While the arts and culture industry continues to be in intermission during the pandemic, there are many ways to support your favorite theaters in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust needs the community’s support now more than ever to sustain our beloved theaters so they can be reopen when things are safe next year. The organization is asking for our support by attending a variety of fun and educational at-home events this season. Get a taste of theater, music, poetry, chocolate (you read that right!) and more. Learn more about the exciting events below!
Pittsburgh Humanities Festival @ Home
Join the conversation this fall, wherever you are, as Pittsburgh Humanities Festival @ Home presents “smart talk about stuff that matters.” Catch free and fascinating live-streamed interviews with artists, academics, and intellectual innovators exploring a range of topics — from health care and policy, to incarceration, technology, and creating opportunities for artists of color in Pittsburgh.
Originally slated for March of 2020, and canceled due to the onset of the pandemic, this virtual reboot of the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival features a selection of guests originally slated for in-person “Core Conversations” — a cornerstone of the usual in-person Cultural District experience. Designed as virtual opportunities for meaningful dialogue, including a live Q&A opportunity, these events will connect us for conversation when we need it most.
2020 Pittsburgh Humanities Festival @ Home Programs:
Life Sentences: The Amazing Journey of Walking Out of an American Prison
Speaker: Robert Wideman
Date and Time: October 2 at 7 p.m.
Robert Wideman will discuss his amazing journey of walking out of prison after 44 years including moments of joy and trials and struggles of reintegrating into life outside of prison after so many years of being incarcerated.
Dance Maker: Blackness in White Spaces
Speaker: Staycee Pearl
Date and Time: October 9 at 7 p.m.
Staycee Pearl will discuss creating meaningful opportunities in movement and art residencies, classes and workshops for pre and professional artists of color through her work as a dancer, choreographer, and artist director.
Everyone Wants to Get to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die
Speaker: Jonathan D. Moreno
Date and Time: October 16 at 7 p.m.
Jonathan D. Moreno explores an unprecedented revolution in health care and explain the problem with America’s wanting everything that medical science has to offer without debating its merits and its limits.
Public Open Call: Don’t Google This — Offline Curiosity in an Online World
Speaker: Boaz Frankel
Date and Time: October 23 at 7 p.m.
Boaz Frankel takes us on a journey through the worlds of offline and online curiosity.
Stream the videos on the organization’s YouTube page if can’t make it for the live events.
Live from the West Side: Women of Broadway
Join us for a new livestream concert series, Live from the West Side: Women of Broadway, featuring two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone, Tony Award winner Laura Benanti, and critically acclaimed actress and singer Vanessa Williams. Streamed live from New York’s Shubert Virtual Studios, each show will feature a mix of Broadway showtunes, pop songs, and personal stories from the life of each headliner. Performances will take place at The Shubert Virtual Studios on Manhattan’s West Side.
Special 3-show ticket packages are available for $75 – a savings of $15. Single show tickets are $30 each.
All tickets include access to each livestream performance, plus an additional 72 hours of on-demand viewing of a video recording of the livestream, available beginning one hour after each live broadcast ends. Get tickets here.
Your ticket purchase will support the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Critical Fund. As a nonprofit performing arts organization that relies heavily on ticket sales for support, this pandemic has significantly affected the Cultural Trust. Proceeds from this livestream event will ensure the arts will once again thrive in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.
Sponsored by: PNC, Dentons Cohen & Grigsby, The Benter Foundation, and Richard E. Rauh
Public PlayTime Presents: A Tell-Tale Heart
Just in time for Halloween, see a new commission of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories from the comfort of your couch. Donations start at $10, which includes the live reading on October 22 at 7pm ET and recording through Sunday, October 25 at 10pm.
The Chocolate Bar – Home Edition
