University of Pittsburgh Stages
Pitt Stages
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| Type | Theatre group |
|---|---|
| Purpose | repertory |
| Location | |
| Website | http://www.play.pitt.edu |
University of Pittsburgh Stages, previously known as the University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre or Pitt Rep, is the flagship production company for the University of Pittsburgh Department of Theatre Arts. Pitt Stages features students on stage with professional actors and teaching artists staging public performances of classic masterpieces, contemporary productions, and student-directed labs. The company's primary performance spaces include the University's Stephen Foster Memorial and Cathedral of Learning.
The heritage of theatre at the University of Pittsburgh stretches back to at least 1810 when the Thespian Society was organized by students of the forerunner of the university, the Pittsburgh Academy, in order to stage popular comedies and musical entertainment. These students included Henry Marie Brackenridge, the son of university founder Hugh Henry Brackenridge; Morgan Neville, the son of Presley Neville; and future U.S. Congressman and Senator William Wilkins. The club staged their first production, Who Wants a Guinea?, at the Drury Theatre at Third and Smithfield streets in downtown Pittsburgh. This club was frequently mentioned by travelers commenting on the early culture of Pittsburgh, however it was disbanded by university faculty in 1833 because, according to Agnes Starrett's 1937 history of the university, "instead of Shakespeare, the members had begun to produce vulgar modern comedies". After the school progressed to university status, student organized dramatic theater would continue under various names and incarnations.
Musical theatre at the university has its origins when the school was named the Western University of Pennsylvania, then commonly referred to as "WUP". On January 15, 1908, the Cap and Gown Club was founded by John S. Ashbrook and Charles R. Porter, along with students, graduates, and faculty of the Dental Department. The club was the first dramatic group at the university and staged original, all-male, musical comedies often with themes of local or university interest. The first production by the group was In Wupland, which was staged at Pittsburgh's Nixon Theater on April 24, 1908, followed by another performance at the Duquesne Theater on May 23, 1908. Early members of the group included George M. Kirk who, after the school changed its name to the University of Pittsburgh in July, 1908, penned the lyrics to the university's fight song, "Hail to Pitt", for a production of the club's Here or There at the Carnegie Music Hall in the spring of 1910. The increasing recognition and reputation of the club in the 1910s precipitated multiple performances of its productions and the touring of areas outside of the city into the surrounding areas of Western Pennsylvania as far away as Altoona and Erie, as well as in Youngstown, Ohio and Jamestown, New York. By 1929, the club's productions had become so profitable (some of the profit was directed into the Alumni Hall Building Fund), and had gained such a level of importance, that the graduate club configuration was no longer sufficient to run the club. Therefore, a corporate charter was obtained from the state in order to reorganized the club's structure with club founder Ashbrook (D.D.S. 1911) elected as its first president. Among the Cap and Gown club's alumni were Hollywood stars Dutch Hendrian, Regis Toomey and Gene Kelly, along with Kelly's brother Fred, who became an influential choreographer and television producer and director. Following his graduation in 1933, Gene Kelly remained active with the Cap and Gown Club, serving as its director from 1934 to 1938. The club's 1938 production, Pickets, Please!, featured the debut of the university's other major spirit song, the "Pitt Victory Song". The club thrived for 34 consecutive years before it became dormant in 1942 due to the entrance of the United States into World War II. Following the war, the club was revived in 1946 and staged a production in December of that year, followed by its 36th and final production in 1947, although it lingered on as a club until 1978.
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