And prepare to laugh. And sing along. And maybe dodge a little fake blood.
The company will begin presenting professional shows this month at the Gargaro Theater in the city's West End.
Friday, February 02, 2018
Pittsburgh Musical Theater offering edgy shows in more intimate setting
And prepare to laugh. And sing along. And maybe dodge a little fake blood.
The company will begin presenting professional shows this month at the Gargaro Theater in the city's West End.
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9 comments:
This sounds like such an interesting endeavor from Pittsburgh Musical Theatre. I love seeing performances in different and unique environments. This environment and show combination sounds to be a very interesting and new experience for Pittsburgh theatre. I for one haven't had the pleasure of reaching out into the Pittsburgh community and seeing all of the different environments for theatre quite yet. What I have seen from the public and from the Benedum are two very different theatrical environments. The show selectional is also something that I think could be quiet interesting from the season that they have selected it will hopefully provide audiences with different and intriguing performances and shows. I hope that we as a University look at how we are picking our season and try to diversify and widen our perspective on both our shows and were they can take place. I think playground is a beautiful example of how we can use different environments and stories to bring out great theatre.
This sounds pretty cool to me. I am a little hesitant at the use of the word "edgier" but I think I will get over it. I would actually really like seeing one of these shows. I think it sounds like it would be a pretty fun night out. This is just another one of the constant reminders that Pittsburgh is actually a pretty cool city to be living in. People (including me) have long had the belief that Pittsburgh is a gross steel city with nothing going for it, but it is so much more than that. The arts scene here continues to impress me and theater groups like this who are actually doing stuff to change the norms and the expectations that we have of theater and this city are just really great. I just met a CMU grad who said she bought an elementary school in Pittsburgh, and I wonder if this is the same one?
I think that all musicals should be able to be adapted to an intimate space. In my opinion part of the reason that a lot of people don't like musicals is that they find them hard to connect to their life. Intimate spacing can change so much about a show. In my opinion it strengthens the emotional transference from the actors to the audience. The shows that they have chosen will be such a romp in a 250 seat theatre. The ultimate test of an actor is being up close and personal with their audience so I assume that this will also push the acting to a new place. It'll also do the same thing with the designers.
I think seeing a show like "We Will Rock You" in such a small place will really take the experience to a new level. This is a really great idea and I hope more people do musicals in small theatre spaces.
These shows all sound so amazing! For some reason recently The Evil Dead franchise seems to be making a resurgence recently with Netflix reviving the series and now Evil Dead: The Musical. I personally love comedic shows that push the envelope of what you can put on stage, so shows like Avenue Q, with it’s borderline pornographic content, and Evil Dead: The Musical with it’s gratuitous violence both appeal to me. If these shows were going on in the summer I would absolutely apply for an internship just to get to work on these shows. The summary of We Will Rock You reminds me of the plot of the album 2112 by Rush. I would love to see the designs for the show and I hope that I will be able to go see it once it’s on. The intimate setting also fits the atmosphere present in these shows perfectly.
I really am excited about this new series of works at Pittsburgh Musical Theatre. I truly love when mainstream theaters do smaller, edgier shows. I completely understand why most regional theatres need to keep "Hello, Dolly" and "Sound of Music" on their short list of big ticket seller, so seeing initiatives like this really excite me! I am however very curious about its financial viability. A regional theatre in my hometown tried this, calling it their "underground series" with the tag line "new, edgy shows, all with living playwrights". It hosted readings, and smaller musicals like Lizzie, Carrie, LMNOP, Reefer Madness and Heathers. It was a smash success culturally. I was able to see shows for under $30 and I saw local theatre artists up on the stage. Unfortunately, though, it was cancelled from what I believe was lack of funding/ticket sales. I'd love to go see Pittsburgh Musical Theatre's upcoming shows and hope to support this new push for "new, edgy" work.
I am really interested in this new show “We Will Rock You” show. I am a supper syfi need and I love Queen and their music. I just finished watching Black Mirror and was weird freaked out and captivated. So if this new musical is set to or has a similar vibe, I will be the first in line to get tickets. Either way it sounds like it will be a show everyone will want to see. And Evil Dead the musical is soooo catchy and fun. I saw a production of it and loved it!!! In fact the ‘Theatre Downtown’s production was the first time I saw Ginger Minj Perform on stage!!! I would love to see another production of this show. I also Love that they call this side of town where I’m assuming this theatre is located, the West End. It is a nice tip of the hat.
I believe that literally everything cannot reach its full potential unless there is enough diversity. This includes racial diversity, but also diversity in terms of content and spaces in the context of theatre. Obviously, different shows will pull different audiences, so switching things up such as what type of place the shows are performed and the stories themselves will be beneficial to the types of people who sleep through Shakespeare and classic musicals. It is really thrilling to see more theatres taking chances and risks with how they present stories on stage, who they choose to present them through, and where. An intimate space is so different from a grand theatre with hundreds of seats. The story changes depending on where it is shown! Hamlet seen from far away in a stadium-style theatre is entirely different from Hamlet in a black box. I can’t wait to absorb more theatre in more different ways, and find out how those ways affect the show as a whole.
Having the ability to get this close to the audience in such an intimate setting is extremely rare in this type of productions. I have had the pleasure of working with some small theatres who have done shows for groups as small as 100 audience members. The proximity to the performers and nature of these productions allows for such a human connection so quickly that it is hard to match in a significant production. I find that being in proximity to such talent and passion it causes the show to feel like so much more than other times. I find this to be a really cool thing to be doing, but I don't know how well it will work in the long run. It can be hard to make ends meet on a show where your only able to sell 250 tickets each night, not allowing much wiggle room in sales.
My favorite kind of theatre is unconventional, sometimes “edgier” plays and musicals. It was fun to read this article and the various shows that will be put on in pittsburgh that were described as more “late night” and “adult” than your popular, more family-oriented classic musical. I think there’s something intrinsically powerful and necessary about making theatre that pushes the envelope and shocks people at times-- the same is true for other art forms as well. During my last semester of high school I took a class in which my classmates and I were tasked with creating a play centered around social change that would be put on for our peers and teachers. There was something terrifying yet thrilling about creating content that we knew would press some people’s opinions or raise eyebrows, yet we felt these things needed to be said in some form or another to create positive change within our community. The same goes for other “edgy” shows-- often times, these are the ones that generate the most change from audiences exposure to different and new ideas-- even ones that center around zombies and demons and fake blood.
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