Theater Guide May 2026: May Flowers Spring on Pittsburgh Stages

Great theater is always fresh, colorful, and beautiful when, by the final curtain, a meaningful story has fully grown from the very first scene. Great theater is always the result of good nurturing, when germinating the seed of an idea becomes a creative and meaningful expression of life. And always, great theater is blooming everywhere in a city as diverse as ours.  

On Pittsburgh stages this May, there’s much from which to pick. At Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, discover an Italian poppy, or papavero, flown in from Sardinia where one of Pittsburgh’s great playwright’s greatest plays has been translated and staged in Italian. From Germany, but also Kansas, consider smelling die Kornblume (or cornflower) as we follow the musical tale of a transgender rockstar. There is much to enjoy in the garden that is Studs Terkel’s conservatory of real people leading real lives. Corningworks delivers a succulent production of dance and movement, A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham showcases a rich flowerbed of modern choreography, while Pittsburgh Ballet offers a forest of fairy ferns, forget-me-nots, and love-in-idleness (yes, a real flower, like a purple-hearted pansy). And then, there is the signature flower of the common crowd, the simple daisy whose beauty enraptures the dreams of men both rich and poor. 

Select a single rose or assemble your May bouquet. Pittsburgh theater is in bloom once more. 

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.).

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH by John Cameron Mitchell, with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask. City Theatre. May 2 – June 7

There are works of theater that defy synopsis, and since we have only a paragraph, here are the basics. Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical. It’s about a young German, Hansel, who transitioned to become Hedwig, except the surgery went wrong and left an “angry inch,” into the details of which we will not go. At any rate—skipping, for now, everything about the Berlin Wall and the three sexes of humankind, and the first husband who ran off in Kansas—Hedwig is an aspiring rock star. Hedwig’s second husband, the former drag queen Yitzhak, tries to be supportive even while Hedwig is being surpassed on the quest for stardom by Tommy Gnosis, who (in a cruel irony) happens to be Hedwig’s protégé. The combined effects are rather extraordinary. Hedwig and the Angry Inch began as an off-Broadway hit in 1998. Soon it went viral, with productions worldwide, and the eventual Broadway version won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Now Pittsburgh’s City Theatre presents Hedwig as a cabaret musical, which should magnify the show’s impact by packing its high-energy numbers into an intimate venue. See Hedwig and the Angry Inch in the Greer Cabaret Theater, 655 Penn Ave., Cultural District. (M.V.) 

AUGUST WILSON’S JITNEY, IN ITALIAN.  International touring production at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. May 8 – 10.

Lest any devout Pittsburgher should think that August Wilson or his American Century Cycle of Pulitzer-winning plays or Denzel Washington’s campaign to film more of Wilson’s works for the big screen is known only in America’s cultural centers, here comes Italy to set things straight.  August Wilson’s Jitney, in Italian is just what it claims to be: Wilson’s great characters speak Italian and act Italian because the actors are Italian. But the production promises to be so much more.  Sure, there will be English translations projected on stage and the set will be a minimalist’s representation of Becker’s Pittsburgh dispatch office, yet what will come alive are cultural differences, offensive language, threatening gestures, and conflict resolutions that are grounded far outside Wilson’s original world. This touring production from Sardegna Teatro and La Piccionaia is performed by an African-Italian ensemble and directed by Renzo Carbonero.

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company offers this rare opportunity to see the depths of Pittsburgh’s past through modern Italian eyes.  Madison Arts and Entertainment Center, 3401 Milwaukee St., Upper Hill/Schenley Heights. (C.P.O.)

SHAKESPEARE’S R&J  by Joe Calarco.  Julia Production at City Theatre. May 8 – 10.

Four nameless students, all boys, attend an elite boarding school that imposes strict rules. So rigid is the education that certain classic literature, even Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, is forbidden. And so the boys make a pact to read it—maybe even act it out—in secret defiance of the school’s authority. Boys will be boys; that is, in certain social circles, they’re rebellious, homophobic, daring, introverted, distrustful, and sexually curious, especially when left to their own devices. Joe Calarico’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s tale of love gone tragically wrong comes to City Theatre’s mainstage under the auspices of Julia Production, whose principals are each associated with the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University. So, too, is the director, J. Cody Spellman.1300 Bingham St., South Side. (C.P.O.)

A.I.M. BY KYLE ABRAHAM  (dance)  National touring company. Pittsburgh Dance Council. May 9.

