BORN YESTERDAY, OTHER DESERT CITIES & More Set for Pittsburgh Public Theater's MADE IN AMERICA 2012-13 Season

Programmed by Producing Artistic Director Ted Pappas, Pittsburgh Public Theater's MADE IN AMERICA season includes a six-play Subscription Series plus two Special Events, all by American writers and set in cities across the USA. Surrounding the shows, a series of Town Hall Meetings will throw open the O'Reilly Theater doors to a broad range of topics and people. Up first, during the run of Born Yesterday, is "Born Again: Local Women Discuss How They Became Empowered to Follow a Dream." Panelists will include Erin Molchany talking about her decision to become a politician; Liz Moore Pessaro, who will discuss leaving the corporate world to open her restaurant Bluebird Kitchen; and Dr. Jessie B. Ramey, an award-winning writer and scholar who started the blog Yinzercation to rally for quality public education. "Born Again" takes place on Monday, Oct. 8. Audience participation will be encouraged at these free events. Complete details about the Town Hall series will be available in the fall.

Also new this season is a 7 pm starting time for all Tuesday shows. Six-play packages (ranging from $135 to $321) and tickets for Second City for President are currently available. Single tickets for Born Yesterday go on sale Monday, Aug. 20. Single tickets for all other shows go on sale Tues., Sept. 4. Tickets and complete details are available by calling the Box Office at 412.316.1600 or online at ppt.org. Pittsburgh Public Theater's home is the O'Reilly Theater at 621 Penn Avenue, in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District.

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Pittsburgh Public Theater's 2012/2013 MADE IN AMERICA Season

SPECIAL EVENT: Second City for President. August 24 & 25

This gut-busting revue will dole out laughter at the expense of both sides of the aisle. If you elect to attend, their campaign promises non-stop hilarity and the wildest of political parties. The Second City, which launched the careers of Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell and many others, celebrates more than 50 years of cutting-edge satirical revues. Their current touring troupe features the next generation of the comedy world's best and brightest, performing the company's trademark improvisation and sketch comedy with musical accompaniment and audience participation. Showtimes: Fri., Aug. 24 at 8 pm & Sat., Aug. 25 at 5:30 and 9 pm. A cash bar will be open during each performance. 

Born Yesterday. By Garson Kanin. Directed by Ted Pappas

September 27 – October 28, 2012

This hilarious classic comedy tells the tale of Billie Dawn's transformation from ditzy showgirl to solid citizen. The makeover begins when her crooked boyfriend, Harry Brock, goes to Washington to buy himself a Senator and decides that Billie is too dumb to mingle with the political smart set. He hires a nerdy journalist to teach her how to fit in, and what transpires is the stuff of Broadway and Hollywood legend.

Good People. By David Lindsay-Abaire. Directed by Tracy Brigden

November 8 – December 9, 2012

The distance between Boston's Chestnut Hill and the Lower End is measured in more than miles. Mike and Margaret both grew up poor, but he made it out and became a doctor while she is stuck – a single mother who gets by on sarcasm and bingo games with her pals. When they meet again, an invitation leads Margaret to his luxurious home and into a turbulent conversation with Mike and his surprising wife. This tough and tender play looks at luck, choices, blame, pride, and what people will do to survive. 

SPECIAL EVENT: The Chief. By Rob Zellers & Gene Collier. Directed by Ted Pappas

January 3 – 12, 2013

Back for a special 10^th anniversary celebration, this made-in-Pittsburgh play about Arthur J. Rooney, Sr. is the best-selling and most beloved production in Public Theater history. Starring Tom Atkins,The Chief offers stories about the founding of a legendary football dynasty, and a great American city. 

1776. A Musical Play. Book by Peter Stone. Music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards

Directed by Ted Pappas

January 24 – February 24, 2013

The founding of our nation comes to star-spangled life in this grand Tony Award-winning Best Musical. In 1776 you'll see the heroes of the American Revolution like you've never seen them before – in rousing songs and dances, comic encounters, and impassioned politics. The stakes have never been higher as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin wrangle to get everyone on the same page – namely, the Declaration of Independence. Theatrical fireworks will fill the O'Reilly Theater in this thrilling story of how we went from 13 colonies, to the United States of America.

Thurgood. By George Stevens, Jr. Directed by Ted Pappas

March 7 – April 7, 2013

In 1967, Thurgood Marshall became our first African-American Supreme Court Justice. In this exuberant one-man play we'll hear Thurgood's story in his own words – from humble beginnings as a waiter in Baltimore, to behind the scenes with leaders such as General MacArthur, Robert Kennedy and President LynDon Johnson, to his triumphant rise to the highest court in the land. A journey of epic proportions, Thurgood is an eye-opening, humorous, and uplifting portrait of a true American hero.

Clybourne Park. By Bruce Norris. Directed by Pamela Berlin

April 18 – May 19, 2013

With brilliant wit this winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and 2012 Tony Award for Best Play inspects one house in two separate years: 1959 and 2009. In Act One, the mid-20^th century problem centers on a black family moving into Chicago's white Clybourne Park. In Act Two, it's 50 years later and the issue is white gentrification in the now black neighborhood. Clybourne Park is a perceptive and sharply funny play about the minefield of personalities that must be negotiated before a community can be created.

Other Desert Cities. By Jon Robin Baitz. Directed by Rob Ruggiero

May 30 – June 30, 2013

Lyman Wyeth is an actor-politician in the Ronald Reagan mold. His impeccable wife Polly never has a strand of hair out of place. Now retired, their life in a wealthy Palm Springs enclave is upset when relatives arrive for the holidays. Son Trip is a TV reality show producer; Polly's sister Silda is a wisecracking liberal just out of rehab; most troubling is daughter Brooke, who announces that she is about to publish a revealing memoir. This 2012 Tony-nominated Broadway sensation is an entertaining look at unruly family politics. 

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT 412.316.1600 OR PPT.ORG

 

 

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