Category: Uncategorized

 

By Gina McKlveen 

Standing arm in arm outside Maser Galleries along Walnut Street in Shadyside, the Maser women, Brenda and her two daughters, Katie and Kristen, reminisced to a crowd of family, friends, former athletes, community members, city councilpersons, art lovers, and various spectators about what this business has meant to them since it first opened on September 27, 1974—50 years ago to the day.

Katie applauded her parents, noting that “50 years is huge accomplishment for a business, especially an art business.” She called Walnut Street “an extension of home,” and Kristen expressed similar sentiments, stating that her childhood “orbited around this gallery” and referred to it as her “home base.”

As the story goes, Maser Galleries begins with one man—Ronald Maser, affectionately known as “Lefty”—a Pittsburgh-area native, McKeesport High School graduate, former University of Pittsburgh student-athlete, and multi-talented visionary, whose baseball career aspirations with the Los Angeles Dodgers fell short because of an arm injury that led him to answer a newspaper advertisement promising “unlimited opportunity” with Arts International, which was the biggest chain of galleries in the country back then. According to Lefty, during the Arts International interview, he and the interviewer just talked about baseball. By the end of the interview, the guy pitched him the keys and drove back to Chicago, leaving Lefty to learn the art business on the fly.

Years later, Lefty branched out on his own, founding what is known today as Maser Galleries. The gallery started out at Seven Springs Resort in the Laurel Highlands, east of Pittsburgh. There was already a gallery at the ski resort and the space had become available for a new owner/occupant. Originally, Lefty says, he drove up to Seven Springs to express that he wasn’t interested, but whether it was the drive, the connection with ski and sport, or something else, after he got up there, he changed his mind and said yes. Like many things throughout Lefty’s life, he just went with his gut… and it worked.

Brenda, who grew up at Seven Springs and was working there had an art background, minoring in art, practicing in photography, and dabbling in painting, so when Lefty needed someone to work at his new gallery, Brenda became Lefty’s right-hand woman, so-to-speak.

“My part of business has changed over the years,” Brenda recounts. “I helped Lefty. Lefty was in charge. He made all the decisions.”

But as for Brenda’s part in the business, Kristen surmised, “Mom is the heart. Dad is driving force,” while Brenda refers to herself as “the people person.” She says, “I love people. I love talking about the art, I love being with the art, selling the art. Lefty was the person responsible for the success of that gallery without question. He could sense what people would love, what people would buy. He was not highly trained in art. I mean, he was a math student [at the University of Pittsburgh]. He had a sense of what was beautiful and what people would love to have in their homes.”

She adds, “Buying is the key to any business, and certainly to the art business. He just had a wonderful sense of the best pieces of an artist, he could pick them. I learned from him. I learned everything I know about that from him.”

Brenda’s own art background has, in her words, “worked out beautifully in this gallery.” She remembers, “I had a dark room for a while and did photography and that skill served me very well working in the gallery. There were so many things that needed photographed over the years that it was a really wonderful fit for me.”

Brenda also points out, “Lefty has an art background, too.” While maybe not as well-known as his baseball stats, “When he was a young student, he went to McKeesport High School, which was a huge high school at the time, booming, thriving, and there were only two students picked to take art classes at the Carnegie Museum and he was one of the students who was picked. So, he has some art talent, but he never developed that. But he had art talent, and he always had a love of beauty.”

Even as a baseball player, fans and friends described Lefty as “art in motion.” Brenda says, “When I think of Lefty running [this] business that was art in motion, watching him run [Maser Galleries]. He was in the flow in the same way that he was when he was pitching. He was a natural. The creativity, the ideas just flowed out of him.”

Eventually, once the gallery in Seven Springs was established, Lefty got the idea to move and open another Maser Galleries location in Shadyside. “The first time I came to Shadyside was 1974, right when we opened. It was the arts festival,” Brenda recalls.

The building, where Maser Galleries remains 50 years later, was a former dry cleaner when Lefty first rented it. “Lefty hammered every board on that wall. Those barn wood walls, every nail was hammered in by him… There was nothing he couldn’t do.” But back then people thought Lefty was out of his mind to open another gallery along Walnut Street, which ironically, was right across the street from an Arts International gallery, his former employer. Doubting Lefty’s can-do attitude, naysayers thought Maser Galleries would be out of business within six months, incapable of withstanding the competition of a powerful chain like Arts International. However, not long after Maser Galleries arrived on Walnut Street, it was Arts International that closed its doors, not Lefty.

