Kelly Strayhorn Theater Unveils Winter/Spring 2026 Season
The season will be presented as part of the theater’s 25th anniversary year.
By: A.A. Cristi Dec. 18, 2025
Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) will present its Winter/Spring 2026 season from January through May as part of the organization’s 25th anniversary year. The season will be guided by the theme “joy as an act of resistance” and will continue KST’s commitment to centering artistic work rooted in Black and queer liberation.
The season will open with KST’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day programming, including The Beloved Community: East Liberty’s Celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which will be co-presented alongside the Let Freedom Sing Concert.
KST will continue its partnership with 1Hood Media following the November 2025 pilot of Civics Cypher, supported by the National Performance Network. Two additional Civics Cypher events will be presented, expanding the workshop-conversation series that invites audiences and speakers to examine civic participation and engagement with government. Topics this season will address how the arts community responds to government action and where community intersects with urban development.
The Local & Global series will be headlined by dancer and choreographer Jasmine Hearn, who was named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2025. Hearn will return to Kelly Strayhorn Theater to present Memory Fleet: Stay in the Circle, an interdisciplinary dance-theater work examining lineage, memory, and devotion to dance. Hearn’s engagement will also include the workshop Spectrum of Strength and a Citizens Community Dinner.
Curated alongside Memory Fleet, KST will present Practices of Holding, a gallery exhibition by Sibyls Shrine. The exhibition brings together a collective of Black artists whose work honors ancestral and living matriarchs and will be on view throughout the spring.
KST’s Freshworks creative residency will showcase new performance works in progress by Lucy Chen and LaTrea Derome. Chen’s Dressed in Red will reflect on femininity and societal expectations, while Derome’s A Conversation. will explore the lived experiences of Black bisexual men.
Additional programming this season will include Citizens Financial Workshop: Retire Ready and the annual tribute concert Marvin Gaye: A Tribute to the Prince of Soul, led by music director Jerome Kirkland.
Kelly Strayhorn Theater will continue its “Pay What Moves You” ticketing model, allowing audiences to select a ticket price that aligns with their means. The organization will also introduce a new “full cost” ticket option, intended to reflect the full cost of presenting performances while supporting long-term sustainability and access.
As part of its ongoing commitment to community space, KST will welcome audiences to the KST Lounge one hour prior to each KST Presents event, with the gallery remaining open as a space for gathering, rest, and engagement beyond the performance itself.
Pittsburgh Awards - Live Stats
Best Musical - Top 3
1.
ANASTASIA: THE MUSICAL (Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center)
9.1% of votes
2.
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (Paragon Theatre)
8.8% of votes
3.
THE PROM (Stage 62)
8.4% of votes
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