Read the Ella newsletter - Pittsburgh Public Theater

ation
Autumn 2009/2010
T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F P I T T S B U R G H P U B L I C T H E AT E R
Autumn at
The O’Reilly
New!
Two plays
in one issue.
AM
US
IC A
L!
The Public’s new season
begins with two
extraordinary women
in the spotlight.
OCTOBER 1
through NOVEMBER 1
The
LITTLE FOXES
book by Jeffrey Hatcher
NOVEMBER 12
through DECEMBER 13
directed by Rob Ruggiero
by Lillian Hellman
directed by Ted Pappas
IN THIS ISSUE
Its juicy plot, scathing humor, and emotional
fireworks have made The Little Foxes one of the
absolute essentials of the American theater. Living
in 1900 in the New South, the wealthy Hubbard
clan will go to any lengths to get richer. When
a lucrative business venture beckons them, they
turn against each other in a vicious struggle
fueled by greed and the lust for power. Acclaimed
actress Helena Ruoti will play the coveted role
of Regina, made famous on the screen by
Bette Davis.
2.
8.
Ella Fitzgerald
and the
Great American
Songbook
What’s coming
up at The Public
4.
conceived by
Rob Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison
musical direction and arrangements
Danny Holgate
Frank Sinatra’s favorite singer. Cole Porter’s finest
interpreter. Duke Ellington’s muse. Ella Fitzgerald
is the greatest jazz singer of all time. The Public
will transport you to the French Riviera and one
of Ella’s most thrilling concerts in this exquisite
gem of a musical, starring the magnificent vocalist
Tina Fabrique and a top-notch ensemble. Songs
include “Night and Day,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing
(If It Ain’t Got That Swing),’’ “The Man I Love,”
“A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” and nearly two dozen more
legendary hits.
PRESENTED BY
The enduring
legend of
Lillian Hellman
7.
Meet board
members
Lyndell Glosser
and
Laura E. Ellsworth
This special edition of PUBLICATION is made
possible through the generous support of John Buckley
and Emily Rosenthal.
Pittsburgh, PA
Permit #1989
PITTSBURGH PUBLIC THEATER
at the O’Reilly Theater
621 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
PAID
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
2
S U B S C R I B E N O W F O R C L A S S I C S , C O M E D Y, & D Y N A M I C D R A M A
THE MEN IN
The wedding of
a stellar vocalist
to the Great
American
Songbook
was a marriage
made in heaven
by Margie Romero
Magnificent singer/actress Tina Fabrique stars in Ella.
E
L L A F I T Z G E R A L D was one of the most successful singers of all time, beloved for her
crystal clarity of tone and diction, astonishing range, and stunning vocal improvisations.
During her glittering 60-year career she appeared all over the world and on television, performed
with superstars such as Louie Armstrong and Frank Sinatra, and counted Marilyn Monroe as
one of her biggest fans.
Ella’s fame is rooted in what came to be
known as the Great American Songbook — the
melding musical styles of the 1920s through the
1950s that encompassed Broadway show tunes,
movie scores, Big Band swing, and the
syncopated rhythms of jazz.
The bio-musical Ella contains many intimate
details about this First Lady of Song. We learn
that she married twice and hear the deeply
personal story of her unconventional
motherhood. But as many people who are
passionate about the arts will appreciate, Ella
reveals that her most sustaining relationship
was with music.
Cole
Porter
The songs that Ella performed were created
by an array of composers and lyricists whose
names have become legendary as the
originators of popular music: Harold Arlen,
Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, George & Ira
Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, and Cole Porter, to
name a few. These were the most important
men in Ella’s life. Today their work is so
ingrained in our culture that their songs are
referred to simply as “standards.”
That a young black woman in post-war
America would become the definitive
interpreter of songs that were written for frothy
George
Gershwin
Broadway musicals, Fred Astaire films, and the
Glenn Miller Orchestra seems unlikely. In Ella,
we meet the man who helped to make it happen,
Norman Granz. The founder of Verve Records
and her manager, it was Norman’s idea to
match Ella’s phenomenal talent to the Great
American Songbook.
