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Public Theater to stage newest Lloyd Webber play
Wednesday, March 15, 2000 By John Hayes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The Pittsburgh Public Theater yesterday announced a big new season in its big new space, one that artistic director designate Ted Pappas says will bring Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and his newest work to Pittsburgh.
"By Jeeves" by Webber and playwright Alan Ayckbourn will "anchor" the Public's first full season in the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's O'Reilly Theater and comes in the middle of the first season tailored by Pappas. The musical is scheduled to open Feb. 1 in a production directed by Ayckbourn, author of more than 50 plays, including "The Norman Conquests" and "Absurd Person Singular."
Pappas said Webber will come to Pittsburgh to either work on the show with Ayckbourn or simply visit.
"The goal is to produce it in Pittsburgh with hopes to take it to Broadway," said Pappas, in a press conference in the O'Reilly Theater lobby. "To call it the anchor of the season is easy. To work on a show like this and move it to a Broadway stage would certainly be an important achievement for this theater."
Although "By Jeeves," based on the Jeeves stories by P. G. Wodehouse, has been presented at several other houses under Ayckbourn's direction, the full production in Pittsburgh is intended to be the one that springboards the show to New York, although there is no such booking thus far. Coming on the heels of a developmental production of August Wilson's "King Hedley II," the pre-Broadway staging of a new work by the music writer of "Cats," "Evita" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" may signal the Public's maturation into an important regional development house.
"It really is an honor to be starting in a beautiful new venue like the O'Reilly," said Pappas, who officially succeeds artistic director Edward Gilbert in September. "You want to challenge the company, not only the actors but the stage crew and the funders and the audience. I want to challenge the space. I want to see how far we can take it. I want to start off extravagantly and I want to challenge myself."
The ambitious and expanded 2000-2001 season also includes "Wit," Margaret Edson's Pulitzer-winning drama directed by Ethan McSweeny, and the tentatively scheduled "Copenhagen," an Atomic Age thriller by Michael Frayn, to be directed by Gilbert.
With his new tenure, Pappas hopes to start a new Public Theater tradition, an annual holiday show scheduled separately from the subscriber series. Debra Dickinson will direct and choreograph "A Grand Night for Singing," a musical revue of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's greatest hits.
Known nationally for staging lavish musicals, Pappas plans to challenge himself by directing two non-musical productions. He'll open the season with George S. Kaufman's and Moss Hart's screwball comedy "You Can't Take It With You," and shift gears in the spring with what he calls a "no holds barred" version of "Romeo and Juliet."
Before being named artistic director designate, Pappas was a frequent guest director at the Public. With several important writers and directors contributing to his first season, Pappas is exercising a key advantage of his secondary position as national president of an influential union, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
"I know a lot of people," he said. "I'm invited to a lot of shows; I negotiate with them off stage; I have a lot of phone numbers. I called some of them and some called me to ask if they could be a part of my first season."
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"You Can't Take It With You" by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, directed by Ted Pappas. Sept. 28-Oct. 29.