Theatre in Pittsburgh

Theater in Pittsburgh has existed professionally since the early 1800s and has continued to expand, having emerged as an important cultural force in the city over the past several decades.

[1][2][3] The heritage of theater in Pittsburgh stretches back to at least 1765, when it was recorded that "balls, plays, concerts, and comedies" were being performed at the British military installation at Fort Pitt.

Other theaters followed Henderson's lead, including the Pittsburgh Opera House, which held the first productions of nationally regarded playwright Bartley Campbell.

Harry Davis, another theatrical entrepreneur in the early 1900s, founded the Family Avenue Theater and the Pittsburgh Opera House, which produced melodramas and standard plays as well as showed films.

Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera was one such company; staging primarily musicals, it held its first production in 1946 at the Pitt Stadium.

[1] The Pittsburgh Savoyards, which specializes in Gilbert and Sullivan (G&S) operettas, came into existence in 1938, and is currently housed in Bellevue and performing in the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.

The university company became professionally oriented in 1981,[13] and continues to stage several productions throughout the year in their primary facility, the historic Stephen Foster Memorial.

[16] Similar to St. Vincent, Mountain Playhouse also stages light summer stock fare, including comedies and musicals.

[21] Pittsburgh Public Theater was chartered in 1974 by Joan Apt, Margaret Rieck and Ben Shaktman and held its first production in 1975.

The company has since evolved to become a major regional theatre that has staged premieres of new works by Christopher Durang, Adam Rapp, Jeffrey Hatcher, Eric Simonson, and Leslie Ayvazian.

Quantum Theatre was founded in 1990 by Karla Boos; it has staged productions of plays, musicals, and operas from world culture in nontraditional spaces around the Pittsburgh area.