Ella, the musical, is set in 1966 on the
French Riviera, during a rehearsal and concert
by Fitzgerald and her combo. Because of
circumstances in the vocalist’s life, it’s a night
like no other, and Norman convinces her to
Songs by the witty and sophisticated Cole Porter (left),
including “Night and Day,” were among Ella’s favorites.
Ella’s interpretations of many songs by George Gershwin
(below) and his brother Ira have become standards.
Ella’s scat singing was brilliant in “It Don’t Mean a Thing
(If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” composed by the legendary
Duke Ellington (opposite).
FOR TICKETS CALL
Somewhere there’s music?
The cast of Ella
Tina Fabrique
Ella Fitzgerald
TINA FABRIQUE stars as Ella Fitzgerald, The First Lady of Song.
About Fabrique’s performance, The Washington Post said:
“If you have a desire to be transported by the liquid notes of an
entertainer at the height of her skills, you’re likely to find this
bebopping actress mighty scat-isfying.” She has played Ella
across the country, leaving a trail of rave reviews in her wake:
“Fabrique captures the essence of Fitzgerald,” said Variety.
She has also appeared in the Broadway productions of Ragtime,
Bring in ’Da Noise Bring in ’Da Funk, and Dessa Rose, to
name just a few.
George Caldwell
Moe Gale
Harold Dixon
Norman Granz
Ron Haynes
Louie Armstrong
Clifton Kellem
Ray Brown
Joilet F. Harris
Ella Fitzgerald at some
performances
US
IC A
L!
Rodney Harper
Chick Webb
AM
share her feelings with the audience. So,
Ella talks to us, but because she always found
comfort and emotional expression in music,
her most profound communication is through
the songs.
There are several numbers by the
incomparable team of brothers George and
Ira Gershwin. Although originally written as
Broadway show tunes in the ’20s, “Lady Be
Good,” “’S Wonderful,” and “The Man I Love”
never sounded so good until Ella sang them.
The musical also includes two Gershwin songs
from the unforgettable 1937 Fred AstaireGinger Rogers movie Shall We Dance: “They
Can’t Take That Away From Me” and “Let’s Call
the Whole Thing Off.”
There’s more ’30s Fred Astaire, too: Cole
Porter’s “Night and Day” from the The Gay
Divorce and Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek”
from the movie Top Hat. We also hear an earlier
and even more beloved Berlin gem, “Blue
Skies,” made famous by Al Jolson in the 1927
movie The Jazz Singer.
From the Big Band era Ella performs “It
Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That
Swing)” by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills,
and the Glenn Miller classic “That Old Black
Magic,” with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics
by Johnny Mercer. The show also treats us to
more than a dozen additional songs: certified
hits such as “The Nearness of You” and “Lullaby
of Birdland”; novelty ditties like “Cow Cow
Boogie” and “A-Tisket, A-Tasket”; and of
course Ella’s signature song, “How High the
Moon,” whose words could serve as her
wedding vows to the audience:
412.316.1600 OR ORDER ONLINE PPT.ORG
ELLA PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
—how faint the tune
Somewhere there’s heaven?
TICKET
PRICES
— how high the moon
There is no moon above when
Sunday through
Thursday
evenings and
all matinees:
$40, $50, $55
love is far away too
’Til it comes true that you
love me as I love you.P
a
Friday and
Saturday
evenings:
$45, $55, $60
Students and age
26 and younger
$15 (see back cover
for more about
discounts)
P – Preview
TGIF – Post-show music
a – Brunch Series
O – Opening
SF – Sunday Forum
FOR TICKETS CALL
412.316.1600 OR ORDER ONLINE PPT.ORG
TGIF —Friday, October 2
Percussionist George Jones is acclaimed for conga playing, African
drumming, and Latin jazz. Hear an off-the-hook set by George Jones
& the New View Trio after the show on Friday, October 2 in The
Public’s main lobby, where complimentary coffee from Starbucks
Duke
Ellington
and a cash bar will be available.
3
4
S U B S C R I B E T O D AY & G E T I N O N T H E A C T I O N
A WOMAN
Ahead of Her Time
LILLIAN HELLMAN BLAZED
A TRAIL FOR FIERCELY INTELLIGENT
AND INDEPENDENT WOMEN
by Margie Romero
When the play The Little Foxes debuted on Broadway early in 1939,
its writer, Lillian Hellman, was leading a life that could be envied by
any character on “Sex and the City.” At the time Hellman was in her
early 30s and had been working for more than a decade. Already
married and divorced at this point, she had a tempestuous relationship
with hard-boiled detective novelist Dashiell Hammett, her own Mr. Big.
