CMU School of Drama


Friday, April 23, 2021

Pittsburgh CLO Announces it's 75th anniversary season "Summer Under the Stars"

Pittsburgh in the Round: Pittsburgh CLO today announced it will bring Broadway back to the ‘Burgh this summer at Heinz Field in a first-ever partnership with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two-show “Summer Under the Stars” season will feature THE WIZARD OF OZ and an original musical revue A BROADWAY MUSICAL CELEBRATION. Each show will run for four performances only. Single tickets will go on sale June 7.

3 comments:

Evan Riley said...

Well it is very nice to hear that some forms of theatre are coming back to pittsburgh! I think this sounds like a great way to welcome audiences back to live entertainment in a safe way. I bet it took alot of negotiating to get them to have performances in Heinz field but I think that will be a good venue. I am imagining that these performances will be more like a concert or something you would see like a show on ice. Limited sets, probably bold flashy costumes so you can see them far away. It will be interesting to see what they come up with. It seems like in the show choices they were really just trying to get the biggest audience possible, i mean who doesn't like the Wizard of Oz and the broadway celebration seems like a great way to highlight a lot of different shows and gain excitement over a variety of audiences. I wish I was in pittsburgh this summer so i could see these productions.

Megan Hanna said...

This is so exciting! Even though each show is only for 4 performances, I think this is a great way to start easing back into live performances. I’m glad they are not too eager to start putting on big performances in an indoor setting because we can practically see the finish line. It’s crazy to think how many ways Heinz field has been utilized this year especially with it being a place for COVID vaccinations. Now it will also act as a “broadway theatre” and an event center for wine tasting and galas. It reminds me alot of how they have converted Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. I’m curious what the set up and overall experience will be because people will be both on the field and in the bleachers. Similarly to Evan, I wonder how they will tackle many of those design challenges to make sure people still enjoy the show from a distance.

Andrew Morris said...

It’s so exciting to see this upcoming collaboration between the Pittsburgh CLO and the Steelers at Heinz field, two completely different worlds are merging to benefit Pittsburgh and the arts. It’s crazy to think that a year ago we never knew when theater would be coming back and now that everyone is getting vaccinated things are looking so much more hopeful. I feel like they could’ve picked a better shows to do but I guess I’ll have to see for myself to see how good the production quality is. The good thing about Heinz Field is that it is an extremely large stadium and a pretty good venue to do a live event with outdoor ventilation. I wonder how hard it was to make this happen and convince Heinz Field to let the theater produce in the space. The sad part is that there’s gonna be so few performances but I guess that gives each one more value. It is interesting to see how or large sporting venues all across the nation have really been utilizing different ways to benefit the well-being of the people and I commend them for that. I received both doses of my vaccine at Heinz Field and it will be very nice to return to Heinz Field to see the return of Broadway in Pittsburgh.