Brenda describes what Maser Galleries was like on Walnut Street in the 1970s, “When we first opened, Walnut Street then was almost all, if not all, independent owners, many different types of shops, and a lot of hippies. We had lots of arts and crafts items, we had shelves and shelves of crafts and little metal sculptures, paintings on marble, paintings on fungi, we just had all different little things. And as the street evolved, we evolved. So as the more upscale shops came in, so did we. Also, the timing was so perfect because the 70s was a time when art was really exploding and graphics were just coming out like Normal Rockwell, Erte, Simbari, LeRoy Neiman. It was just an amazing time when these limited-edition graphics were available for the first time, and we were on the ground floor of that.”

She continues, “Lefty always loved illustrators. We loved Nat Youngblood. He did all the illustrations for the Pittsburgh Press for 30 years. We published a lot of works by him. Lefty published a number of local artists John Shryock and Thomas Mosser, and then he reached out to some nationally known artists, and we had a whole publishing division for many years. We went to the art expo in New York, and we were not only on the end of buying art for the gallery, but on the end of selling artwork to galleries.”

The artworks of many of these mentioned artists are still available at Maser Galleries, along with other Pittsburgh natives who’ve achieved reputable success with their art, like Burton Morris, Fritz Keck, and Linda Barnicott.

In its early days, the Maser Gallery at Seven Springs reflected the clientele there, Brenda recalls, “tons of ski posters, craft items, gift items, and oil paintings.” Nowadays, she says, “We reflect the people of Pittsburgh. We always want to have something for everyone.”

As for the Maser family, Brenda, like her daughters, admits, “Our lives revolve around the gallery.” Despite previously having galleries in Seven Springs, Oxford Center, and even Market Square over the years, Maser Galleries along Walnut Street in Shadyside has stood the test of time. “We were all over at the gallery as much as we were at home,” she says.

Brenda acknowledges, “The greatest honor of my life has been to work there. It’s been such an honor to be surrounded by this beauty and by wonderful people. I always feel that the door is a filter and only special people come through our door. I’m so grateful for having could spend my life here in this place. Everybody who comes in, they have an extra sensitivity and awareness and appreciation for art and for life.”

Stepping through the doors of Maser Galleries is an opportunity to experience art almost like a sports memorabilia collector, stumbling upon a rare, autographed baseball card, except here the signatures are of beloved artists upon artworks, each with a unique style and flare. Unlike an art museum, where the pieces must stay put on their walls, here, visitors are welcome to purchase the pieces that catch their eye and take them home. When it comes to art galleries in Pittsburgh, Maser Galleries is a grand slam.

-GM

To experience Maser Galleries, visit: https://www.masergalleries.com/ or stop in at 5427 Walnut Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15232 and explore their ongoing 50^th Anniversary Sale.

 

by Michael Buzzelli

When five college kids, led by Ash (Brett Goodnack), convinces his friends to sneak into a supposedly-abandoned cabin in the woods, he has no idea what sort of mayhem he’s about to unleash in “Evil Dead – The Musical,” a musical  based on the campy Sam Raimi horror-comedy franchise, “The Evil Dead.”

Ash takes his girlfriend, Linda (Kamilah Lay), his sister, Cheryl (Sabina May), his best friend, Scott (Brecken Newton Farrell) and a girl Scott picked up in a bar, the ditzy Shelly (Zanny Laird) to the haunted cabin.

The cabin’s previous occupant, Professor Knowby (Damon Oliver, Jr.) was secluded inside researching an ancient Sumerian text, the “Necronomicon Ex-Mortis,” when he recited an incantation in the book and all hell broke loose, literally and figuratively.

Somehow the mystical tome unleashes all sorts of carnage. It possesses people, it animates the trees in the forest to do its evil bidding, and even causes a mounted Moosehead to come alive and start talking trash.

The demons guarantee that the blood will flow. So much so, it gets all over the first couple of rows of the audience. There will be blood – and it will be hilarious.

Side note: Bring a poncho.

If any of this sounds insane, you’re absolutely correct.  The insanity is the fun of “Evil Dead – The Musical.”  The plot doesn’t matter.  Sit back, embrace the craziness and have fun.