Add to that a Greenwich Village apartment decorated with Picasso
prints, a closet full of gorgeous clothes, and a schedule that included
regular flights between New York and Hollywood.
When you turn to her writing, however, any
comparison between Hellman and the frothy
columnist Carrie Bradshaw comes to a
screeching halt. Hellman created important
dramas filled with deftly drawn characters in
impassioned power struggles. She took on
topics such as capitalism and fascism, revenge
and greed, examining them not in the abstract
but through the eyes of people personally
affected by their consequences. Unlike lesser
works that merely glance at ephemeral styles
and manners, Hellman’s essential themes and
her handling of them have endured the test of
time. Fiercely intelligent and independent, her
unconventional lifestyle, outspoken politics,
and professional accomplishments paved the
way for a new generation of successful women.
Hellman was born in New Orleans in 1905
and moved with her parents, both of German
Jewish ancestry, to New York when she was six
years old. The Hellmans didn’t have much
money, but Lillian’s mother was from an upper
crust Southern family. Lillian has admitted that
the class conflict she witnessed in her childhood
fueled the point of view in her plays, especially
The Little Foxes. The avaricious Hubbard clan
and its diamond-hard matriarch, Regina
Hubbard Giddens, are based on Hellman’s
grandmother and her relatives.
At age 19, Lillian married fledgling writer
Arthur Kober and began her first job at a New
York publishing house. The young couple
traveled, contributed to newspapers and
magazines, and ended up moving to Hollywood
in 1929. Lillian found work reviewing scripts
FOR TICKETS CALL
for MGM Studios and met Hammett shortly
after arriving in California. Her marriage
soon ended.
While Lillian’s L.A. schedule included
cocktail parties, political activism, and a busy
love life, her life of the mind was becoming
even more energetic. It was during this time
that she began her first play, The Children’s
Hour, a work that would bring her fame,
fortune, and controversy. Based on a real event
that took place in a Scottish boarding school,
The Children’s Hour tells the story of what
happens when a student accuses two teachers
of being lesbians. Although the play was banned
in several cities, it opened on Broadway in
1934 and was an instant hit.
Hellman was extraordinarily productive
during the rest of the decade. In 1936 she wrote
the play Days to Come, about unions and
strikebreaking, and adapted The Children’s Hour
for the screen. Directed by William Wyler and
titled These Three, the 1936 movie version
replaced the lesbianism at the play’s center
with a traditional romantic triangle. In 1937
she wrote the screenplay for Dead End, which
received an Academy Award nomination for
Best Picture, and traveled through Europe,
including war-torn Spain.
Hellman has said that she started writing The
Little Foxes to take her mind off the horrors she
saw overseas. Although the play is set in the
412.316.1600 OR ORDER ONLINE PPT.ORG
Writer Dashiell Hammett is most famous for creating the character of detective Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. Hammett
and Hellman had a relationship that lasted for 30 years.
South, 35 years after the Civil War, many of the
shady business dealings of the Hubbard family
feel as fresh as today’s headlines. When the
maid, Addie, ironically declares: “Everybody’s
going to be high-tone rich. Big rich,” she could
have been talking about the mood in America
over our last 20 years. When family patriarch
Ben Hubbard says, “God forgives those who
invent what they need,” it sounds like
something that could have been said by Bernard
Madoff about his Ponzi scheme or by a Lehman
Brothers hotshot about credit swaps.
5
The Little Foxes was a triumph, with packed
houses and glittering reviews. Tallulah
Bankhead starred as the ruthless Regina and
won a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for
her performance. Made into a movie in 1941
starring Bette Davis, The Little Foxes was
nominated for eight Academy Awards. Like an
unfinished pearl necklace, a sting of luminous
actresses have each taken their turn playing
Regina, including Anne Bancroft in 1967,
Elizabeth Taylor in 1981, and Stockard
Channing in 1997.
