Theater in the 'Burgh: From Page to Stage

By Alice T. Carter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW THEATER CRITIC

South Park Theatre begins its season Thursday with a bonus production of last year's hit "Always ... Patsy Cline."

Executive director Audrey Castracane says the show was so popular that the box office had to turn away business. She decided to bring it back for a limited run through May 15 that's in addition to the main subscription series.

It's good news for those who were disappointed last year. With no tickets pre-sold to subscribers, more should be available to the general public.

But some subscribers might want to purchase tickets for a second look.

Gwyneth Welling and Lesa Guzzo return to the roles they performed last year as Patsy Cline and her fan Louise Seger. "But we're making it even more fun," Castracane says. "Those who saw it before will see new things."

It's one of two bonus shows planned for the season.

The second is a stage adaptation of Stephen King's thriller "Misery" that will end the season with performances Sept. 23 through Oct. 9.

"Always ... Patsy Cline" will run Thursday through May 15 with performances at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 4 p.m. Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays at South Park Theatre at Corrigan Drive and Brownsville Road in South Park. Tickets are $13.

Details: (412) 831-8552 or www.southparktheatre.com.

An 'Enchanted April' in May

Little Lake Theatre Company begins its 57th season Thursday with a production of "Enchanted April."

Matthew Barber's stage adaptation of Elizabeth von Arnim's novel is a romantic comedy of four women who share a rental villa in Italy for the month of April 1922.

Director Sunny Disney Fitchett has assembled a cast of Little Lake veterans that includes Rachel Downie, Juliette Mariani, Susan McGregor-Laine and Theo Allyn as the four ladies, plus Art DeConciliis, Shon Kelley, Mark Cox and Johnna Pro in additional roles.

"Enchanted April" will run Thursday through May 22 with performances at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. May 15 and 22 at Little Lake Theatre, off Route 19 South at Donaldson's Crossroads in Peters. Tickets are $8 to $14.

Details:(724) 745-6300 or www.littlelaketheatre.org.

CMU to stage 'Urinetown'

The Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama is the first theater company in Pennsylvania to receive permission to perform the musical "Urinetown."

Both the show's book and score won 2002 Tony Awards, and the show was nominated for best musical.

John Carrafa, who received a Tony nomination for his choreography of the Broadway production of "Urinetown," will direct.

The musical will occupy the second slot, Dec. 1 to 10, in the school's four-production mainstage season that celebrates the perspectives of those marginalized by society in a variety of time periods.

Women get the first say in a season-opening production of Aristophanes' anti-war comedy "Lysistrata," which will run Oct. 6 to 16.

The plays are performed in the Philip Chosky Theater inside the Purnell Center for the Arts on the Carnegie Mellon University campus, 6000 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

Also on the schedule for 2005-06:

• "Nathan the Wise": Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's 18th-century plea for religious tolerance is set in Jerusalem during a rare peaceful interlude in the seemingly eternal fighting among the region's Christian Crusaders, Muslims and Jews. Feb. 23 to March 4.

• "As You Like It": William Shakespeare's romantic and pastoral comedy of young lovers, warring brothers, optimism, realism, fortune and fate that's set in the Forest of Arden. April 27 to May 6, 2006.

Details: (412)268-2407 or www.cmu.edu/cfa.

Donations help local nuns

Kimberly Richards, who has been keeping audiences in line as a sister of the funny order of "Late Night Catechism" nuns, takes up a free will collection after each performance.

The offerings go not to the salvation of Pagan Babies but to the retirement savings of one of the area's orders of nuns.

During the first week of the run at City Theatre's Lester Hamburg Studio Theater on the South Side, Richards collected $2,096 for the Sisters of Divine Providence in McCandless. Donations collected during the second week will go to the Sisters of Charity.

"Late Night Catechism" continues through June 26 with performances at 7 p.m. Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, 5:30 and 9 p.m. Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $35.

Details: (412) 431-2489 or www.CityTheatreCompany.org.

Alice T. Carter is the theater critic for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. She can be reached at acarter@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7808.