CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Return of City Theatre's Momentum Festival Will Feature Joe Grushecky Musical, CMU Collaboration

onstagepittsburgh.com: City Theatre is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for New Work Development to bring back the Momentum Festival, a public reading series and laboratory for playwrights to workshop new scripts with directors, dramaturgs and actors.

2 comments:

Ella McCullough said...

I have recently been assigned this festival as a stage manager and I am so beyond excited. I did not know this was a festival that had happened for years before and I did not know the musical piece had such big names working on it. I worked on a festival this summer that had a bunch of new works including the piece I was working on. I am curious to see how the two experiences compare because the one I worked on was technically a workshop but it got fully blocked which caught me off guard. In my head all new works were just kind of standing at a music stand and speaking/singing but I am learning that is not true. One of the photos in this article is clearly an actor moving which makes me think there might be some movement involved. I look forward to this festival and I am excited to both work on it and see the other works.

Ana Schroeder said...

I just got assigned to the Momentum Festival as the Stage Manager for The Punchline. I am so excited to begin. Before this article I knew nothing about the shows besides for the Director and Playwright, so it is such a wonderful surprise to learn that The Punchline is a one person show performed by the playwright. I am so excited to work in such a small and intimate room. This is also the first time I am learning about the other pieces in the festival. The fact that East Carson Street has songs that are co-written by Bruce Springsteen is crazy! I am so excited to see it. It is such a wonderful opportunity for students, playwrights, and the greater Pittsburgh theatre scene and I am so excited that it is back up and running. I look forward to all of the presentations this year as well as seeing what the festival brings in in the upcoming years.