Pittsburgh CLO and Pittsburgh Public to Merge as Confluence Theater

AMERICAN THEATRE: In the latest news from a historic if bumpy theatre merger between Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (CLO) and Pittsburgh Public Theater (PPT), a new name for the combined theatre has been announced: Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh. Confluence’s name was reportedly chosen by Pittsburgh residents themselves. According to release from the new company, it will combine the musicals that Pittsburgh CLO is known for with the classic and contemporary plays typically produced by Pittsburgh Public Theater.

Beyond the Velvet Ropes: Inside Lincoln Center’s Next Act

The Theatre Times: For Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, home to the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York City Ballet, redefining the modern stage is a delicate dance: honoring rich heritage while expanding how storytelling lives both under the spotlight and beyond the proscenium.

State cultural agencies launch online survey to help measure size and needs of Oregon’s creative sector

Oregon ArtsWatch: According to the two organizations, the findings will inform a statewide analysis of the creative economy and help identify opportunities to strengthen Oregon’s creative industries and cultural organizations. Creative activities include arts and culture, music, film, media, design, publishing, heritage and preservation, culinary arts, and related fields.

Pittsburgh theater tries mergers, camps to weather change

www.publicsource.org: Pittsburgh actor Tim Hartman has watched those changes closely during more than four decades performing with companies including Pittsburgh Public Theater, City Theatre Company and Pittsburgh CLO. Since his professional debut at the 1983 Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival he said, the theater community has had to adapt to shifting audiences, rising production costs and a more uncertain economic landscape.

Performers in Wichita need more than Century II. Is a new center still possible?

klcjournal.com: As the Wichita Symphony Orchestra rehearsed “Rhapsody in Red, White, and Blue” last month, some musicians on stage were wearing coats and gloves. Because doors elsewhere in Century II had been opened for an RV show, the building’s heating system couldn’t keep up. Had the temperature in the Concert Hall gone much lower, rehearsal would have had to be called off.

Pondering the Pittsburgh Public-CLO merger

wesa.fm: In February 1946, Pittsburgh’s Civic Light Opera Association announced its very first season, which began with an outdoor show at old Pitt Stadium. The group — created with help from department store heir Edgar J. Kaufmann, and staging fare like “Brigadoon” and “On The Town” — proved popular enough that the Civic Arena was originally built to house its shows. The CLO moved Downtown to the Benedum Center in 1988, and has been there since.

Production costs double in a decade as theatres brace for deficits – report

www.thestage.co.uk: Production costs have doubled in 10 years, according to a report that also warns that more than 50% of subsidised theatre organisations are expecting to run at a deficit

Shaunda McDill: Facing Pittsburgh Public Theater's Future With Uncertainty, Pride, and Hope

onstagepittsburgh.com Pittsburgh Public Theater’s 51st season is drawing to a close with Eboni Smith’s Primary Trust, described by the committee that awarded the play the Pulitzer Prize for Drama as, “A simple and elegantly crafted story of an emotionally damaged man who finds a new job, new friends, and a new sense of worth.”

Pittsburgh Public Theater and CLO to vote on consolidating operations

90.5 WESA: Beset by financial troubles, the boards of Pittsburgh Public Theater and the Pittsburgh CLO are set to vote this month on whether to consolidate as a brand-new organization. The new entity, as yet unnamed, would produce both the new and classic musicals CLO now stages and the new and classic plays currently mounted by the Public.

Pittsburgh CLO and Pittsburgh Public Theater Unveil New Consolidation Plan; Board Vote to Come

onstagepittsburgh.com: The board chairs of Pittsburgh CLO and Pittsburgh Public Theater have shared with subscribers a proposed plan for the creation of “a new, consolidated producing theater company, designed to anchor a broader destination theater experience in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.”

Kristen Stewart Just Saved This Historic Theatre in Los Angeles

mymodernmet.com: Nearly two years ago, the historic Highland Theatre in Los Angeles shut its doors less than a week before its 100th anniversary, unable to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic. The space, which was designed by noted architect Lewis Arthur Smith and once hosted vaudeville performances, was all but abandoned and dilapidated—until Kristen Stewart swooped in.

Tony Award winner Christopher Wheeldon launches new production company

www.broadwaynews.com: Director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has announced the launch of Toy Theater Productions, a new commercial production company championing innovation in storytelling. With his partners, producer Tobias Round and creative assistant Jillian Vanstone, Toy Theater Productions will commission and produce world-class theater, dance, music and film that, according to a press release, “transcends genres, captivates audiences worldwide and celebrates the connective power of the performing arts.”

🎭Troupes ponder future of Pittsburgh theater

wesa.fm: For the roughly 200 actors, playwrights and other behind-the-scenes talent who gathered at the O’Reilly Theater for a Theater Artists Town Hall on the matter this past Monday, stage work is their passion and their livelihood. One attendee told me before the event he expected “fireworks.”

Shubert Organization and Trafalgar Entertainment to team up on ownership and operations of London’s Olympia Theatre

www.broadwaynews.com: Two theater owners are teaming up on a new venture. The Shubert Organization, owner of 17 Broadway theaters, and Trafalgar Entertainment, a popular London theater owner and producer, are partnering on a new life for Trafalgar’s Olympia Theatre, which will comprise not only performance venues but also restaurants and hotels.

Shubert Organization and Trafalgar Entertainment Announce Joint Ownership of London's Olympia Theatre

Playbill: The Shubert Organization and Trafalgar Entertainment have announced a 50/50 joint venture partnership for the ownership and operation of the new flagship 1,575-seat Olympia Theatre. The partnership marks the first time in 100 years that The Shubert Organization—owner of 17 Broadway theatres—has directly partnered and invested in London theatres.

Wenger Corporation Expands Performance Solutions with Acquisition of Texas Scenic Company

The AI Journal: Wenger Corporation’s acquisition of Texas Scenic brings together two leaders in performance solutions, uniting Wenger’s expertise in performance equipment with Texas Scenic’s strengths in stage systems and theatrical infrastructure. This strategic move delivers significant benefits to customers of both companies, offering expanded resources, enhanced support, greater capacity for innovation, and integrated engineering expertise.

Free Broadway Previews? A Theatrical Fantasy Worth Dreaming About

OnStage Blog: Picture it: Times Square at 6:30 p.m., a line curling around the block, buzzing like the overture before a big number. Tourists in sneakers, locals in work clothes, theatre students clutching Playbills before the ink’s even dry. And when the doors finally open, they all sweep inside, without paying a dime.

Are Broadway Tickets Too Expensive? Gen Z and Millennials Don’t Think So

Ken Davenport: Last week, I wrote an article on my website: Are Broadway Tickets More Expensive Now? And sure enough, the universe answered with a brand-new study from my friends at No Guarantees Productions, a terrific producing organization that wanted to dig into exactly that.

Pittsburgh Public Theater, City Theatre & CLO to join forces to survive

90.5 WESA: The years since the pandemic shutdown have been especially difficult for nonprofit performing-arts groups, in terms of both selling tickets and raising funds. On Friday, three of Pittsburgh’s most venerable troupes announced they are looking into ways they might join forces to survive.

Pittsburgh's three largest theater organizations consider a merger amid tough financial times

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Pittsburgh CLO, Public Theater and City Theatre are all reducing their budgets or showing structural deficits in the face of rising costs and erratic attendance. A draft of a report by the New York City-based arts consulting firm Keene Consulting obtained by the Post-Gazette found that, “All three organizations are on the self-reported brink of financial failure in the near or mid-term future based on their own financial reporting and projections.”