So much has been written about Lillian
Hellman, including her own autobiographies,
that sorting absolute truth from embellished
fiction is almost impossible. One undisputable
fact, however, is that Senator Joseph McCarthy
ordered her to testify before the House
Un-American Activities Committee in the early
1950s. Lillian refused to speak against others,
reportedly saying, “I cannot and will not cut my
conscience to fit this year’s fashion.” Years later
writer Mary McCarthy, while appearing on the
television program “The Dick Cavett Show,”
verbally attacked Hellman saying, “Every word
she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the.’”
Hellman responded by filing a libel suit, but
died, in 1984, before it could be settled.
Although she never had her day in court to
defend herself against this claim, she left a
mighty body of work that speaks for itself. P
Lillian Hellman, Queen of All Media
In 1996, biographer William Wright wrote an article in
LILLIAN ON SCREEN
The New York Times titled: Why Lillian Hellman Remains
JULIA
Fascinating. “There is still so much of Lillian Hellman
This 1977 movie is based on a chapter from
Hellman’s autobiography, Pentimento. The
plot centers on Lillian’s supposed escapade
to smuggle money to an anti-Nazi resistance
group. While the truth of the story has been
questioned, the film was a huge hit. Starring
Jane Fonda as Lillian, Vanessa Redgrave as
her friend Julia, and Jason Robards as
Dashiell Hammett, it won three Academy
Awards and was nominated for eight more,
including Best Picture.
around,” he said, “it’s beginning to appear that she beat
death.” Not even counting the books written about her,
the list below details some of the many media incarnations of one of the 20th century’s most famous women.
LILLIAN ON STAGE
IMAGINARY FRIENDS
Well before her movie Julie & Julia, writer Nora Ephron depicted another
pair of women, Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy, in the musical play
Imaginary Friends. While the legendary rivalry between these two literate
ladies seems an unlikely subject for singing and dancing, Katie Roiphe
wrote in a 2002 Slate review: “Ephron captures perfectly the particularly
feminine nature of nastiness.”
LILLIAN
Debuted in 1986, William Luce’s one-woman play starred Zoe Caldwell
(Maria Callas in Master Class) as Lillian. Frank Rich’s review said:
“Hellman partisans will enjoy this opportunity to worship at the shrine.”
in the 1977 movie, Julia.
DASH AND LILLY
Directed by Kathy Bates, this 1999 made-for-TV
movie starred Judy Davis as Lillian, Sam Shepard
as Dashiell Hammett, and Bebe Neuwirth as
Dorothy Parker. Set is 1950s Hollywood against
the backdrop of the McCarthy witch hunt, the
film was nominated for numerous Emmy and
Golden Globe awards.
CAKEWALK
Hellman is the main character in Peter Feibleman’s play Cakewalk, which
is based on his biography, Lilly. Twenty-five years younger than Hellman,
Feibleman has been described as her lover, caretaker, and heir. In a 1996
review, Ben Brantley called Cakewalk, which starred Linda Lavin, a
“featherweight excursion.”
Jane Fonda played Lillian Hellman
Dash and Lilly was about Dashiell Hammett
and Lillian Hellman’s relationship
AMERICAN MASTERS
The PBS series in 2001 featured a program about Lillian, describing her
as “a smoker, a drinker, a lover, and a fighter with a social and political
life as large and restless as her talent.”
continued on page 6
6
S U B S C R I B E N O W F O R A D R E A M D E A L O N A G R E AT S E A S O N
Queen of All Media continued from page 5
REGINA THE OPERA
Composer Marc Blitzstein is perhaps best
known for his 1930s musical The Cradle Will
Rock. In 1946, Blitzstein was commissioned by
the Koussevitsky Music Foundation to turn
The Little Foxes into an opera. Called Regina,
the sung passions of the Hubbard clan world
premiered in 1946. Featuring jazz and blues
as well as “serious” music, Bernard Holland’s
review of a 2003 revival stated: “It is what
American opera ought to try to be.”
The cast of The Little Foxes
Ross Bickell
Ben Hubbard
Linda Haston
Addie
Lara Hillier
Alexandra Giddens
Wali Jamal
Cal
Chris Landis
Leo Hubbard
Deirdre Madigan
Birdie Hubbard
Michael McKenzie
Horace Giddens
Helena Ruoti
Regina Giddens
LILLIAN ON LILLIAN
Hellman wrote three autobiographies:
An Unfinished Woman in 1969, which received
a National Book Award; Pentimento in 1973;
and Scoundrel Time in 1976. Although critics
have accused the author of stretching the truth
in these memoirs, all were best sellers.
LILLIAN ON FOOD
Hellman’s companion at the end of her life,
Peter Feibleman, has said that he suggested
this cookbook collaboration to Lillian to take
her mind off her declining health. Called Eating
Together: Recollections & Recipes, it was
released shortly before her death in 1984. One
reviewer on amazon.com said: “Reading
Eating Together, you can almost hear Hellman
barking at you from beyond the grave for
daring to cut into a baked Idaho potato with a
knife, or failing to save the duck fat, or slicing
the Virginia ham too thickly.” Below is one of
Lillian’s recipes from the book. If you make it,
be sure to pour
yourself some of the
bourbon then raise
your glass in a salute
to one of the gutsiest
ladies who has
ever lived. P
The
John Shepard
Oscar Hubbard
Philip Winters
William Marshall
LITTLE FOXES
THE LITTLE FOXES
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
TICKET
PRICES
This cookbook collaboration
Sunday through
Thursday
evenings and all
matinees:
$35, $45, $50
was written at the end of
Lillian Hellman’s life.
Mississippi Mud Cake
1/2 cup bourbon
1 & 1/2 cups coffee
5 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
5 eggs
2 tbs. vanilla
Preheat oven to 275°. Melt chocolate in
bourbon and coffee. Add sugar and salt.
Combine flour, baking soda, and baking
powder and gradually beat them into the
chocolate mix. Do not overbeat. Lightly mix
eggs and vanilla into the batter. Pour into a
buttered and floured tube pan and bake for
about 1 & 1/2 hours. The cake is done when
a toothpick can be inserted without being
coated with batter.
a
Friday and
Saturday
evenings:
$40, $50, $55
Students and age
26 and younger
$15 (see back cover
for more about
discounts)
P – Preview
TGIF – Post-show music
a – Brunch Series
O – Opening
SF – Sunday Forum
FOR TICKETS CALL
412.316.1600 OR ORDER ONLINE PPT.ORG
TGIF —Friday, November 13 (is your lucky day)
Popular neo-soul singer/keyboardist Joy Ike is becoming a regular
at The Public. She’ll return on Friday, November 13 to perform
a set of lyrical original music after the show in the main lobby,
where complimentary coffee from Starbucks and a cash bar will
be available.
FOR TICKETS CALL
412.316.1600 OR ORDER ONLINE PPT.ORG
★
★
the globe. Terrific job because I get to practice
law in a place where my colleagues are also
some of my dearest friends in the world.
Star Quality ★
★
Tell us about your family.
Get to know passionate trustees
LYNDELL GLOSSER and LAURA E. ELLSWORTH
★
Lyndell Glosser
Where did you grow up?
In Baltimore, which was
my father’s hometown,
but I was highly influenced
by my mother’s pioneer
Texas family roots. Mom raised us after Dad
passed away. I had just turned 10.
★
Describe your first experience with theater.
My mother loves music and live performances.
She took my brother and me to see The Music
Man and My Fair Lady on stage when we were
young. We also went to all the movie musicals
such as The King and I, The Sound of Music,
Oklahoma, and South Pacific. We always
bought the LP record (I guess that dates
me…no CDs back in ‘‘the day’’). I would spend
endless hours playing a song that I wanted to
sing. That combined with singing in school
choirs began a lifelong love of musical theater.
These early years laid the groundwork for a
later interest in all kinds of live theater. Having
been a teacher for several years and also a
parent, I really respect the work The Public
does to expose young people to the magic of
theater. I was amazed to learn of the programs
The Public has for actively involving children
of all ages. This effort creates future audiences
and a joy that comes from watching live
performances.
★
was unbelievably great. I really liked the play
about Ann Landers last year, The Lady with all
the Answers. My only regret was missing Ted
Pappas, half naked, pinch-hitting for an actor
in Metamorphoses. The list of favorites goes
on and on.
Why did you become a trustee?
Tell us about where you spent most of
your career.
Many years ago I returned to school, got a
Masters at CMU, and worked in the investment
management and trust business for 25 years.
