December, 2019 Digital 100 Point Park PCAM’s Growing Crises Ideliza Medina, the former direc- ter and Regent Square Theater. Cans Play tor of finance and controller at The organization even plans to the Pittsburgh Center for Arts vacate the former mansion that Amid growing concerns among & Media (PCAM) has sued the has been its long-time home. Point Park University students group in federal court, reports The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette re- and faculty, the university's Pitts- WESA-FM's Bill O'Driscoll. ports that the Pittsburgh Cul- burgh Playhouse has cancelled its tural Trust, who owns the Harris, forthcoming production of will assume its programming "Adding Machine: A Musical." through the end of the year. The lawsuit is another incident in Medina's lawsuit claims that she the continuing tumult rocking an was fired for blowing the whistle organization that was originally on some $250,000 in misspend- called Pittsburgh Filmmakers/ ing after presenting a report titled Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Report of Mismanaged Adminis- O'Driscoll published an extensive trative Spending to PCAM's article on November 25 [https:// board vice president in May. Her www.wesa.fm/post/pittsburgh- suit includes considerable docu- The musical has its roots in the arts-group-announces-layoffs- mentation. Read more of O'Dris- 1923 play "Adding Machine" closure-theaters-and-gallery- coll's reporting at https:// written by Pulitzer Prize winning building#stream/0 - ed.] after www.wesa.fm/post/whistleblower playwright Elmer Rice (1892- PCAM announced massive lay- -sues-pittsburgh-arts-group-over- 1967). "Adding Machine" is an offs and the discontinuation of firing#stream/0 experimental work regarded by programming at the Harris Thea- many historians as "a landmark of American Expressionism". The play episodically tells the story of seemingly ever-darkening world an accountant named Mr. Zero with a measure of equanimity." who is replaced after 25 years on the job by an adding machine. Mr. But the dark nature of the work Zero retaliates by killing his boss increasingly troubled those in- and is subsequently put on trial volved with the production. Jor- for murder. dyn Hronec, writing for the uni- versity's student newspaper, ex- "Adding Machine" was turned plains that "Adding Machine: The into a musical by composer Musical" was canceled after a Scroll down to Joshua Schmidt who also wrote November 21 meeting with some page 14 to see the book and lyrics with writer 200 students. Many of those in Jason Loewith. The musical attendance specifically referred to Channel Pittsburgh’s opened Off-Broadway in 2008 lyrics considered racist and mi- December 2019 where it earned critical acclaim sogynist. Even some of the stu- and four Lucille Lortel Awards. dents involved with the produc- program schedule. tion expressed concerns. You can The New York Times' Charles read Hronec's full article by click- Isherwood wrote at the time that ing https:// the musical is "nobody's idea of a ppuglobe.com/2019/11/dean-of- giddy, escapist good time" yet copa-cancels-show-adding- "leaves you with the significant machine/ consolation of viewing our own Pittsburgh Applause 2 Pittsburgh Applause “Zoe” Lead PSO’s Grammy Noms A recording recently released by deeply honored to be nominated Picked the Pittsburgh Symphony Or- for three Grammy's, including chestra (PSO) has been nomi- nominations for our marvelous Sadie Sink, a star of Netflix's nated for three Grammy Awards. partners at SoundMirror, master popular "Stranger Things" series engineer Mark Donahue and pro- has been tapped to portray the The recording ducer Dirk Sobotka,” said Melia lead in a film adaptation of the is of the PSO Tourangeau, President and CEO novel Dear Zoe. The news was performing of the Pittsburgh Symphony Or- first reported by Etan Vlessing for the ninth chestra, in a press release.. “The The Hollywood Reporter. symphony orchestra’s recording legacy is 80 written by years old and continues to bring The 2004 novel is the story of Austrian the best in classical music to peo- Pittsburgh teenager Tess DeNun- composer ple around the world.” zio, who writes to her younger Anton Bruckner (1824-1896). sister Zoe about her experiences This was Bruckner's final sym- This is the third year in a row that after Zoe died. phony, which remained unfin- the PSO has received a Grammy ished when he died. He dedicated nomination for Best Orchestral Read more at https:// it "to the beloved God." Scholars Performance, taking home the www.hollywoodreporter.com/ consider the composition to be an award in 2018. The ceremony will news/stranger-things-star-sadie- important link between late ro- take place on January 26 and sink-joins-drama-dear-zoe- mantic and modern periods. The broadcast live on CBS-TV. Bill- 