh's largest noncommercial theater. Under Frederick Burleigh's leadership, the playhouse became a semiprofessional civic theater with a professionally trained staff and non-Equity actors.[11] The company would stage recent Broadway hits, as well some original revues, musicals, and plays (one of these revues was choreographed by Gene Kelly). In addition to Kelly, other notable performers who were trained at the Playhouse include Shirley Jones, Sada Thompson, Barbara Feldon, and George Peppard.
Burleigh's contract was not renewed when the Rockefeller Foundation offered the Playhouse and Carnegie Tech support for a joint operation that resulted in the American Conservatory Theater (ACT). Under William Ball's direction, the operation lasted six months before the ACT moved to San Francisco due to a disagreement with the Playhouse about the budget.[12] The Playhouse then hired John D. Hancock of the Actor's Workshop, but Hancock was soon fired due to strained relations with the Playhouse staff and the board members, some of whom resigned in protest. Faced with a weakened administration and financial problems, the Playhouse closed in 1968; the same year, Point Park College offered to take over the operations of the playhouse, and the theatre continued on until 1973 as a semiprofessional civic theater. Unable to recover financially, the theatre ceased to be an independent theatre and became home to Point Park's undergraduate productions as well as productions staged by its resident professional theatre company, The Rep.[13]
See also
References
- ^ "about the playhouse". Pittsburgh Playhouse. October 26, 2007. http://www.pittsburghplayhouse.com/ThePlayhouse/abouttheplayhouse. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ "Conservatory Theatre Company". Pittsburgh Playhouse. October 26, 2007. http://www.pittsburghplayhouse.com/ThePlayhouse/Ourcompanies/ConservatoryTheatrec. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ "Point Park's Conservatory Theatre Company Premieres TIME AFTER TIME 2/26-28, 3/11-3/14". Pittsburgh.broadwayworld.com. http://pittsburgh.broadwayworld.com/article/Point_Parks_Conservatory_Theatre_Company_Premieres_TIME_AFTER_TIME_22628_311314_20100128. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Our Companies". Pittsburgh Playhouse. October 26, 2007. http://www.pittsburghplayhouse.com/ThePlayhouse/Ourcompanies. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ "Conservatory Dance Co". Pittsburgh Playhouse. October 26, 2007. http://www.pittsburghplayhouse.com/ThePlayhouse/Ourcompanies/ConservatoryDanceCo. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ "The New Works Festival has become a must-see event". Post-gazette.com. September 10, 1999. http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/19990910newworks5.asp. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ "The REP". Pittsburgh Playhouse. http://www.pittsburghplayhouse.com/ThePlayhouse/Ourcompanies/TheREP. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ Carter, Alice T. (May 26, 2010). "'Confluence' took decade to go from dream to stage – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review". Pittsburghlive.com. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/theater/s_683241.html. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ "Amy Hartman's 'Mercy & the Firefly' takes dysfunction to new heights". Post-gazette.com. April 9, 2011. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11099/1138046-500.stm. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ "The Umbrella Man – Stage – Theater Reviews & Features – Pittsburgh City Paper". Pittsburghcitypaper.ws. http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A85306. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ Conner, Lynne (2007). Pittsburgh In Stages: Two Hundred Years of Theater. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 128–131. ISBN 978-0-8229-4330-3. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
- ^ Conner, Lynne (2007). Pittsburgh In Stages: Two Hundred Years of Theater. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 154–156. ISBN 978-0-8229-4330-3. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
- ^ Conner, Lynne (2007). Pittsburgh In Stages: Two Hundred Years of Theater. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 160–162. ISBN 978-0-8229-4330-3. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Pittsburgh Playhouse.
Read more
Mentioned in
Doris Hackney
(Actor, Horror)
William Ball
(American theater)
Nicolas Petrov
(person)
Shirley Jones
(Rock Artist, '60s-'90s)
Melina Kanakaredes
(Actor, Drama/Crime)
» More