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Welcome to entertainment central, the bustling music and theater mecca known as the Pittsburgh Cultural District.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and it's been a busy 25 years of transforming and polishing the Cultural District corridor into a hot spot for restaurants and galleries and home-grown, live entertainment and national touring acts in five theaters.
It all happens within a few bustling blocks of Downtown.
Starting at Sixth Street between Liberty and Penn avenues, a 40-foot arched window heralds Heinz Hall, home of the renowned Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The performance showplace that began as an ornate movie palace in 1927 was reinvented as the 2,600-seat Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts in 1971.
Head toward the Allegheny River along Sixth, past restaurants and the Renaissance Hotel, and you'll find the century-old Byham Theater. The former vaudeville house is maintained by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust as a concert hall for a variety of entertainment.
Next on your theater tour, stroll along Penn Avenue to find the O'Reilly Theater. Opened in December 1999, it brought the Pittsburgh Public Theater across the river and into the Cultural District fold.
Like the O'Reilly, the next-door Theater Square was designed by architect Michael Graves. The Trust centerpiece houses a box office, cabaret, bar and cafe, plus a 790-space garage on Seventh Street. Katz Plaza, an outdoor space for sculpture, dining and contemplation, occupies the corner of Penn Avenue and Seventh Street. Across Seventh, a parklet is home to the installation "Magnolias for Pittsburgh," bronze magnolia trees that "bloom" year-round.
Nearby is Pittsburgh CAPA, the high school for the creative and performing arts.
Seventh Street brings us to another jewel in the Cultural District crown . . .
In 1987, the Stanley Theater was reborn as the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts after a $43 million restoration. The theater glows from within with more than 90 crystal chandeliers and the giant mirrors of the Grand Lobby.
The 2,800-seat Benedum is the summer home of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and a venue of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Pittsburgh Opera, national touring companies and Trust shows.
Besides live performances, the area offers art galleries and contemporary installations, a wide variety of dining choices and retail shopping.
That includes a section of Liberty Avenue that was once a red-light district. Now part of the Cultural District, it includes Pittsburgh Filmmakers' arthouse screening room, the Harris Theater.
As part of its anniversary year, the Cultural Trust create a cell phone-guided walking tour of the district. Visitors can call 412-235-6276, choose from among 25 options and listen to recordings about the history of each location. Sidewalk markers in front of each spot give the number to enter for that selection.
More cultural contributions
The first radio broadcast came from local station KDKA. And forget Hollywood. Moving pictures got their start here, with the first Nickelodeon. Today, Pittsburgh exports talent nurtured in local companies and universities.
From the CLO Mini-Stars to Pittsburgh Musical Theater, from Carnegie Mellon University's respected drama department and Point Park University's dance program, Pittsburgh also nurtures talent that packs casts from Broadway to Hollywood.
Pittsburgh sent Gene Kelly on his way, although he always said his dream was to play baseball for the Pirates. And The James Stewart Museum in his hometown of Indiana, Pa., celebrates the Oscar-winning actor's smalltown roots.
Home-grown live theater doesn't stop at the boundaries of Downtown.
Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre is in residence on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland, in the Stephen Foster Memorial theaters. Also in Oakland, the Pittsburgh Playhouse has served as home to The REP, the professional company of Point Park University.
Just across the river via the 10th Street Bridge, City Theatre on the South Side presents an annual New Works Festival and has been a supportive home for first-time productions.
Other companies large and small dot the region. For a comprehensive, interactive guide to local theater in Pittsburgh, visit pgTHEATERnow.
Sharon Eberson can be reached at
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and 412-263-1960.
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