Monday, October 27, 2003

By Christopher Rawson, Post-Gazette Drama Editor

For its 2004 season at Benedum Center, announced today, Pittsburgh CLO will stick with the basics, featuring a handful of familiar musicals with one newcomer. But if plans hold up, it will end the year with something very new: An additional year-round home in the long-discussed new cabaret theater.

	James Brennan and Judy Blazer performed in the CLO's 1992 production of "Me and My Girl." A new production is planned for next summer, Aug. 3-8.

The performing basics for summer '04 are well represented by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerry Herman and Meredith Willson. The newcomer is "Dreamgirls" by Tom Eyen and Henry Kreiger, the 1981 Motown-inspired portrait of a slickly packaged girl group very much like the Supremes.

The CLO bills "Dreamgirls" as "a sizzling tribute to one of the greatest eras in American rock 'n' roll." CLO executive producer Van Kaplan says, "For me, this is the show of the season," noting that CLO is one of very few companies with the "Dreamgirls" rights -- which, since there are plans to revive it on Broadway next year, might not be available again for years.

Pittsburgh has seen "Dreamgirls" twice on tour -- 1986 and 1994 -- and once in a first-rate version at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, which the Post-Gazette named the best local production of 1990. But the CLO has never staged it, perhaps because it falls outside the traditional range of musical theater, with its dark, robust rock sound and its satire of how black music was co-opted by the white music industry.

But traditions evolve. "We've been having a lot of luck with these pop-modern shows," said Kaplan, who hopes to stage "Dreamgirls" with some well-known names. But his best poker face doesn't crack at the suggestion of Pittsburgh's Billy Porter, who starred in the recent 20th anniversary concert version in New York. Kaplan says it is much too early to announce any casting or directors.

Representing the mainstream are the perennial "Hello, Dolly!," "The King and I" and "The Music Man," along with the familiar "1776" and "Me and My Girl."

The last is still something of a newcomer. Written by L. Arthur Rose, Douglas Furber and Noel Gay, it was a 1937 hit in London, but its 1985 revival (with revisions by Stephen Fry and director Mike Ockrent) re-established it in the canon, and CLO did it here in 1992.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I" has been a CLO regular, appearing five times, most recently in 1989. This production will be a national tour (20-30 weeks are already booked), produced in Atlanta but originating here, where it may also rehearse and where the set will probably be built in the CLO construction center.

Kaplan praises "1776" for Peter Stone's book, "one of the best." CLO did it four times in all, as recently as 1996, when it was inexplicably scheduled in August. In 2004, it will run on the 4th of July weekend, though not on the 4th itself, which obligingly falls on a Monday.

Willson's "The Music Man" has also been done four times, most recently in 1994. Kaplan thinks it offers opportunities for CLO to repeat recent highs in casting.

For "Hello, Dolly!," Kaplan promises "something fun and fresh," noting that it follows on composer Jerry Herman's recent visit here. The CLO's only previous "Dolly" was in 1986, with Jo Anne Worley.

The three shows to be given two-week runs are "The Music Man," "Hello, Dolly!" and "Dreamgirls."

As to the new cabaret theater, to be situated in the new Theatre Square building diagonally across from the Benedum on Penn Avenue, Kaplan says, "We believe it's going to open in the fall [2004]. We're unclear what show, but it's going to be a big, splashy, week-long celebration."

The "we" includes the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, which will build the theater before making the CLO its main tenant, in an arrangement like that between the Trust and Public Theater for the O'Reilly Theater. Trust chief Kevin McMahon confirms that the new theater is set to open in late 2004. The necessary $2 million hasn't yet been secured, but design work for a flexible 250-seat cabaret (some seats at small tables, some at drink rails) is already being prepared by theater specialists Fisher-Dachs.

That work will have to take account of possible sound and vibration issues, since the upper floors of Theater Square are a parking garage. The relationship to the bar and the new restaurant, Cafe Zao, which will be run by Toni Pais of the East End's Baum Vivant and Cafe Zinho, also needs to be worked out.

For summer 2004, various subscription packages are available. Six-show packages cost $84 to $300, depending on location and day of week, compared to $72-$264 in 2003. Three-show packages are $42-$150 (compared to $36-$132). Since some locations have been re-priced, the price rise for specific locations is up to $6 per show.

Other series plans are the PNC Spotlight, Thursday Matinee Family, Sunday Evening and Pick-a-Pack. Call 412-281-2822 or visit www.pittsburgh.clo.org; for discounts on groups of 20 or more, call 412-263-2560.

The schedule:

June 15-20: "The King and I."

June 25-July 3: "1776."

July 6-18: "The Music Man."

July 20-Aug. 1: "Hello, Dolly!"

Aug. 3-8: "Me and My Girl."

Aug. 10-22: "Dreamgirls."

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