Theater Guide April ’25: A Month of Theater Picks Worthy of Applause

As is the season, April showers us all with a potpourri of opportunity to enjoy whatever we may. Flowers to pick from include fantastic frolics of dance, faith-driven passion plays, and some fun family fare. First off this month is the famous rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, which first blossomed in Pittsburgh before landing on Broadway. Following on its heels is another passionate production, The Thorn, adding elements of illusion, acrobatics, and pyrotechnics to the story of Christ’s crucifixion. For fans of dance, don’t miss the return of Twyla Tharp’s company to the Byham stage or Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s collective Spring Mix soon to bloom at the August Wilson Center. Those inquisitive of Falun Gong or Chinese history may find cultural connections at the Benedum in Shen Yun. Devotees of the dramatic will delight in four different plays that seem all to focus on the feminine gender. Woman with Eyes Closed, Art of Wise and Miss Julie each have much to say and celebrate of feminine wit and wile, while the musical adaptation of Some Like It Hot offers a farcical folly perpetrated, of course, by men dressed as women. 

Finally, in a joint production with the Cleveland Playhouse, City Theatre tosses up a play about two super-fans of the great LeBron James, the crowned king of his fabled court. April is dripping with dance, drama and divinity. So, just do it; decide a date, pick a seat, and delight.

Shows are previewed below in two sections, Spotlight Picks for the month and Other Shows of Interest, followed by a look-ahead to Big Shows on the Horizon. Spotlight Picks are listed by run dates. The Theater Guide is created by the theater writers and editors of Entertainment Central including Mike Vargo (M.V.) and C. Prentiss Orr (C.P.O.).

Spotlight Picks

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Pittsburgh Musical Theater. April 3 – 13. 

When Jesus Christ Superstar opened on Broadway in 1971, it marked the converging of several new trends in rock music and theater—a convergence that ran partly through Pittsburgh. One trend was the notion that rock and Christian themes could go together. Christian rock was still a radical idea, as songs like “Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?” (from California rocker/evangelist Larry Norman) expressed the sentiment but didn’t chart. Meanwhile, The Who’s 1969 Tommy had shown that a concept album with a narrative thread could be staged as a “rock opera.” Also, at Carnegie Mellon in 1970, drama student John-Michael Tebelak and his mates presented the initial version of Tebelak’s Godspell—a musical drawn from the Gospels, featuring Jesus himself as a character. And by that time, two young British guys were putting the various pieces together. Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice released Jesus Christ Superstar as a concept album in 1970. Then they fleshed it out for a live U.S. tour. It premiered here in Pittsburgh—at the now-gone Civic Arena, on July 12, 1971—before a fully developed Broadway production went up later that year.   

Superstar added bold new twists of its own. This rock opera put Judas at the center of a fictionalized drama depicting personal and political tensions among Jesus, his followers, and the authorities of their era. The show was a shocker in ‘71. It won no Tony Awards. But it has been playing worldwide ever since—and now Pittsburgh Musical Theater presents Jesus Christ Superstar live on a local stage. At the Byham Theater, 101 6th St., Cultural District. (M.V.)

SPRING MIX: 5 for 55 by multiple choreographers. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. April 4 – 6.

Three classic and two contemporary works will help celebrate Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s fifty-fifth year producing great dance in our proud city. The evening’s full fare begins with George Balanchine’s Emeralds, a “mini-ballet” which was the first of three such “gems” (including Rubies and Diamonds) Balanchine choreographed for his 1967 production entitled Jewels. The dance presents four principals, three soloists and a corps de ballet of ten dancers. Jorma Elo’s 1st Flash unfolds next; the prolific Finnish choreographer created this electric masterpiece in 2003. Next up is Dwight Rhodes’ passionate Ave Maria set to Giulio Caccini’s 16th century aria made popular to modern audiences by Andrea Bocelli. PBT choreographer-in-residence William Moore will present a world premiere of his The Rite of Spring followed by another world premiere, Falling Forward, by Guam-born artist, Caili Quan. PBT’s Spring Mix takes the stage at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center for four performances only. 980 Liberty Ave, Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

THE THORN (passion play). Touring company at Benedum Center. April 8 – 9.