Ash is a dim-witted, self-important S-Mart employee with a heart of gold.  Goodnack reprises the role he has played several years in a row for the Pittsburgh Musical Theater, and he is the perfect Ash.  Aside from Goodnack  (and the original actor, Bruce Campbell), it’s hard to imagine anyone else strutting around the stage, reciting the pithy tongue-in-cheek dialogue.

Laird, in a dual role as oversexualized bimbo Shelly and erudite, yet also oversexed, Annie, lights up the stage. The roles are vastly different, but Laird plays them with such verve.

Farrell’s Scott is a douche bag, but the actor manages to find his sensitive side, ironically,  in a song, “What the F*@k Was That?”

May’s Cheryl is a demonic delight. She is the first to turn to the dark side, and uses her evil powers to deliver groan-worthy puns that even the corniest dads would dad-joke about.

The thing about a show like this is that the whole cast has to go balls-to-the-wall and tits out, and they do. Nick Mitchell directs the show for the fifth time and hasn’t lost the enthusiasm for the show. It is as kinetic and frenetic as it was in the first sold-out run back in 2017.

There’s some terrific music by Frank Cipolla, Christopher Bond, Melissa Morris and George Reinblatt. The tunes will haunt you…in a earwormy way.

Side note: This reviewer danced the Necronomicon all the way back to his car, and hummed it all the way home.

“Evil Dead – The Musical” is for any Halloween aficionado, horror fans, comedy fans, and people who want to be soaked in fake blood. Grab a poncho and head to the West End.

-MB

“Evil Dead – The Musical” runs until October 26 at the Pittsburgh Musical Theater,  The West End Canopy, 327 South Main Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15220. For more information, click here.

Reviewed by Dr. Tiffany Knight Raymond, PhD and Theron Raymond (6 th grader)

The 2017 Tony-awarding winning musical Bandstand has its Pittsburgh Premiere thanks to Front Porch Theatricals. The music is by Richard Oberacker with book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker.

The musical is set in Pittsburgh-rival Cleveland in 1945 and follows a collective of WWII veterans who return home. This year’s 80^th anniversary of D-Day was the inspiration for Front Porch to showcase this musical.

Bandstand opens with visual strength that anchors us in the horrors of war. Nameless soldiers crouch in defense, and the cacophony of war is amplified. The opening scene culminates in the collapse of a woman transformed from wife to widow. Director (and choreographer) Joe Jackson positions her in center stage as the war rages around her. Costume designer Michelle Nowakowski outfits her in a red dress. When she collapses upon notice of her husband’s death, the red fabric puddles on the floor, reminiscent of a pool of blood, visually mirroring her husband’s death. She is both one grieving woman and all of those touched by wartime loss.

Pianist Donny Novitski (David Toole) is one of those men in the foxhole. He returns home without his best friend, Michael, whose wife Julia Trojan (Marnie Quick) is that widow. Toole is magnetic. He is both vulnerable and assertive, and his vocals are as strong as his acting. Quick’s captivating voice manifests the tension of life marching on in the shadow of loss.

While all of the songs are powerful, the play’s most significant song is the opener: “Just Like It Was Before.” This song is sung stateside when the end of the war is announced in anticipation of the soldiers’ homecoming. We are painfully aware that the optimistic refrain of “it’ll be just like it was before” is a fantasy – and this refrain becomes a touchstone through the musical. It’s not the same for Julia or Michael or even Donny who struggles with survivor guilt and finding employment.

Donny forms a 6-man band to compete in a nationwide swing band competition that’s a tribute to the troops. He strategizes that a band composed of veterans could be a competitive advantage given the theme. The bandmembers represents a spectrum of strategies in combatting PTSD from insomnia to rigid control to addiction in an era when mental health was not widely acknowledged, and everyone wanted it to “be just like it was before.”

However, the band provides these veterans with an outlet, shared experience, and hope in their quest to win the competition. Keeping six band members straight can be a challenge, but director Joe Jackson ensures all of them shine and contribute. The sax player, Jimmy Campbell (Patrick Breiner), is a logic-driven lawyer, and drummer Johnny Simpson (Kamran Mian) is lovably loopy. Strait-laced trombonist Wayne Wright (Dylan Pal) still relentlessly assembles and reassembles his gun.

As choreographer, Jackson puts the ensemble at the forefront for the swing dance sequences. Their movements are stunningly crisp. They bring high-volume energy and joy to the show with each step that leaves the audience wanting to jump up and join the Bandstand.

