World Premiere of MR. EDGAR A. POE PRESENTS to Open at New Hazlett Theater

The year is 1849, you're strolling through New York City on a brisk autumn evening and decide to take in a lecture by a rising young author and literary critic named Edgar Allan Poe. What would that have been like?

A new Prime Stage Theatre play by Pittsburgh sci-fi/horror fiction writer Lawrence C. Connolly offers a glimpse of Poe's celebrated magnetism in Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination.

The world premiere production runs for seven shows Nov. 7-16, 2025 at New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, on Pittsburgh's Northside.

Directed by Art DeConciliis, Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination recreates the dark genius of Poe in his prime performing a selection of favorite tales before a spellbound live audience. Tickets go on sale Sept. 1, 2025.

The Poe play is the first production in Prime Stage Theatre's 2025-26 season of world premiere plays by Pittsburgh playwrights that includes Freedom House: Giving Life a Second Chance by L.E. McCullough (Jan. 23-Feb. 1, 2026) and Speak by Tammy Ryan (May 1-10, 2026).

Lawrence C. Connolly's writing has appeared in fantasy, horror and science fiction journals around the world from Amazing Stories and Rod Serling's Twilight Zone Magazine to the Nightmare Cinema anthology film and the Veins Cycle novel series set in Western Pennsylvania. His latest novel, Minute-Men: Execute & Run, touted as Mission Impossible meets X-Men, will hit bookstores Oct. 14, 2025 on the Arc Manor imprint.

In Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination, Connolly presents an insightful portrait of an author who was often as mysterious as the characters in his stories.

"Poe was the son of professional theatre actors," says Connolly. "He was a natural performer who gave lively readings and lectures to packed auditoriums across the Eastern U.S."

Poe's personality permeates his stories, adds Connolly, and the resulting eccentricities aren't always conducive to dramatization. "It's the reason why so many Poe adaptations are more 'inspired by' than 'based on' his stories. But from the start, I wanted to stay as true as possible to the works and to what we know of the writer himself."

Since its founding in 1996, Prime Stage Theatre has presented over 100 plays that introduce student and family audiences to classic and contemporary works of world literature.

"Three years ago, we commissioned Lawrence Connolly to create a stage play offering a new take on Mary Shelley's original Frankenstein tale," says Prime Stage artistic director Dr. Wayne Brinda. "That was a very exciting dramatic recasting of a well-known story, and we believe audiences will find Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination just as dynamic and thought-provoking."

Pittsburgh Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. THE PROM (Stage 62)

9.3% of votes

2. ANASTASIA: THE MUSICAL (Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center)

8.9% of votes

3. SOMETHING ROTTEN! (Geyer Performing Arts Center)

8.5% of votes

Vote Now!