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Tenacious Toth eager to showcase singers in Stage 62's 'Titanic'
The lady would smile at her own tenacity, I think. She's the one who said "I tend to bite off more than I can chew" when I asked about the ambition that must have driven her to direct this lavish Peter Stone-Maury Yeston musical for Stage 62. Or was I exaggerating the ambition?
Toth doesn't look at the show, which opens Friday, as her most adrenalin-raising assignment for the Carnegie group. The offbeat "Urinetown" in 2008 was more challenging, she said, "because it's avant-garde and it left me with enough freedom to approach it as creatively as I wanted. Here, I'm dealing with real life, with history, and I have to respect actual people and what happened to them."
Really, Toth wanted to direct "Titanic" so she could showcase what, to her, is Stage 62's greatest asset. "We have some of the most gifted singers in the Pittsburgh theater community," she said. "Audiences will be surprised by the depth of talent, by how phenomenal the voices are."
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For reservations, call 412-429-6262.
Give 'em shelter
With a deep sigh of relief, Melissa Grande announced that her Phase 3 Productions finally located a venue where director Dek Ingraham can stage Bernard-Marie Koltes' play "Roberto Zucco" starting Friday.
Phase 3 was, like Rage of the Stage Players, among the groups left without a base two months ago when city inspectors determined that the Brew House on Pittsburgh's South Side had become a hazard to its resident artists and theater companies. At the time, open wiring, flammable materials and improperly stored items were the main violations.
"It was a huge loss for so many people," said Grande, who immediately went in search of anything that could pinch hit as a performance space, whether it was intended for that purpose or not. And what she ended up with is a spot with an advantage: It's right in the heart of the downtown theater district.
"Roberto Zucco," based on the true story of a serial killer who kidnapped and killed people across four European countries until he was captured in Venice, continues through Nov. 22 on the sixth floor at 125 Seventh St. It's close to Bossa Nova, just a block away from Benedum Center. See what I mean by "advantage"?
For reservations, call 1-888-718-4253.
Sister Christmas
Producer Jude Pohl has a good foursome ready to go for his next effort at Crowne Plaza Cabaret Dinner Theatre in Bethel Park. To get audiences in the mood for jingle bells, decked halls, fa-la-la-la-la and all that merry jazz, he's reviving "The Nun Before Christmas," a musical written by his wife, Shirley Haviland Pohl, and directed by Kay Pechar.
Joan Russell, Val Gasior, Greta Englert and Tim Grantz lead the cast, which also includes a handful of young performers belonging to the "talented moppets" category. It sounds festive, fun and perfect for the family - everything a holiday celebration ought to be.
Make reservations by calling 724-746-1178. "The Nun Before Christmas" runs Nov. 27 through Dec. 13.
Musical-go-round
Coincidentally, just a week after they landed at No. 2 on Forbes' slightly ghoulish list of the highest-earning dead celebrities, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein come back to Pittsburgh.
Well, in a way they do. The two giants may be long gone, but their legendary "Carousel," produced by Point Park University's Conservatory Theatre Company, opens this Friday at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
Doug Shanaberger covers theater for the Observer-Reporter. He can be reached at ds7f@andrew.cmu.edu.
