Cultural Trust can do better than stale Disney shows

Like many local artists, I was saddened to learn that the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has had to reduce its spending by $5.4 million this year, because of gambles gone wrong on big-ticket productions.

I was also bewildered, however, by the choices that led to those losses and by a cultural institution that pays for the privilege of hosting whichever stale Disney stage show has already toured every other midsize American city.

Given that we've entrusted the PCT to be our city's cultural steward, it's reasonable to ask how importing second-run mainstream McShows (like "Care Bears Live!" in 2005, "Beauty and the Beast" in 2006 or "Edward Scissorhands" in 2007) contributes in any way to a vibrant arts scene, advances high-level art or fulfills the responsibility of the Trust to the cultural enrichment of our community.

Instead of lining the pockets of corporate entertainment franchises, why not invest in arts locally, and grow Pittsburgh's cultural engine?

For the same money it shed to import second-run Broadway products ($400,000 per week!), the Trust could support or commission 10 times as many events of a smaller nature and bootstrap Pittsburgh's struggling arts community. Our city could gain a national reputation as a nurturing environment for pioneering artistic vision, instead of being just another stop on the "Lion King" tour. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust owes it to all of us to demonstrate some faith in Pittsburgh's artists and some faith in the curiosity and sophistication of the Pittsburgh audience.

Golan Levin
Oakland

Mound of pizza

When I saw "brick oven and brewing" in the title of Bruce Dobler's review in the Post-Gazette (Aug. 9), I was excited. With the promise of craft beers and brick oven pizzas, how could I not be? After I read the review, however, I was deeply disappointed.

I find it hard to believe that any pizza establishment -- let alone one that has a brick oven that should be able to crank out wonderfully thin, simple pizzas in a matter of minutes -- still larding its pizzas with steak, chicken or bacon could possibly get a positive review, about its pizza at least.

Have you taken a good gander at many Americans recently? Do you think they need to be eating pizza doused with lots of cheese and steak and bacon and chicken? This is particularly true for the Pittsburgh/western Pennsylvania vicinity, where, based on anecdotal evidence, I have to believe that half of the population probably meets the clinical definition for overweight and at least one-third for obesity.

I also find it hard to believe that any "culinary expert," as Mr. Dobler is described, could possibly speak positively of these types of pizza. They sound like Pizza Hut rip-offs cooked in a brick oven. Yes, I have not tried one of these pizzas. And, based on the description, I wouldn't. Because it isn't pizza, at least not in the traditional sense. It's the standard American destruction of what should be honest, delicious, and, if you can believe it, healthy food.

If you want a good slice of authentic thick pizza, you can't do better than Il Piccolo Forno's cafe in the Strip: simple slices, not overly burdened with mounds of salty sauce and cheese and meats, with slightly a crispy crust, a slightly tangy sauce and the wonderful flavor of home made bread.

As a medical writer, food (and pizza) lover, and burgeoning home chef/food writer, I hope that the PG can do better with its "culinary experts" in the future.

Carmen Phillips
Gibsonia

Enduring Welty

Kudos to Barry Paris and Angelika Kane for research that led to the quotes from Eudora Welty in the article "Hollywood can't get enough of Jane Austen" (Aug. 10).

Welty is one of our greatest American authors, but her work and her thought-provoking critiques of other authors' works are often overlooked. I was delighted to see this venerable Southern author mentioned in the Post-Gazette.

Dee Natale
New Castle