Ted Pappa News

Sharon Playhouse, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Simpkins and Managing Director Justin Ball, will present a developmental workshop of Ed Dixon's Georgie: The Life and Death of George Rose to kick off its 2015 Season from May 14-17 and May 28-31 in the Stage 2 at the Bok Gallery. John Simpkins directs.

The centerpiece of Pittsburgh Public Theater's 40th anniversary Season of Legends is My Fair Lady, the musical event with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Directed and choreographed by Ted Pappas, My Fair Lady runs January 22 - February 22, 2015 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

Red Bull Theater today announced a new three-part collaboration with the Shakespeare Society exploring Shakespeare and the Jacobeans on Film. The series includes a Shakespeare Society major member event (open to the public) and two film screenings. All three events will be held at the SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues) part of the School of Visual Arts. For more information and tickets, visit RedBullTheater.com

I woke up early and went to Starbucks. I did not, however, check the weather forecast before I did. It was seventeen degrees with a wind chill of zero. After the "balmy" weather that preceded it, downtown felt positively Arctic and the whole Polar Vortex thing from last year came flooding back. On my way home, my legs stopped working. Pittsburgh has the highest curbs in the country (maybe the world) and I found myself stepping off them like a toddler so as not to tumble like and octogenarian. We had a brief brush-up rehearsal and got ready for the first show of opening week.

Tuesday, November 11 My lifelong friend, Jane Parham arrived in town for the invited dress rehearsaltomorrow and I had lunch with her at Sonoma Grill. Have I mentioned that Sonoma Grill is awesome? So is Jane. We had a marvelous time and then I took her to the theater to see the set. While we were standing there, Zach Moore ran a sound cue, Bizet's Symphony in C… loudly. Both Jane and I burst into tears. Got to introduce her to Ted Pappas who greeted her like an old friend. Good times.

Pittsburgh Public Theater's 40th anniversary Season of Legends continues with the world premiere of L'Hotel, written by Broadway veteran Ed Dixon and directed by The Public's Producing Artistic Director, Ted Pappas. L'Hotel runs tonight, November 13 - December 14, 2014 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

Tuesday, November 4 Started the day REALLY early with packing. They're moving me to housing right next to the theater. The Pennsylvanian is a lovely place but it's a HIKE and the weather is about to turn cold, so I'm really glad to be getting closer to work. After the move we did some trouble areas of the play and tightened the up considerably. Then I did an interview with Bill O'Driscoll from the City Paper. Forgot to mention, I did interviews with Sharon of the Post-Gazette and Alice Carter from the Tribune last week. Both were very enjoyable. We did a run through in the afternoon and it was the first time the first act had come together. The show is an ensemble piece so almost the entire cast is onstage all the time. This means everyone has to be on their toes ALL THE TIME or cues will be missed. This was the first time everyone kept the ball in the air for the entire first act. The second act wasn't as fortunate… one step at a time.

Tuesday, October 28 We started the new week with the top of act two. We sat around and read it. We've started doing this in comfy chairs in a circle rather than around a table and it's very intimate. Then we started at the top. Everyone's on stage from the beginning and it's so marvelous to see how at this point, everyone is really inside the characters so it goes really quickly in a kind of short hand. We got all the way up to the "eleven o'clock number" moment of the second act and quit there.

Monday, October 20 Day off. I had been hearing about "The Strip" ever since I arrived so Deanne Lorette aka Sarah Bernhardt and I trundled off to have lunch there. The surprise is that it's not some Vegas area as you might imagine from the name. It's a very down home neighborhood with a lot of local produce and outside markets. One set of stalls looked like something you might have found in Omaha in the 1950's. Surprising.

In my cranky old age, I have become virtually phobic about all means of public transportation, an odd affectation for someone who has spent his entire life zooming from one theater to another across several countries. My dear friend, Nick Noone knows this about me, so when he learned that I was about to start rehearsing my new play, L'HOTEL at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, he offered to drive me both to and from. He did this in spite of the fact that he lives nowhere near Pittsburgh or New York City. This has prompted me to refer to him as Mother Teresa del Auto Spirito.

Pittsburgh Public Theater's 40th anniversary Season of Legends continues with the world premiere of L'Hotel, written by Broadway veteran Ed Dixon and directed by The Public's Producing Artistic Director, Ted Pappas. L'Hotel runs November 13 - December 14, 2014 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District. For tickets call 412.316.1600 or visit ppt.org.

Red Bull Theater today announced that their Eleventh Season will include a rare revival of John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore along with an all new season of their acclaimed Revelation Readings, including Dekker & Middleton's The Honest Whore, Ford's Perkin Warbeck and Love's Sacrifice, Baillie's De Montfort, Ludlam's Camille, Euripides's Hippolytos, Middleton's A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Calderon's Life Is a Dream, Ibsen's The Wild Duck (a new version by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Auburn), Beaumont & Fletcher's The Maid's Tragedy, Marston's The Dutch Courtesan, Sheridan's The School For Scandal, with casts that include Olympia Dukakis, Hamish Linklater, Lily Rabe, Charlayne Woodard, Brian D'Arcy James, Rocco Sisto, Robert Cuccioli, Charles Busch, Everett Quinton, Arnie Burton, Tom Hewitt, Jennifer Ikeda, Christopher Innvar, Sam Tsoutsouvas, Rebecca Brooksher, Jeremy Shamos, Harris Yulin, Nick Westrate, Carson Elrod, and Jeanine Serralles, among others.

Pittsburgh Public Theater's Masterpiece Season continues with George Bernard Shaw's sparkling comedy, Candida, directed by Ted Pappas. Candida runs today, April 17 - May 18, 2014 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

Pittsburgh Public Theater's Masterpiece Season continues with George Bernard Shaw's sparkling comedy, Candida, directed by Ted Pappas. Candida runs April 17 - May 18, 2014 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

Producing Artistic Director Ted Pappas will celebrate Pittsburgh Public Theater's 40th anniversary with The Season of Legends, six breathtaking works that epitomize The Public's range. Included are the first play produced by The Public 40 years ago, a heavenly world premiere comedy, a musical bouquet of brilliance, August Wilson's most personal play, William Shakespeare's timeless tragedy, and a recent New York hit about a diva's passion for design.

Bobby's coming over for dinner, but you've never seen him like this before.

At the center of Pittsburgh Public Theater's MASTERPIECE SEASON is a brand-new staging of the musical comedy Company, directed and choreographed by Ted Pappas. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, Company runs tonight, January 23 - February 23, 2014 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

At the center of Pittsburgh Public Theater's MASTERPIECE SEASON is a brand-new staging of the musical comedy Company, directed and choreographed by Ted Pappas. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth, Company runs January 23 - February 23, 2014 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

New audiences this fall were introduced to stellar actor Tom Atkins when he starred as the Stage Manager in Our Town, which began Pittsburgh Public Theater's MASTERPIECE SEASON. Today, Jan. 2, through Jan. 5 will be the final opportunities to see him at The O'Reilly in the performance of a lifetime as Pittsburgh Steelers founder Arthur J. Rooney, Sr. in The Chief.

New audiences this fall were introduced to stellar actor Tom Atkins when he starred as the Stage Manager in Our Town, which began Pittsburgh Public Theater's MASTERPIECE SEASON. This Jan. 2 - 5 will be the final opportunities to see him at The O'Reilly in the performance of a lifetime as Pittsburgh Steelers founder Arthur J. Rooney, Sr. in The Chief.