Witness the passion of Christ told through a dazzling multi-media stage show that includes flaming swords, powerful dance, electrifying music and aerial acrobatics. Some have described this traveling production as “Christ meets Cirque” (as in Cirque du Soleil.) The Thorn has no affiliation with the famous Montreal entertainment company, nor is it promoted in association with any one Christian denomination. Rather, the show was apparently created by a pair of youth ministers some 25 years ago. Produced, staged, acted, performed and arranged by an independent touring company, also known as The Thorn, this modern passion play has entertained audiences estimated at more than one million. Benedum Center, 237 7th St., Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

ART OF WISE by Mark Clayton Southers. Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. April 11 – May 4.

Maybe we can’t exactly claim to live in the nation’s theater capital, but Pittsburgh is a great place for seeing adventurous new shows, thanks to organizations like Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. PPTCo has a dual focus: producing plays by writers who are from the city or connected to it, and using theater “to examine the Black experience.” Now comes a new work that delivers on both counts. Art of Wise is the latest from Mark Clayton Southers, the company’s founding artistic director. It’s the fifth entry in his cycle of plays set in America during the 1800s. Here we are transported back to the slaveholding days of 1822. The “Art” refers to two young women getting a chance to experiment with painting, which may in turn open up a pathway to freedom. This is a play with music (and, yes, visual art). See Art of Wise in the theater at PPTCo’s Madison Arts Center. 3401 Milwaukee St., Upper Hill District. (M.V.)  

SOME LIKE IT HOT by Amber Ruffin and Matthew López, and music by Marc Shaiman. Touring company, presented by PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh. April 15 – 20.

Based on the 1959 movie starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe, the musical stage production of Some Like It Hot was written for Broadway by Matthew López (The Inheritance) and Amber Ruffin (Late Night with Seth Meyers, Amber Ruffin Show) with music by Marc Shaiman (SNL, Hairspray), and “additional material” created by Pittsburgh’s own Christian Borle (who earned a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical when the show opened on Broadway in 2022). The story follows the escape of two jazz musicians who have witnessed a gangland murder in Prohibition-era Chicago. The male leads, here played by Matt Loehr and Tavis Kordell, disguise themselves as members of an all-female band, jumping on a train to dodge the pursuit of mobsters covering their tracks. And speaking of tracks, the show features a whopping 18 dance numbers and show stoppers for which it won a Tony (among other awards) for Best Choreography. Now on tour, experience this “all-out, song-and dance spectacular” when its train pulls into the station at Benedum Center.  237 7th St., Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

MISS JULIE by August Strindberg, adapted by Amy Ng. Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre. April 18 – May 4.

When Miss Julie premiered in Stockholm in 1889, August Strindberg’s most famous play had already been censored by Swedish authorities. Even still, like Ibsen’s A Doll’s House ten years earlier, the play was scandalous in its depiction of a headstrong young woman having an affair with her father’s valet. Rhodes Scholar, historian, playwright and screenwriter Amy Ng has adapted Strindberg’s classic work to a setting in the British governor’s mansion in post-World War II Hong Kong. Whereas Strindberg held a mirror up to social mores, Ng, here adds socio-political pressure to the predicament of Miss Julie and John the valet. Of course, in adapting one of the first modern plays to address naturalism on stage, it can’t hurt that Ng’s adaptation is rooted in her native culture. PICT, which stands for Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre, offers the U.S. premiere of Ng’s work at Carnegie Stage. 25 W. Main St., Carnegie. (C.P.O.)

TWYLA THARP DANCE (modern dance). Presented by Pittsburgh Dance Council. April 19 only, 7:30 p.m.

In Pittsburgh or any city, it’s unusual for a touring modern-dance show to be one of the hottest tickets in town, but “usual” goes out the window when you’re talking about Twyla Tharp and her dancers. Tharp, now 83 and still cooking, has forged a career as America’s foremost crossover artist in choreography. She first made genre-busting waves with 1973’s Deuce Coupe, a feature-length ballet for the Joffrey Ballet set to songs by the Beach Boys. In 1981—for her own company, Twyla Tharp Dance—she collaborated with David Byrne on The Catherine Wheel, with peak-Talking-Heads-type music by Byrne and acrobatic dancing far beyond anything in Stop Making Sense. You may say that’s old news. But just last year in New York, Tharp premiered a suite of dances to the songs of Jacques Brel (including his thunderous “Port of Amsterdam”)—and on the same bill was a new dance she choreographed to music by Vivaldi. Tharp also has choreographed for Broadway shows, movies, and TV; her many awards include a Tony Award and two Emmys. 

Twyla Tharp Dance is currently on its 60th anniversary tour. Reserve promptly to see the company here. The Pittsburgh program consists of two pieces: Diabelli, with music from Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, and the new Slack Tide, with music reimagined from Philip Glass’s Aguas da Amazonia. 7:30 p.m. Presented by Pittsburgh Dance Council at the Byham Theater, 101 6th St., Cultural District. (M.V.) 