-TKR, Ph.D and TR

Front Porch Theatricals’ production of Bandstand runs through August 25, 2024 at the New Hazlett Theater (6 Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh, PA). Purchase tickets online at https://newhazletttheater.org/events/bandstand/.

By Claire DeMarco

Six debutantes are presented each year by the Nacirema Society to enjoy and be exposed to a world of culture, class, and privilege.  In 1964 in Montgomery, Alabama the Society is celebrating its 100^th anniversary.  As a driving force within the Society, Grace Dubose Dunbar (Jeannine Foster-McKelvia is particularly excited about this year’s event since her granddaughter, Gracie Dunbar (Shakirah Stephens) is one of the six debutantes coming out.

Note:  Nacirema spelled backwards is America!

As matriarch of a well-to-do black family in the South, Grace is aware of the civil rights movement but concentrates more on her upper-class status and her involvement in the Nacirema Society.

Not as enthusiastic as Grace or her mother, Marie Dunbar (Angelique A. Strothers), Gracie has plans of her own that do not include the traditional roles the Dunbar family has always supported.  Nor is she interested in the matchmaking Grace and her friend Catherine Adams Green (Brenda Marks) are concocting to connect her romantically with Green’s grandson, Bobby Green (Nickolas Page).

Visitors to the Dunbar home prior to the big Nacirema Society event add some additional excitement (Alpha Campbell Jackson (Karla C. Payne) and her daughter Lillie Campbell Jackson (Tajionna Clinton).  Reporter Janet Logan (Dominique Briggs) is also on site to write an article about the upcoming society event.

Before the evening ends and after several rounds of sherry, grievances rise to the surface.

It seems that not only is Gracie coming out but also several long-hidden family secrets are, too!

And maid Jessie Roberts (Cheryl El-Walker) is oblivious to all the drama, intent on collecting all the empty sherry glasses.

Foster-McKelvia rules!  And her scepter is the ever-present handkerchief she wields in her right hand.  Like Naval flags used to communicate at sea, the handkerchief’s position and movement indicate her mood and level of pleasure or displeasure.  Foster-McKelvia’s comedic timing is perfect and her facial expressions and movements add to her delivery.

Marks is delightful as Grace’s best friend.  Introduced as slightly “excitable”, Marks graduates to a full blown “ditz,” not quite in control as a participant in a scheme that goes awry. This accelerates her continuous need for another glass of sherry.  Marks facial expressions and general movement are top notch.

Payne is believable as the passionate, working-class mom who wants only the best for her daughter.  Her envy of Grace and her family’s fortune is palpable but at the same time we understand and sympathize with her.

Bubbly, enthusiastic, independent and ready to take on the world!  Stephens expertly interprets her character’s youthful exuberance.

Clinton as Lillie is convincing as an intelligent and confident woman who plans to attend medical school and also maintain a romantic relationship.

This is a funny, laugh-out-loud play with a very talented cast!

The set by Herbert Newsome is detailed with contents typical of a wealthy family home.  Part of the stage is elevated to handle scene changes in the home.  When the scene demands a location change, the set is darkened and a table and two chairs are placed in front of the stage.

Great direction by Eileen J. Morris

“The Nacirema Society” was written by Pearl Michelle Cleage.

-CED

“The Nacirema Society” is a production of New Horizon Theater, Inc. Performances run from May 31^st – June 16th in Pittsburgh Public Theater’s 3^rd floor Helen Rauh Rehearsal Hall at the O’Reilly Theater. For more information, click here.

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By Michael Buzzelli

In Vyacheslav Ivanov’s poem, “Moscow,” he writes:

“Lingering in azure, the clouds
Grow heavy with languid moisture.
The drooping birches show white,
And the river trails along below.”

It’s almost as if Ivanov wrote the poem for the Prozorova’s, the rich Russian aristocrats exiled to a provincial garrison town in the hinterlands of Russia in Anton Chekov’s “Three Sisters.”

Olga (Reighan Bean, alternating with Paulina Bradley) Masha (Addison Keys), Irina (Santina Traficante, alternating with Chloe Gorman) and their brother Andrei (Jay Zhu) occupy an estate with tenants and military troops.

Masha is unhappily married to Fyodor Ilyich Kulygin (Santosh Sooriamurthi).

When Aleksandr Ignatyevich Vershinin (Tyler Guinto-Brody), also unhappily married, comes to town, he and Masha form an intense bond (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

In the first act, the girls yearn for a bigger life, a return to Moscow, and, oddly, the long to be productive, to be of service.

