Fifth Season
September 26, 1979-May 18, 1980Five productions, five-and-a-half weeks each
Approaching 15,000 Subscribers, $1,500,000 Budget
Series of New Play Workshops continues
Mister Roberts
By Thomas Heggen & Joshua Logan
Directed by John Going
Featuring Larry Pine as Mister Roberts, John Carpenter as The Captain, and John Newton as Doc. With Victor J. Barreiro, Alex Beresniewicz, Mark Bruno, David Butler, Thomas Carson, William W. Castle, Brian Connors, Fred Donatelli, Richard Dudas, Paul Guskin, James Handy, David Harrigan, Dan Lutzky, Tom Madden, Marc Masterson, Ellen Maxted, Kenneth Milchick, Gary McGurk, Pat McNamara, Craig Noble, Tom Parise, Joseph Pilato, John Mark Ridings, Steve Simpson, Preston Spickler, Tom Spiller, Tom Spinella. Scenery by Steven Rubin, costumes by Sigrid Insull, and lighting by Ron Wallace.
The Seagull
Anton Chekhov, Translated by Michael Henry Heim
Directed by John Going
Featuring Robert Blackburn, David Butler, David Canary, Thomas Carson, Joel Colodner, Yolanda Delgado, Beth Dixon, Gwyllum Evans, Mary Hara (replaced Anne Baxter], Katherine Houghton, William Myers, Rebecca Schull and Tom Spinella. Scenery by William Schroder, costumes by David Toser, lighting by Pat Collins.
Loss of a Star, loss of a Friend
Anne Baxter was set to play the leading role of Irina Arkadina in this production. As a great actress, she was ideal to create her version of Chekhov’s great actress. After meeting and very much liking director Jack Going, Anne looked forward to working at PPT. Every aspect of the production was selected with her age and size in mind. David Toser described her joy in his sketches and in the way he was going to personally tailor his elegant and slightly dressy costumes for the “fit” she thought would be proper for her character. Three weeks before the first day of rehearsal, Anne had a stroke, collapsed on a sidewalk in New York and died later the same day.
How to find an appropriately experienced, elegant and talented replacement who might come close to matching Anne's physical attributes; and be ready to arrive in Pittsburgh within three weeks time? Thanks to the cooperation of several regional theater directors, their casting directors and casting directors in New York, Jack Going and I were fortunate to discover the availability of two replacement candidates to play Arkadina. He selected Mary Hara and all proceeded according to schedule.
But I lost a longtime friend and colleague when Anne Baxter died. We had worked together in the late 1960s for several months in developing a new play during a long tour throughout the summer. The play did not make it to Broadway as scheduled. But Anne and I remained friends as we continued to meet frequently when we were both in New York or Los Angeles. We dreamed of working together again. One of her favorite plays was The Seagull. "I know Arkadina better than I know myself."
Loot
By Joe Orton
Directed by David Rotenbeg
With Ivar Brogger, Robert Burr, John Carpenter, Brenda Curtis, Bernard Duffy and John Seidman. Scenery by Neil Peter Jampolis, costumes by Sigrid Insull, lighting by Pat Collins, dialect coaching by Nora Dunfee.
Buried Child
By Sam Shepard
Directed by Bill Ludel
Featuring Michael Coerver, Sally Dunn, Gwyllum Evans, Lanny Flaherty, Stanja Lowe, Vic Polizos and William Youmans. The scenery was designed by William Schroder; costumes by David Toser; lighting by Bennet Averyt.
Macbeth
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Shaktman
Featuring Tom Atkins, Macbeth, Jean Smart, Lady Macbeth, Christopher McHale, Banquo, Keith Fowler, MacDuff; and Margaret Bearmon, Richard Buck, David Butler, Thomas Carson, Michael Cook, David Crawford, Robert Doran, Jon Hayden, Tobias Haller, Gerald Gilch, Matthew Miecznikowski, Ken Milchick, Maura Minteer, Rick Parks, John Scanlan, Eric Schurenberg, Melinda Solow, Tom Spinella and Michael Thompson. Scenery and costumes by Cletus Anderson; lighting, Bennet Averyt, Music, David Stock, stage fighting, Christopher Tanner.