KING JAMES by Rajiv Joseph. City Theatre. April 19 – May 11.

The season finale at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre this year is King James, and it’s not about the Bible. The James in question is LeBron. American playwright Rajiv Joseph has written a buddy comedy about two guys in Cleveland who follow the NBA superstar through the early to middle years of his storied career. They’re excited when LeBron debuts with their hometown Cavaliers … dejected when he defects to join the hated Miami Heat … and rewarded when he returns to win a title with the Cavs. James himself is such an intriguing character that a question arises: Why is this play only focused on his fans? One answer might be the difficulty of finding an actor who can portray a 6-foot-9 athlete built like Hercules. But the real answer, apparently, is that our passion for sports reflects how we live and relate to one another. That’s why they say “Ball is life”! King James is a co-production of City Theatre and Cleveland Playhouse. See it here directed by Monteze Freeland. 1300 Bingham St., South Side. (M.V.)

SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS (dance and theater extravaganza). Touring company at Benedum Center. April 26 – 27. 

In what has become an annual custom, the Shen Yun Performing Arts troupe visits Pittsburgh with a feature-length dance-and-drama show. Shen Yun’s productions may seem, at first, like a cross between Bollywood spectacle and some odd hybrid of Western dance, but they are distinctly Chinese. The performers’ mesmerizing movements and leaps are drawn from classical Chinese dance, which evolved over the millennia to incorporate elements of martial arts, acrobatics, storytelling pantomime, and spiritual expression. These elements are combined with modern stagecraft to dramatize folk tales and true stories from China’s long history. The show is presented by the Greater Philadelphia Falun Dafa Association, part of the larger Falun Dafa (or Falun Gong) movement. Benedum Center, 237 7th St., Cultural District. (M.V.)

WOMAN WITH EYES CLOSED (chamber opera) by Jennifer Higdon, with libretto by Jerre Dye. Pittsburgh Opera. April 26 – May 4.

Mona’s son, Thomas, is an art thief. Among other priceless masterpieces she discovers in a secreted suitcase is Lucian Freud’s painting “Woman with Eyes Closed.” It’s true the famous painting was stolen from a Rotterdam museum in 2012 and has never been found. And it may be true that Thomas’s mother, the central character in Jennifer Higdon’s chamber opera, destroyed the work to save her son from investigators trying to solve the heist. And that may be fiction. But the point of Woman With Eyes Closed (a clearly ironic title given Mona’s plight) is deciding which is more important: family bonds or a piece of treasured art? There may be more than one answer. And so Higdon’s clever opera offers three distinct endings. To witness the fluid creativity of this work, Pittsburgh Opera patrons are encouraged to attend more than one performance. The Women With Eyes Closed run is almost sold-out. At the company’s Bitz Opera Factory, 2425 Liberty Ave., Strip District. (C.P.O.)

University Theater

In addition to Pittsburgh’s professional and community theater companies we have many outstanding university theater programs as well. Check their box office pages for what’s onstage:

Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama
Duquesne University Red Masquers
Point Park University’s Playhouse
Robert Morris University
University of Pittsburgh Department of Theatre Arts

Other Shows of Interest
(By Opening Date)

April 1
Peter Pan (PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh)

April 4
Someplace Not Here (Attack Theatre)

April 10
9 to 5 The Musical (Little Lake Theatre)

April 18
Godspell (Palace Theatre)

April 24
Dragonfly Dawn (Joanna Abel at New Hazlett Theater)

April 25
The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (Riverfront Theater Company)

Big Shows on the Horizon
(By Opening Date)

May 1
Waitress (PMT)

May 2
Come from Away (PNC Broadway)
Twelve Angry Men (Prime Stage)

May 5
Freedom House: Giving Life a Second Chance! (Prime Stage)

May 7
Malandain Ballet Biarritz (Pittsburgh Dance Council)

May 16
Baby (Front Porch Theatricals)

May 29
Girls Night: The Musical  (Entertainment Events at City Theatre)
Madame Clicquot: A Revolutionary Musical (Pittsburgh CLO)

May 30
The Shark Is Broken (barebones productions)

C. Prentiss Orr is a Pittsburgh-based writer who covers theater and other topics for Entertainment Central. He is the author of the books The Surveyor and the Silversmith and Pittsburgh Born, Pittsburgh Bred. Mike Vargo is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh.

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