In the second act, life for the three sisters and their brother changes drastically. They are weighed down with ponderous jobs, duties and family obligations.  The three sisters are disappointed in Andrei. Instead of becoming a professor in Moscow, he has settled into his life with his unpopular shrew of a wife, Natasha (Bri Thel), who has taken over the household, bearing heirs for Andrei.

Even though Natasha is busy raising Bobik and Sofia, she’s having an affair behind Andrei’s back.  No one gets what they want in “Three Sisters,” and, even though there’s humor, it all ends unhappily ever after.

The Collective, a new theater company founded by Michael Campayno, uses a new adaptation by actor and playwright Tracy Letts (“August: Osage County,” “Superior Donuts,” etc.). It’s a breezier, lighter version, but rife with internal (and eternal) suffering, a Russian “Gilmore Girls” with three fast-talking siblings. The Chicago Tribune called the adaptation, “Zestier and more colloquial.” It’s perfect fodder for the Collective’s first outing.  

The cast, many of them are students of Griffith Coaching Acting Studio (the director’s own acting academy), is excellent, particularly the three sisters. Bean, Keys and Traficante are marvelous choices. At different points in the show your allegiances shift from one sister to the next, and, since it was so expertly cast, it’s easy to root for all of them.

Guinto-Brody’s Vershinin is a charmer. It’s easy to see Masha falling for the “Lovesick Major.” He has poise and gravitas every time he takes to the stage.

Poor Kulygin. Sooriamurthi plays him as joyful, even though is character is a pitiable mess of a cuckolded schoolteacher, wringing the humor out of the scenario. Each time he says, “Where’s Masha?” it’s side-splittingly hilarious.

Callum Williams who plays Staff Captain Vassily Vasilyevich Solyony is only in a few scenes, but the actor is terrific. He has a naturalistic style.

There is no waste in a Chekov play. Derisive jibes and biting barbs wound, ricochet and wound again, like bitter bon mot boomerangs.

Tucker Topel’s set, like Ivanov’s poem, is filled with birch trees. It’s a lovely touch, but sometimes it’s hard to see the actors through the forest of stark white trees with burnished black swatches.

Daina Griffith directs a fast-paced version of a Russian classic. It’s energetic and enthusiastic.

Side note: The play runs concurrently with an all-female production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Gutenberg! The Musical.” Check the site for dates and times.

The Collective has come out of seemingly nowhere, but it has an ambitious and impressive schedule of shows. Bravo and Brava.

-MB

“Three Sisters” runs until January 21. If you have a particular performer you want to see in the show, consult the show’s schedule and get tickets here. 

By Michael Buzzelli

Newly orphaned Dorothy (Nichelle Lewis) isn’t vibing to Kansas, but she isn’t there too long to lament. A twister picks her up, carries her off and flies her out of the arms of her Aunt Em (Melody A. Betts). The tornado dumps her and her house smack dab in the middle of the land of Oz where the townspeople are overjoyed because she crashed down on a wicked witch and smooshed her.

Addaperle (Allyson Kaye Daniel deftly delivering the snarkiest lines in the show) and her blingy sister Glinda (Deborah Cox) give Dorothy the witch’s shoes, a pair of magic silver slippers. The sorcerous sisters send her off to meet the Wiz (Alan Mingo, Jr.) to aid her on her journey home.

Just like L. Frank Baum’s original it’s not about the destination, but the journey, and the friends she meets along the way.  Dorothy eases down the Yellow Brick Road and meets the Scarecrow (Avery Wilson), the Tinman (Phillip Johnson Richardson) and the Lion ( Kyle Ramar Freeman).

But the wicked witch’s sister, the equally wicked Evillene (Melody A. Betts), wants those darn silver shoes and she’s willing to kill to get them. Obviously, anyone named Evillene is bound to be a little bit naughty.

“The Wiz” is not only updated from the classic, “Wizard of Oz” it’s an even more updated version of “The Wiz.” It’s not a copy of a copy but an improvement on the original production. The lines are sassier, funnier.

For some reason, the Wicked Witch runs a factory, but even her factory workers, the Winkies (the ensemble), don’t know what they’re manufacturing, but let’s not talk about “The Wiz” that was. This updated version is sheer joy.

