Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh, the new company born from the merger of the Pittsburgh Public Theater and the Pittsburgh CLO, has announced its inaugural season of shows — and the calendar stretches all the way through 2027, with no off-season.
Musicals, Shakespeare, New Plays and More From Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh’s 2027 Season
The first full season from the new company will kick off on February 2, 2027, with the musical romance She Loves Me. Set in a perfume shop, the show — which was the inspiration for the hit romcom You’ve Got Mail — is written by Fiddler on the Roof creators Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock. It’ll serve as the first official production from Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh and run throughout February.
She Loves Me will be followed by playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Purpose, winner of the 2025 Tony Award for Best Play; this will be the first Pittsburgh staging of the acclaimed drama. Purpose runs from March 30-April 18. It will be followed by a new staging of a very familiar show: Les Misérables, by some measures the most performed musical in the world.
Both She Loves Me and Purpose will be staged at the O’Reilly Theater, while Les Misérables will relocate to the Byham Theater. Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh intends to use multiple venues throughout the Cultural District rather than operate out of one home base (though its offices will be in the O’Reilly).
Later in the year, the company will present: another musical stalwart, Cabaret, at the O’Reilly; Matt and Ben, a comedy about the early career of Hollywood buddies Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (written by Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers), to be staged at the Greer Cabaret; Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, at the O’Reilly; and a to-be-announced musical appropriate for the Halloween season.
Something for Public Theater Fans, CLO Lovers — and Both
The new company is also offering subscription series for partisans who prefer just one of its forerunners — or a larger package for both.
Subscribers can opt for the CLO track, comprising She Loves Me, Les Misérables, Cabaret and the unannounced fall musical — or go with the Public package, featuring She Loves Me (shared by both packages), Purpose, Matt and Ben and Comedy of Errors.
A seven-show subscription is also available.
More programming should be announced soon, including several additional productions including a holiday special, an additional play and a new works festival (presented with the Carnegie Mellon Center for New Work).
The signature educational offerings of both companies — CLO’s Gene Kelly Awards and the Public’s Shakespeare Contest — will also continue.
In the meantime, Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh is presenting its prelude season through the end of 2026, featuring the one-man show How Shakespeare Saved My Life, the raucous and ribald holiday comedy Who’s Holiday! and the perennial favorite A Musical Christmas Carol.
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About the Author and Photographer
Sean Collier is the editor-in-chief of Shady Ave and the arts and culture editor of TABLE Magazine. Before joining the TABLE Media team, he spent nearly 15 years as a writer, editor and columnist at Pittsburgh Magazine. As the in-house film critic for the top-rated WDVE Morning Show since 2009, he’s been Pittsburgh’s most widely heard voice on movies for nearly two decades. A Pittsburgh native, Sean has since 2020 appeared weekly on KDKA-TV’s popular Pittsburgh Today Live talk show. He’s the co-founder of Vigilance Theater Group and an active stand-up comedian and event host. He can be found on Instagram and Twitter at @seancollierpgh.
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