Happily, I retired last year.
★
What is your favorite PPT production?
A tough question. There have been so many
great plays. I loved Cabaret because musical
theater is my thing. The Public produced the
world premiere of The Glorious Ones two
years ago, which totally impressed me.
Another world premiere written by our very
own Rob Zellers, Harry’s Friendly Service,
My husband, Bruce, is a career prosecutor with
the United States Attorney’s Office here in
Pittsburgh, where he prosecutes organized
crime and other sophisticated criminal matters.
The US Justice Department also sends him
overseas to teach the investigation and
prosecution of organized crime to lawyers and
law enforcement officials in various countries,
including many of the former Soviet republics.
Bruce and I have an 11-year-old son, Matthew,
who is the greatest joy in our lives, and a
terrific soccer player too. Plus four cats,
34 (yes 34) birds, 25 fish, a poisonous frog,
and a rabbit.
Describe your first experience with theater.
I fell in love with the theater when my mother
(cast against type) played the evil stepmother
in a community theater production of Hansel
and Gretel.
★
Since my friend Ed Linder knew one of my
hobbies was attending Pittsburgh Public
Theater and that I had done some charitable
work, he asked if I would be interested in
becoming a trustee. I responded with a very
enthusiastic “Yes.” After getting my feet wet
as a trustee for a few years, Stu Miller, our
board president, tapped me to become
treasurer, a slot I have filled for the past three
years. One of my greatest joys has been my
work with The Public’s general manager Cindy
Tutera. She has been with the theater since its
inception (over 34 years) and knows “where all
the bones are buried.” Plus she really
complements Ted Pappas’ artistic and theater
production genius with her solid financial
management skills. In early 2008, I remarried.
My wonderful husband, Dan Glosser, is another
theater lover and longtime fan of The Public.
We appreciate Ted Pappas and all that he
brings to making the theater an asset of our
city. Saying, “yes” to supporting the theater
with time and experience along with financial
support is our way of giving something back
to a source of lifelong enrichment.
★
7
★
Why did you become a trustee?
Because Ted Pappas is one of the most
inspirational, enthusiastic, talented, intelligent,
captivating, energetic people I’ve ever met
and I jumped at the chance to be able to work
with him. Really.
What were you surprised to learn about The
Public that others may not know?
It has a unique combination of artistic fluency
and fiscal responsibility. The sense of fiscal
stewardship is as keen as the finely tuned
artistic integrity. Beautiful art created with
scrupulous care of donor dollars.
What is your favorite PPT production?
This past season, I found Metamorphoses both
beautiful and haunting.
How does theater impact your life?
It forces me to stop the frenetic motion in my
busy life, sit back, think about issues that
would not otherwise have entered my zone of
experience, and hopefully get some new
understanding or perspectives.
★
How does The Public impact the community?
Laura E. Ellsworth
Where did you grow up?
New York City (Manhattan)
and then we moved to a
house in New Jersey but
kept the apartment in New
York, to which I constantly brought all my
starving dancer/theater friends and colleagues,
much to the chagrin of my parent’s very fancy
and proper East Side neighbors.
Tell us about your career.
I am a trial lawyer who also serves as Partnerin-Charge of the Pittsburgh Office of Jones
Day, one of the largest law firms in the world,
with over 2,400 lawyers in 32 locations around
For its audience, see my prior answer. For the
children of the region, The Public’s school
outreach and Shakespeare programs provide
an invaluable opportunity for kids to develop
their speaking skills, sense of presence and
self, and ability to command an audience and
communicate ideas. These skills are vital from
boardrooms to courtrooms and can only be
learned by doing.
★
★
What would you like to accomplish through
your role as a trustee?
The Public clearly is one of the top public
theater companies in the entire United States.
I would like to help remove “one of.” P
G R E AT E V E N T S T O S H A R E W I T H FA M I LY & F R I E N D S
THE FAREWELL PRODUCTION!
FOUR PERFORMANCES ONLY!
Est. 1959
THE SECOND CITY’S
50 TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
DECEMBER 17 through 19, 2009
TOM
ATKINS
IS
The Second City is taking the party on the road
to celebrate an anniversary of epic proportions:
Fifty years of legendary sketch comedy &
improvisation.
