There’s been a bit of a lull in your faithful Tatler’s cultural experiences, but the next few weeks are looking busy. Here are some performances and events on my calendar, I hope you, Dear Reader, can make it to some of these too!
This weekend, top of my list is the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh performance of Considering Matthew Shepard, an oratorio/song cycle reflecting on the murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming 25 years ago. The music is beautiful; the lyrics may make you weep – but it is also a hopeful piece, one that focuses as much on the love and care shown by the local and global community to Matthew’s family and friends in the aftermath of his death as it does on the horror of the crime that took his life. The performance is two nights only: Saturday November 18 at 7:30, and Sunday November 19 at 4:00, at the Bitz Opera Factory in the Strip District.
Also opening this weekend is the barebones production run of American Buffalo – though I would not label myself a David Mamet superfan, I can’t think of a better company to dig into – and interrogate – his testosterone-fueled world of hustlers and wannabes. The show opens on Friday and runs through Dec. 10 – the space is small and sells out quickly, so book soon!
Post-Thanksgiving, we have Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley to look forward to at City Theatre – previews begin Nov. 25, opening is Dec. 1. The CMU Drama force within this production is strong – it’s directed by faculty member Kyle Haden, with designers Anne Mundell (scenic) and Hugh Hanson (costume) along with dialect coach Don Wadsworth; the lighting designer Pablo Anton and dramaturg Lindsay Barr are both CMU alums, and three current students – Sophia Macy, Alex Sheffield, and Leyla Davis – feature in the ensemble.
Speaking of CMU alums, Tami Dixon will open her newest version of South Side Stories on Jan. 13 – I’m told it’s a completely new version of this insightful, wry, funny, and moving love letter to Pittsburgh – many new interviews, many new stories, and much fresh perspective on the history and present of yinzerland.
And speaking of revivals, the Pittsburgh Public Theater is re-gifting to our community its pitch-perfect production of A Christmas Story from last season – with a new group of child actors but most of the same adult ensemble. The show is a lot of fun, and no judgment if you want to show up in that big pink bunny suit you have hanging in your closet.
But wait, there’s more! The New Hazlett Theatre has a whole bunch of programming coming up in the next few weeks, much of which I will sadly miss, but I put this before you in hopes that your schedule is more forgiving than mine: there’s the Holiday Jam on Dec. 2 & 3; One-Log Bridge on Dec 7 & 8; and a performance by renowned jazz saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin on Dec. 9.
I’d be remiss not to mention that the CMU School of Drama also has several shows opening in the next few weeks (hence my unforgiving schedule), including two shows directed by MFA directors – I Think I’m Starting to Want to be a Mother (Nov. 18-29, written & directed by B Kleymeyer) and Young Jean Lee’s Lear, billed as “a searing, hilarious, post-tragedy collision of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ and ‘Sesame Street'” (Nov. 29-Dec. 1, directed by Tatiana Baccari) – as well as the annual PLAYGROUND Festival of Independent Student Work (Dec. 7-9).
Phew! Busy times! Hope to see you out and about enjoying some art!