“The Wizard of Oz” is pure fantasy where the hero is an ordinary kid who finds herself in extraordinary circumstances.  It appeals to children and adults alike. With “The Wiz” we get all of that  – and representation.

Dorothy finds her agency pretty quickly and that’s a good thing. Lewis (at 24 but looking 17) commands the stage. She is charismatic and charming.

Betts is a belter of the highest order. She has a powerful vocal instrument and uses it superbly.

Wilson’s Scarecrow was phenomenal. His movements were incredible as he flopped around like he was actually made of straw.  He also gave some great line reads.

Richardson’s Tinman is amazing. The character starts off stiff and clunky but the actor is smooth and graceful and once the Tinman’s oiled up, Richardson moves fluidly, effortlessly around the stage.

Freeman did a fantastic job as the Lion. He pounced and pranced his way into the hearts of the audience.  He’s a star.

Side note: The Lion has always been my favorite character (Burt Lahr and Ted Ross).

Mingo serves up a creepy Wiz. He’s scheming and despicable, but in the most delightful way.

Cox does such a great job as Glinda, it’s the first time I don’t want to smack her when she says, “You had the power to go home all along.”

P.S. I always wanted to grab the Tinman’s axe and chase after Billie Burke (Glinda from the original 1939 “Wizard of Oz”).

The cast is, literally and figuratively, wonderful. Every Winkie, Kalidah, Ozian and Poppy (it’s an amazing ensemble of talented actors, dancers and singers).

The kaleidoscopic costumes by Sharen Davis are out of this world. Cox’s Glinda’s outfit is a dazzling disco ball of perfection, sparkling, gleaming and dazzling the audience.

Hannah Beachler’s scenic design was amazing. Projection design by Daniel Brodie was the icing on this already delicious layer cake.

Beachler and Brodie worked in unison on the transition from Black & White to Color, like in the original 1939 Movie Musical. The audience was in awe as Dorothy left the drab Kansas farm and landed in the Crayola-colored Oz.

It was such a great show, you have to wonder why Dorothy wanted to go home.

If you want to see a fantastic production on a great big stage, ease on down the road, or in this case, avenue (Penn Avenue to be exact).

-MB

“The Wiz” runs from October 31st through November 5th at the Benedum Center, Seventh Street and Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here.

by Michael Buzzelli

When Farrah (Cynthia Caul) meets Maya (Elexa Hanner), a homeless teen, in the park, it sets both women on a trajectory towards a heartbreaking future – for this life and the next – in ‘”Pyramid Builders,” a new play by Karuna Das.

There’s a lot going on in this play. The first act is about Farrah and Maya and their connection in 2012. The second act is about Satya (Hanner in a dual role) and Octavia (Karla C. Payne) and her lover Cassie (Caul in a dual role) in the near-future where white militias roam what’s left of the United States, indiscriminately slaughtering Black people.

“Pyramid Builders” is built on the premise from the 2018 Pittsburgh billboard, “There are Black People in the future,” and the ire it caused here in the recent past.

The play posits that if people are so angry about the billboard, surely they must not want Black People in the future. History repeats itself when Octavia becomes another Harriet Tubman, smuggling Black people away from roving gangs of white militia men. In this future scenario, she’s a mule transporting people OUT of America and INTO Mexico.

Director Bianca LaVerne Jones gets some fine performances out of all of her actors. The cast is terrific.

Hanner is a charismatic lead. She dazzles on the stage, creating layers upon layers for her two, very distinct characters.

While Payne has only a minor part in the first act, she rules over the second act. Deftly sharing the lead with Hanner.

Caul’s Farrah is a harrowed CEO in the first act, and her role as Cassie is reduced in the second act, but she does a superb job in both roles.

Patrick Conner is perfectly cast as both Quinn and Teller. The historian and teacher gets to use all of his professorial skills spouting dialogue about ancient mythology, astronomy, archeology and anthropology.

David Ogrodowski and Brendan Piefer round out the cast playing a variety of bad guys. Both of Piefer’s characters have a jingoistic tag line, twisting an American motto for evil intent. Both men are frightening, even the normally affable Piefer. At one point, the two men don black robes and featureless face masks – it’s the stuff of nightmares.

Scenic Designer Richard H. Morris Jr. set could have easily been constructed by Cosmo Kramer. “Levels. You know…like ancient Egypt.”