“Post-modern gumbo” is how this New York City dance company best describes its eclectic, savory and insightful stew of signature dance movements. Not only has A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham appeared on stages coast to coast, but the company has been featured in magazines like Vogue, Essence, and Harper’s Bazaar in its short twenty years at the forefront of contemporary dance. Nevertheless, the company, hailed by the New York Times as “one of the most consistently excellent troupes working today,” is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an after-show party featuring DJ Nate Da Barber. In turn, Pittsburgh devotees of modern dance will celebrate Kyle Abraham’s home coming. Once a student of Civic Light Opera Academy as well as CAPA, Abraham was born in Lincoln-Larimer. Byham Theater. 7:30 p.m. 101 6th St. Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

FOOLISH ASSUMPTIONS (dance/theater) by Beth Corning. Corningworks. May 14 – 23.

Beth Corning rides again. Pittsburgh theater fans know Corning as the adventurous choreographer, dancer, and theater artist who operates by the maxim “Never say die till you die and then it’s too late anyway.” Now she has a new full-length piece, which, like many of her previous, dramatizes (and comedy-izes) the quandaries of modern life. The productions tend to be playfully imaginative while exploring serious subjects, and Foolish Assumptions is being billed as somewhat of a departure in tone from many that came before. It is a subtly minimalist piece, with just two performers, using just two chairs as props. Apparently, much of the intrigue stems from what the audience may think is happening onstage versus what’s really happening. So don’t take anything for granted. The Corningworks company presents Foolish Assumptions in the George Rowland White Theatre at Point Park University. 313 Blvd. of the Allies, Downtown. (M.V.) 

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (ballet inspired by Shakespeare’s comedy). Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. May 15 – 17. 

If brand-name prestige matters to you, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is presenting a ballet by a legendary modern choreographer, who adapted it from a legendary play by the most legendary of playwrights. That is Ben Stevenson’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a nutshell—although the ballet itself unfolds far beyond the confines of a nutshell. The setting is a surreal forest, where the exuberant trickster, Puck, dances and whirls up a mischievous storm. And of course there’s plenty of mischief already afoot, as the king and queen of the fairies and two pairs of human lovers dance their mating games and their domestic disputes. There’s a troupe of affiliated fairies fluttering about, flying to quite different rhythms than the swans in Swan Lake. You even get to see a dancer grow a dorky donkey’s head. The overall result is what has made Shakespeare’s play so popular—an experience that is enchanting and comical at the same time. The ballet is set to music by Mendelssohn, and PBT has the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh adding vocalization to the sounds of the company’s orchestra. See A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Benedum Center, 237 7th St. Cultural District. (M.V.) 

WORKING: A NEW MUSICAL  revised from the 2012 Stephen Schwartz musical adapted from the book by Studs Terkel.  Front Porch Theatricals.  May 15 – 24.

In 1974—hello, that’s 52 years ago—Studs Terkel, a longtime host of a radio interview program that aired daily from Chicago, wrote a book of oral histories he entitled Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. It was a best-seller, informing cultural as well as corporate America how people “get by” using their actual words.  It became a musical drama in 1978 when Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) brought together an eclectic arrangement of songs performed by, among many others, Patti LuPone, Joe Mantegna, Lynne Thigpen, David Patrick Kelly, and even Pittsburgh’s own, Lenora Nemetz. The musical ran for 12 previews and only 24 performances. (Such is the life of a Broadway performer, right?) Schwartz picked up the mantle again in 2012, added new stories and songs, and, now, that version has been revised and will run on Front Porch Theatrical’s New Hazlett stage. This is a people’s show and so, given Front Porch’s envious achievements of late, don’t be a “no-show.” New Hazlett Theater. 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. (C.P.O.)

THE GREAT GATSBY (musical), adapted from the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Book by Kait Kerrigan with original score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen. National touring production. May 26 – 31.

Often considered the quintessential novel about the “haves” and the “hopefuls” in America’s Roaring Twenties, The Great Gatsby—once turned out by Baz Luhrmann as an extravagant film musical featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire—is again a musical that opened on Broadway in 2024. This version promises to be no less energetic albeit attuned to a more jazz and pop-influenced score. Linda Cho won a 2024 Tony for Best Costume Design of a Musical, and Paul Tate DePoo III won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Set Design, but other nominations went unrecognized. That’s not to denigrate the original cast nor the talent of the touring ensemble, but to suggest that the set, costumes, and musical energy of this PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh show are the stars of this extravaganza. Benedum Center, 237 7th St., Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

Other Shows of Interest
(By Opening Date)

Friday, May 1
Speak (Prime Stage Theatre)
Hairspray (Lincoln Park Performing Arts)

Friday, May 8
Steel Magnolias (Stage 62)

Saturday, May 9
Motown Extreme (New Horizon)

Friday, May 15
Neighborly: A Play on Two Stoops (by Chisa Hutchinson, at City Theatre’s Lillie Theatre)

Thursday, May 21
Talley’s Folly (South Park Theatre)

Thursday, May 28
Coconut Cake (Pittsburgh Public Theatre)
Pickleball (Little Lake Theatre)

Big Shows on the Horizon
(By Opening Date)

June 23
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Pittsburgh CLO)

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.

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