THUR.
FRI.
SAT.
Dec. 17
8:00 PM
Dec. 18
8:00 PM
Dec. 19
5:30 PM
9:00 PM
REGULAR
PRICES:
SUBSCRIBER
PRICES:
Rows A- L, center
Rows A- C, sides
$48
$43
Rows K & L, sides
Rows M- S, center
$38
$33
Row S, sides
$28
JANUARY 6 through 10, 2010
Celebrate the birth of the Steelers Nation one
last time, when Tom Atkins takes to the stage as
The Chief in The Public’s farewell production
of the smash hit, one-man play.
WED.
THUR.
FRI.
SAT.
SUN.
Jan. 6
8:00 PM
Jan. 7
8:00 PM
Jan. 8
8:00 PM
Jan. 9
2:00 PM
8:00 PM
Jan. 10
Time TBA
REGULAR
PRICES:
SUBSCRIBER
PRICES:
$65.00
$48.00
$60.00
$43.00
Rows A - R
Row S
$23
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE THE $.50 PER TICKET DISTRICT FEE.
ALL TICKET PRICES INCLUDE THE $.50 PER TICKET DISTRICT FEE.
EDUCATION EVENTS
AT THE PUBLIC
By Rob Zellers
& Gene Collier
of character development, and how to take
feedback in approaching revisions.
Prerequisite: some previous writing experience.
ACTING WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS
September 29 – November 17
A lively exploration of the acting process in
which students study character development,
voice and body work, and text analysis in a
supportive, professional environment.
No previous experience necessary.
Instructor: Lisa Ann Goldsmith
Tuesdays, 6:30- 8:30 pm $275
PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS
October 21 – December 9
This playwriting workshop will focus on a play’s
structure and premise and how they strengthen
the central conflict. Student writing will be
workshopped in class. Writing exercises will be
assigned in and out of class in order to access
creativity and go beyond formula to create
dynamic and original stories. We will also
discuss what makes good dialogue, the necessity
Instructor: Tammy Ryan
Wednesdays, 6:30- 8:30 pm $275
For online enrollment:
www.ppt.org/content/adultclasses.cfm
2010 SHAKESPEARE MONOLOGUE
& SCENE CONTEST
have the opportunity to perform at the Showcase
of Finalists. All participants receive a contest
t-shirt and a voucher for two complimentary
tickets to a Public Theater production. The Public
also offers free orientation sessions for firsttime participating teachers and their students.
ONLINE REGISTRATION
www.ppt.org/content/education.cfm
November 1, 2009
COACHING
This popular annual event is open to students in
grades 4-12. Students may enter the monologue
contest, scene contest, or both. Students
compete in the upper
division (grades
8-12) or lower
division (grades 4-7).
Contestants present
their pieces on The
Public’s main stage
in front of a panel of
judges. Those who
advance to the final
round of the contest
2009 co-winner Carter Redwood
Groups of 10+ save 30% on tickets.
Contact Becky at 412.316.8200 ext. 704, or rrickard@ppt.org.
$15 single tickets (plus a $.50 per ticket District Fee) are available to
full-time students and age 26 and younger. On Friday and Saturday
nights this rate is available at the Box Office only — no phone orders.
Valid ID is required.
January 16 – February 2, 2010
PRELIMINARY ROUND
February 5 — 12, 2010
SHOWCASE OF FINALISTS
February 15, 2010
For more information about these and other
programs visit the EDUCATION section of our
web site at www.ppt.org or call Rob Zellers
412.316.8200 ext. 715
Funding for The Public’s Youth Education and
Outreach Programs was provided by a grant from
The BNY Mellon Charitable Foundation.
To follow Pittsburgh Public Theater
go to twitter.com/PublicTheater
To find us on Facebook go to
facebook.dj/pittsburghpublictheater
See preview videos at
youtube.com/PublicTheaterPgh
O’Reilly Theater, in the heart of the Cultural District
Call
412.316.1600 • Tickets & Info online at PPT.ORG
Visa • AmEx • Mastercard • Discover — all accepted
To read Pittsburgh Public Theater’s blog, PUBlog, and
post your comments, go to www.post-gazette.com, click
on A&E, then pgTHEATERnow.