While the cast is terrific, there’s too much story in “The Pyramid Builders.” Act one and act two are two separate plays. Das has filled the play with pile of scientific concepts. The characters chatter about ancient Mayans, Egypt and other mythologies. They muse about astronomy. There’s also a political discussion. The second act hinges on a nightmare scenario where – though the Orange A-Hole is never named – Trump wins the 2024 election.

Act one is a sad tale about mental decline and homelessness. Act two, a sci-fi dystopia is heartbreaking in its own way. Act one needed a little more time to breathe. The connection between Farrah and Maya was tenuous at best. It strained credibility that these two random women would have such a deep connection.

But act two is a  fascinating dystopia. “The Pyramid Builders,” like Certs breath mints, is two in one. Either act one or act two could have stood on their own. Together it’s a bit jumbled. It’s just a little too much story in one play.

In the final moments, there is hope. The audacity of hope. It’s a resounding theme that the show could use a little more of – and, frankly, hope is something we all could use – in ample supply. It’s also a reminder to vote. Yes, there are Black People in the future, but let’s make it  a fair, equal and equitable future for everyone.

– MB

“The Pyramid Builders” runs from April 14 to April 30 at the  Madison Arts Center, 3401 Milwaukee Street, Pittsburgh, PA. For more information, click here. 

by Michael Buzzelli

An acclaimed author, Abe (Jed Resnick), begins a premature mid-life crisis with a virtual bang when he ignores his wife, Sophie (Allison Strickland), and obsesses over a famous movie star, Julia (Sarah Goeke), in Anna Ziegler’s “The Wanderers.”

Flashback to Brooklyn, Hassidic Jews, Esther (Moira Quigley) and Schmuli (Nick Lehane), navigate the parameters of their arranged marriage.

“The Wanderers” is set in two separate time periods. The action with Esther and Schmuli spans a swath of time between 1973 through 1982, while Abe and Sophie’s story is closer to the present.

After the birth of her children, Esther is unfulfilled. She wants to expand her life outside of the Hassidic community, even though it’s forbidden. Her conversations with her husband turn awkward.

Meanwhile, Abe’s online dalliance with Julia takes a surprising turn, and Sophie makes a difficult choice. She decides to take the kids and leave her husband.

Note: In the first few sentences in the show, Sophie announces that she’s leaving Abe, and technically not a spoiler, though it does punctuate her monologue with an exclamation point.

The show weaves into some unexpected territory.  Without spoiling the story, there is a clear connection between the parallel storylines.

“The Wanderers” is moving, funny and has a few jaw-dropping moments. Ziegler writes some complex characters with complex problems.

Side note: Ziegler also wrote “The Last Match,” which was beautifully performed at the City Theatre several years ago.

“The Wanderers” is a very smart show. Sometimes too smart. Gold stars for anyone who can decipher all of the literary references.

Pet peeve: There is a plethora of writers talking about writing. It gets a little “inside baseball,” but it may be more interesting to audience members who aren’t authors and playwrights. Luckily, a fine-tuned and compelling cast rise above any irritations.

Resnick is terrific as the neurotic protagonist (there is some reluctance to refer to him as the hero of the story).  He hits the humor in a natural, nuanced way.  Bon mots drip out casually from his mouth.

Strickland plays all the various layers of Sophie’s character.

Quigley is a joy to watch. She plays Esther like a wounded bird who is getting ready to fly again.

Goeke is charismatic and stunningly beautiful, traits befitting her role as the mysterious movie star.

Lehane manages to make a line, “Let us commence” seem hilarious.

Hint: It’s all about the context.

Lehane brings a lot of charm to the laconic Schmuli, even after he pulls a vile stunt that caused the audience to audibly gasp.

Though the play is mostly dialogue, Director Collette Robert keeps the action moving at a quick pace. Ziegler’s tight script doesn’t leave much room for lollygagging.

Anne Mundell’s set is sparse, but clever and expertly utilized by Lighting Designer Natalie Robin.  All the action takes place around a sturdy wooden table. There are a limited number of props, but terrific costumes by Mindy Eshelman.  Schmuli’s Hassidic headgear is amazing. His wedding hat is a marvel to behold.

But Lehane’s costume isn’t the only one to admire. To crib from Ziegler, Goeke is luminescent in her sparkling silver dress in the final moments of the show.

It might be time to wander down to the Southside and catch “The Wanderers.”

– MB

“The Wanderers” runs until December 18 at City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203For more information, click here.