David Whalen News

On December 3, 2013, the world will get to read Pittsburgh author Bethany Hensel's debut New Adult novel, Unstoppable. Released through all major retailers including Barnes and Noble (US and UK), Apple, Kobo, FlipKart (India), FNAC (France and Portugul), Bookworld (Australia), Indigo (Canada), Rakuten (Japan), Amazon and more, this emotion-packed debut will be available first as an ebook for $3.99 and later as a trade paperback for $12.99.

PICT Theatre's final production of the season is the Pittsburgh premiere of Paul Giovanni's The Crucifer of Blood, a Sherlock Holmes adventure featuring characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Matt Torney directs. David Whalen returns to reprise the role of Sherlock Holmes since his 2011 turn as the master detective. Also returning from the 2011 production is Daryll Heysham as Inspector Lestrade. Justin R. G. Holcomb makes his PICT debut as Dr. Watson.

The Phoenix, the New Theatre Company founded by long-time PICT artistic director and founder Andrew Paul and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre founder and former director of theatre initiatives at the August Wilson Center, Mark Clayton Southers, will debut with a four week run of Joe Penhall's provocative, caustically funny, Olivier Award-winning play Blue/Orange. The production will star acclaimed actors David Whalen, Sam Tsoutsouvas, and newcomer Rico Parker, with direction by Andrew Paul and scenic design by Mark Clayton Southers. Blue/Orange, sponsored by founding Phoenix Board Member and noted arts philanthropist Richard E. Rauh, plays tonight, November 1-23, 2013 at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, 937 Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.

The Phoenix, the new theatre company founded by long-time PICT artistic director and founder Andrew Paul and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre founder and former director of theatre initiatives at the August Wilson Center, Mark Clayton Southers, will debut with a four week run of Joe Penhall's provocative, caustically funny, Olivier Award-winning play Blue/Orange. The production will star acclaimed actors David Whalen, Sam Tsoutsouvas, and newcomer Rico Parker, with direction by Andrew Paul and scenic design by Mark Clayton Southers. Blue/Orange, sponsored by founding Phoenix Board Member and noted arts philanthropist Richard E. Rauh, plays November 1-23, 2013 at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, 937 Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.

Long-time PICT artistic director and founder, Andrew Paul and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre founder and former director of theatre initiatives at the August Wilson Center, Mark Clayton Southers have announced Pittsburgh's newest professional theatre company, The Phoenix. The mission of The Phoenix is to explore the issues facing our diverse and rapidly changing world through the language of theatre. The name is purposeful. The phoenix was a mythological creature that crossed borders finding a home in many cultures from ancient Greece and Egypt to Turkey, Persia, Russia, Tibet, China and Japan. It was and is a symbol of renewal, new life emerging from the ashes of the old in a never-ending cycle of death and rebirth.

British playwright Duncan Macmillan was asked numerous times to adapt Don Juan Comes Back from the Warby Odon von Horvath, and after reading it in the original German as well as a few translations, he felt compelled to accept the challenge. "I thought it was a fascinating play, to take this extraordinary character - the archetypal lover Don Juan - and refract his character through the dark experience of going through the war, and coming back to a war-torn Berlin as an older man, looking for love and redemption." Macmillan's version of the play has only been produced once before, at the Finborough Theatre in London in 2012. Macmillan traveled to Pittsburgh to attend rehearsals and work with director Alan Stanford and the cast for its U. S. premiere. This production will run August 8-31.

Renowned Oscar Wilde expert Alan Stanford, PICT's interim Producing Artistic Director, will direct his adaptation of the great Irish playwright's comedy, Lady Windermere's Fan. Wilde's play, first produced in 1892 in London, satirizes the morality of Victorian society. Stanford has moved the setting forward in time to 1947; in post-World-War II London, Wilde's language and ridicule of high-society still resonate. Oscar Wilde was not so much a writer of polite English comedy, but rather a biting Irish satirist who lampooned the social absurdities and prejudices of the English upper classes, prejudices that lasted well into the Twentieth Century. This production, which runs tonight, July 11 through July 27, is PICT's third show of the season, and features a cast of 17 actors.

Renowned Oscar Wilde expert Alan Stanford, PICT's interim Producing Artistic Director, will direct his adaptation of the great Irish playwright's comedy, Lady Windermere's Fan. Wilde's play, first produced in 1892 in London, satirizes the morality of Victorian society. Stanford has moved the setting forward in time to 1947; in post-World-War II London, Wilde's language and ridicule of high-society still resonate. Oscar Wilde was not so much a writer of polite English comedy, but rather a biting Irish satirist who lampooned the social absurdities and prejudices of the English upper classes, prejudices that lasted well into the Twentieth Century. This production, which runs July 11 through July 27, is PICT's third show of the season, and features a cast of 17 actors.

Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre (PICT) announces the appointment of Alan Stanford as Interim Artistic Director for the company, effective immediately. Mr. Stanford replaces Andrew Paul who, along with Stephanie Riso, founded the company in 1997.

Pittsburgh Public Theater's MADE IN AMERICA season continues with the Pittsburgh premiere of Good People, David Lindsay-Abaire's 2011 Tony-nominated play set in contemporary Boston. Directed by Tracy Brigden, Good People runs tonight, Nov. 8 - Dec. 9, 2012 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

Pittsburgh Public Theater's MADE IN AMERICA season continues with the Pittsburgh premiere of Good People, David Lindsay-Abaire's 2011 Tony-nominated play set in contemporary Boston. Directed by Tracy Brigden, Good People runs Nov. 8 - Dec. 9, 2012 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

The REP, Point Park University's professional theatre company, launches its 2012 - 2013 season at the Pittsburgh Playhouse on September 7th with a pillar of modern drama, August: Osage County by Tracy Letts. The recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and five Tony Awards in 2008, August: Osage County runs Sept. 7 through Sept. 23; John Shepard directs.

Pittsburgh Public Theater continues its red hot season with a glowing new production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It, directed by Ted Pappas.

Pittsburgh Public Theater continues its red hot season with a glowing new production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It, directed by Ted Pappas.

Pittsburgh Public Theater continues its red hot season with a glowing new production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It, directed by Ted Pappas.

PICT presents the world's most famous consulting detective and his trusty sidekick in their most harrowing - and hilarious - case yet! The Mask of Moriarty by Hugh Leonard throws everything into the mix, from mop-headed hunchbacks to Hitler's secret parentage - even the identity of Jack the Ripper! -- in this fiendishly fun caper fit for the entire family.

PICT presents the world's most famous consulting detective and his trusty sidekick in their most harrowing - and hilarious - case yet! The Mask of Moriarty by Hugh Leonard throws everything into the mix, from mop-headed hunchbacks to Hitler's secret parentage - even the identity of Jack the Ripper! -- in this fiendishly fun caper fit for the entire family.