1253213 work finally premiered in Vienna board has published the full list of in 1903. nominees at https:// www.billboard.com/articles/news/ “On behalf of our brilliant Music awards/8544267/2020-grammy- Director Manfred Honeck and our nominations-complete-list exceptional musicians, the Pitts- burgh Symphony Orchestra is Mariss Jansons Dies At press time the Associated Press age of 13, Jansons began studying reported the death of Mariss Jan- piano and conducting at Russia's sons, who was music director for internationally respected Rimsky- the Pittsburgh Symphony Or- Korsakov Saint Petersburg chestra (PSO) from 1997 to State Conservatory. He won 2004. He was 76. many awards in a storied career. Mariss Jansons Jansons’ death in the imperial was born in Latvia capitol St. Petersburg was con- during the German firmed by the Bavarian Radio Occupation of Symphony Orchestra, where he World War II was chief conductor. (1939-1945). His mother was an opera singer and his father an award winning conductor. At the www.pittsburghapplause.com www.pittsburghaebook.com Pittsburgh Applause 4 Pittsburgh Applause New Carnegie Leader WPXI Fires Dr. Steven Knapp has been “Steve is such an accomplished named the next president of the and thoughtful leader, and a real Benson Carnegie Museums of Pitts- champion of interdisciplinary burgh. collaboration and community Long-time meteorologist Kevin engagement,” said Bill Hunt, Benson has been fired from Cox chair of Carnegie Museums of Enterprises' WPXI-TV, reports Pittsburgh’s board of trustees, in a Rob Owen for the Pittsburgh Post press release. “He’s a convener -Gazette. and an exceptional strategist, and he immediately stood out to us as Knapp was president of George the kind of visionary leader who Washington University (GW) will be a strong voice not only for for ten years where his accom- Carnegie Museums but also plishments included the formation within the greater Pittsburgh re- of the university's Corcoran gion.” Benson was charged in Washing- School of the Arts and Design. ton County on November 6 for Dr. Knapp assumes his position driving under the influence. A on February 1. blood test at the time of his arrest showed his alcohol content at nearly four times the legal limit -- Project Stream Grants - along with "an inactive cocaine metabolite." On November 22, the Greater include Poor Yorick's Players' Pittsburgh Arts Council summer 2020 for William Shake- Owen received confirmation of (GPAC) announced the recipients speare's play "Richard III;" and the dismissal on November 19 by of nearly $70,000 in Pennsyl- the creation of a short film about news director Scott Trabandt. vania Council on the Arts (PCA) contemporary dance by Cho- Benson had been with the station grants. reoNova Inc. since 1987. The grants Among the individuals are singer come from Mandy Kivowitz-Delfaver (better the PCA known as Phatmandee) for her program weekly jazz series in Allentown; called Pro- artist Cheryl Capeuti for her pup- ject Stream. pet lending library; and composer/ This pro- musician Roger Rafael Romero gram pro- for free-admission concerts. vides micro-funding ($2,500 or less) to eligible individuals and The full list is available at http:// organizations. GPAC is the desig- www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/ nated distributor for southwest programs/grants/10-general/5162- Pennsylvania. project-stream-grant-ceremony Forty-one local entities received Project Stream funding. These www.pittsburghapplause.com www.pittsburghaebook.com Pittsburgh Applause 5 Pittsburgh Applause PSO’s “Philharmonia” Fest Opera’s Performance dates are being set Computer co-founder Steve Jobs New AD for an innovative multi-media (1955-2011). project co-commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orches- "Philharmonia Fantastique: The The world renowned mezzo so- tra (PSO). Making of the Orchestra" com- prano Marianne Cornetti has been bines live-action with animation named artistic director of the That project, to show how an orchestra's instru- Pittsburgh Festival Opera reports ments work and is screened in (PFO). Geoff tandem with live symphonic per- Boucher for formances. Deadline, is an animated The PSO is one of five orchestras short film that have commissioned the pro- created to ject. One of the others, the Chi- match a new 25-minute concerto cago Symphony Orchestra, will written by composer Mason debut the project this March. At Bates. The Grammy Award win- press time, no date for the PSO's ner is best known for his usage of performance had been announced. According to a PFO press release, electronics in his orchestral the organization welcomes "a new works. At just 42 years old, Bates Learn more by reading Boucher's artistic vision grounded in Cor- is the second-most performed full article at: https:// netti’s 30-plus