Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

I very much enjoy live theater, you’ve probably noticed that in my blogging.

Pittsburgh has multiple live theater companies and venues, from community theaters in McKeesport and Carnegie to mainstream denizens of Downtown. We are fortunate, but we are also divided.

Honestly, there’s a discernible vibe between the community theaters and the Cultural District theaters. If you know, you know. The lack of creative responses to this divide is likely part of the economic implosion.

Right in the sweet spot, the nexus of creativity and community finds a home on the South Side. City Theatre is just wonderful. Championing new works, they still honor the classics. It’s comfortable, accessible, reasonable parking – it’s a community cultural institution that no Downtown could ever achieve. It is also aspirational for all community theaters to swing for the bleachers.

While I don’t profess to know the behind-the-scenes politics, I’ve been following the possible merger of Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh CLO, and City Theatre with that framework in mind.

Today they announced that while the Public and CLO will continue to explore official partnerships, City Theatre will not.

My heart soared. A discreet arm pump. A sigh of relief. Is that awful?

I have no ill-will for the Public, but it rarely excites me. The all-white production of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?’ was a good example of the opportunities they miss to connect with younger audiences. Also, their choice not to respond to my questions about that casting reflects a dated attitude.

I’m not a fan of the CLO really. They seem nice, but they were not respectful of this outlet when we collaborated on Q&As. They crossed the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh picket line. That was appalling and a clear decision to not center the community or the labor of their own employees. Especially appalling to cross a picket line to talk about preserving the jobs of your unionized workforce. That’s a red flag. And they weren’t alone.

City Theatre will continue to forge their own path, grounded in the community and the people of this City, this region.

I am not ashamed to gush about this venue and the productions. The big bold red front doors. The incredible stairwell to the second floor, decorated with playbills dating back to the 70’s – I’d love to be able to look more closely – ushering us from the street into the theater. The renovated common area with a nice refreshment bar. The incorporation of gender neutral bathrooms. Free and affordable parking options. The thematic mocktail added to the menu for each production.

A very Pittsburgh theater moment from a few years ago. I love the reusable cups they sell and use them regularly. I was at City and had purchased a cup of coffee to take in with me, using a cup from another theater. It didn’t feel like it was a problem as I had used my City cup at the other venue the day before. Staff filled my cup, no worries. But the volunteer docent? Oh no, ma’am. She confronted me about using ‘their’ cup in ‘our’ theater. I was prepared and told her the refreshment staff had okayed it.

Then I leaned over and told her that my City cup was dirty because I had proudly used it at the other venue to ‘represent.’

She let me pass.

That protective bluntness is exactly in line with the City Theatre vibe.

I have very big bold memories of performances – Abigail/1702 (2013) DNAWORKS’ production of The Real James Bond…Was Dominican (2025), Another Kind of Silence (2025), Christmas at Pemberley (2024, 2025), Pipeline (2018), POTUS (2024), Downstairs (2020), The Revolutionists (2018), Little Gem (2013), and Clyde’s (2022). City Theatre is where I saw my first ‘show’ in June 2004 and then saw Lauren Weedman’s ‘Bust’ in 2008, an experience that helped me (eventually) evolve from snarky blogger to more thoughtful consumer of culture. 2013’s Abigail was a pivotal moment for me as a blogger and a human being.

An adaptation of Little Women was the most recent show I saw and my review was magically erased by the WordPress gods, something I deeply regret. I didn’t love it tbh, but I did enjoy it and found its boundary pushing twist on a 150+ year old novel intriguing if not quite the devastating take of Greta Gerwig. And how awesome it is to have the debate in my mind about a book from my childhood.

Currently, City Theatre is staging  Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem  It is absolutely tied to our current lives, challenges, and hopes. Where else do you see that in the local live theater scene?

Before they were icons, they were two young men washing dishes in Harlem. It’s 1943 and Foxy (soon to be Redd Foxx) befriends fellow dishwater Little, better known, many years later, as Malcolm X. Through a summer of heartbreak, uprisings, and leftovers, the two shape each other into the legends they are known to be through a revolutionary mix of humor and heart.

I was supposed to see it when Winter Storm Fern blew into town and stayed. As I was reeling from the ongoing federal assault on immigrants and all BIPOC neighbors this weekend while also watching the winter storm, my regret over missing the show quadrupled. The arts are deeply intertwined in our entire national story. New theatrical works building on old cultural themes are epic ways to understand where we were and where we are.

I want the playwright who conceived this story to help me process and learn and move forward. I want to show up and support the folx who bring this to life right now in Pittsburgh, when we need it. Not some divine guidance or manifest intervention, but through reconsidering history as we know it – especially as white folx – in an era where white supremacist fascism has always threatened the lives and futures of young Black men, including those who go on to change the world in big vivid ways.

I don’t have a lot of funds as you know. So this is not a small gesture on my part, to donate to City Theatre and suggest you do as well. It is an investment in all the best parts of Pittsburgh.

I spoke with City Theatre staff today for this post and they confirmed that they will be rolling out a recurring donation tool in the near future. I’ll update this post when I can.