A Note to Our Pittsburgh Community
With humility, from the folks preparing to unify the Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO.
As we close out the week, we want to share just a little bit of perspective. When the board of Pittsburgh Public Theater made the difficult decision to lay off their administrative staff, those of us working on the unification project were devastated. This move was not driven by our plans, and we are working as quickly and thoughtfully as we can to support.
First, we want to say thank you to the staff of Pittsburgh Public Theater. We’ve been in touch with almost everyone personally. They are handling an impossible moment with grace, kindness, and, in most cases, hope. We are so proud of you.
Second, to the community groups, parents, and students: we are committed to ensuring that Pittsburgh Public Theater’s programs continue this summer. New Horizon Theater will open this weekend as planned and the summer camps begin next month; we will see you at the O’Reilly.
For the audiences and subscribers and donors who have supported Pittsburgh Public Theater over the years: we will do our best to ensure that we honor the Public’s legacy by producing work that brings you joy and engages your curiosity.
Finally, for the artistic community in Pittsburgh: the ripple is reaching far and wide, and you might be ready to jump ship. If you can’t pursue your livelihood here, how can you stay?
That question has been at the heart of this conversation all along - even if it hasn’t felt like that publicly. For the last year, we have been making the argument to our funding community that without locally-produced professional theater at scale, Pittsburgh will lose a key part of it’s artistic identity.
We believe that our city needs performing arts organizations of all sizes to be successful. The larger ones should be resilient to absorb macroeconomic shocks, take artistic risks, and be a resource and thought partner to organizations across the region. They should also lead by example.
We intend to fulfill that one day soon - for artists and passionate administrators; audiences of all ages; and truly for a better Pittsburgh.
Just the facts, ma’am
A few things have come up this week (that’s an understatement) that we want to help clarify.
There were 11 Pittsburgh Public Theater administrators affected by the layoff this week. We were able to provide them with one month’s severance, thanks to funds that were available from the unification project, though we know that does not erase the immediate hardship this action has caused.
The union production staff at PPT are on seasonal furlough and have a call back date of September 1.
At the beginning of PPT’s 2025-26 season, the administrative staff were asked to prepare for a 2 month furlough between seasons. This would have occurred from July-August this summer.
The unification project has a timeline for hiring staff into a new org chart, however, there are still operational milestones to complete before we can share it. We will deliver this plan to the staffs of PPT and CLO at the same time and in the same format.
Where possible, we are looking for ways to “bring aboard” PPT staff members into projects or contract work in support of summer programs and the business of unification.
The Pittsburgh CLO was unable to immediately hire impacted PPT staff members. There are limited administrative roles open at the CLO at this time.
All CLO programming, including the summer season, annual fundraiser, and Gene Kelly Awards, are continuing on track and will not change. The Prologue programming is continuing as planned.
Programming in the new entity will cross genres and reflect the tastes of each organization’s legacy audiences. There will be both musicals and plays.
Education and Academy programs from both organizations will continue, and we intend to preserve and celebrate marquee programs like the Gene Kelly Awards and Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest.