{"id":914,"date":"2014-02-26T11:02:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T11:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=914"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:49:56","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:49:56","slug":"the-pittsburgh-public-theater-at-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/02\/26\/the-pittsburgh-public-theater-at-40\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Public\u00a0Theater at 40"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sept. <\/a>
Sept. 20, 1984: An interior view of The Pittsburgh Public Theater in this North Side venue (now the New Hazlett Theater), its home until 1999. (Darrell Sapp\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Oct. <\/a>
Oct. 23, 1975: A first-season production of \u201cOne Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest,\u201d with Tom Atkins, Tony Alward and Carol Mayo-Jenkins. Mr. Atkins is a Pittsburgher with an active Hollywood career. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"1988-89: <\/a>
1988-89: \u201cThe Glass Menagerie,\u201d with Steve Simpson and Amy Wright. The Tennessee Williams play also was the first Public production and will open the 40th season in October 2014. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"1984: <\/a>
1984: A trademark of Pittsburgh Public Theater is giving classic works their due on the design afront, such as this production of \u201cLife With Father.\u201d (Photo credit: Ric Evans) <\/div> <\/div>
\"April <\/a>
April 1975: This was the theater layout for 24 years before moving to its current home, the O\u2019Reilly Theater in the Downtown Cultural District. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Everything old is new again. Take, for example, Pittsburgh Public Theater\u2019s 2014-15 season, which celebrates four decades by opening with the production that started it all, Tennessee Williams\u2019 \u201cThe Glass Menagerie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to find a way to honor the accomplishment of reaching 40 years, and what better way than to put on a play?\u201d said current producing artistic director Ted Pappas. \u201cWell, the play is eternally beautiful, and \u2018The Glass Menagerie had a very successful revival in New York, we\u2019ve never produced it in the O\u2019Reilly. It\u2019s the perfect way to acknowledge the past for those who are seeing it again, and it\u2019s ready for a new generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forty years ago, the climate for top-notch professional theater in the city appeared to be changing, and to counteract their concern, three lovers of theater \u2014 Joan Apt, Margaret Rieck and Ben Shaktman \u2014 founded Pittsburgh Public Theater. That first season, which commenced in September 1975,\u00a0 also included Pittsburgh\u2019s Tom Atkins in \u201cOne Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest\u201d \u2014 a year before the film version \u2014 and Leonard Nimoy as Malvolio in \u201cTwelfth Night.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Pittsburghers embracing the programming mix of classics and premieres, the seasons quickly grew from three productions to the current six.<\/p>\n

The Public claimed the North Side as its home back then, in a high-ceilinged space with a flexible thrust stage, The landmark building in Allegheny Square had been erected in 1889\u00a0 and rescued from demolition in the 1960s, when\u00a0 the community renovated the theater space to include movable scaffold seating. It became the New Hazlett Theater in 1980, named for Theodore L. Hazlett, a civic leader and supporter of the arts.<\/p>\n

The Public enjoyed 24 years in the building and brought the thrust-stage style with it when it moved to the brand-new O\u2019Reilly Theater in December 1999. The venue was created just for the company on Penn Avenue in the heart of the Downtown Cultural District and opened with the world premiere of \u201cKing Hedley II\u201d by Pittsburgh\u2019s own Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, August Wilson.<\/p>\n

Audiences followed the Public from the North Side to Downtown, as the company continued to revitalize classics by the like of Tennessee Williams and Shakespeare and champion works by contemporary writers. Two-time Tony winner Mark Rylance brought the much-ballyhooed \u201cTwelfth Night\u201d to Broadway last year \u2014 a production he first brought to the States and the Public stage a decade ago. The company also is known for producing new works, including the pre-Broadway run of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn\u2019s \u201cBy Jeeves\u201d and the upcoming \u201cL\u2019Hotel,\u201d a world premiere by Ed Dixon.<\/p>\n

In the mean time, season No. 39 is still under way. Next up, a work that combines several themes that have emerged over the past 40 years. The play \u201cAn Iliad\u201d is a modern retelling of Homer\u2019s tale from Ancient Greece. It\u2019s the Trojan War with Achilles, Hector, Agammemnon and Helen of Troy, all rolled into a solo tour-de-force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everything old is new again. <\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe Pittsburgh Public\u00a0Theater at 40<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[945],"tags":[972,1001,1044],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/tumblr_n1cz2y8dlZ1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1000%2C676&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6478,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/02\/03\/theres-nothing-like-it-in-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":914,"position":0},"title":"“There’s nothing like it in the world”","date":"February 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Pittsburghers couldn't get enough of the new Greater Pittsburgh Airport in 1952.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Web.1952DigsAirport020.jpg?fit=1200%2C781&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":160,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/10\/15\/pittsburgh-at-the-new-york-worlds-fair\/","url_meta":{"origin":914,"position":1},"title":"Pittsburgh at the 1939-40 New York World\u2019s Fair","date":"October 15, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In those years, Pittsburgh was flying high.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/tumblr_ndg2y2znJk1rr5swxo2_1280-e1418791626347.jpg?fit=1200%2C716&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2190,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/21\/roberto-clemente-day-at-three-rivers-stadium\/","url_meta":{"origin":914,"position":2},"title":"Roberto Clemente Day at Three Rivers Stadium","date":"December 21, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Is it any wonder Pittsburgh embraced Roberto Clemente?","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-17-at-12.44.46-AM.png?fit=1158%2C566&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1110,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/12\/23\/ice-and-glass-at-ppg-place\/","url_meta":{"origin":914,"position":3},"title":"Ice and glass at PPG Place","date":"December 23, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In December of 2001, the ice skating rink was unveiled and opened to the public with great fanfare.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/tumblr_my4gseyUki1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=936%2C551&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2488,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/25\/feb-27-1928-when-the-stanley-theater-opened-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":914,"position":4},"title":"Triumphant opening of Stanley Theater","date":"September 25, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"When the Stanley Theater opened in February of 1928, admission to the silent film \u201cGentlemen Prefer Blondes\u201d was 65 cents.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tumblr_mav86sVCRL1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C1153&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8088,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/07\/27\/pittsburgh-forgotten-union-beer-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":914,"position":5},"title":"Pittsburgh’s Forgotten Beer War","date":"July 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As families slept in apartments lining the 1900 block of Forbes Avenue, a car quietly rolled past. 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