A new campaign aims to make it easy for Pittsburghers to “Go See a Show” in venues large as well as small across the city.

The Go See a Show Campaign Launches in Pittsburgh Thanks to City Theatre and Pittsburgh Public Theater

The mission, and function, of the Go See a Show campaign is simple.

As James McNeel, managing director of City Theatre, puts it: “You can see theater every night, if you want. Here’s where to find it.”

At the Go See a Show Pittsburgh website, an easy-to-navigate list of current and upcoming theater productions includes shows big as well as small. Community groups sit alongside Cultural District institutions. Each show listing links to a ticketing site — not to mention most offer a significant discount on tickets.

“There’s something about being a community committed to arts and culture,” says Shaunda McDill, managing director of Pittsburgh Public Theater. “The reality is that we know, for a fact, that we are better together — and by utilizing something like Go See a Show, we are able to invest in other organizations.”

Finding Theaters (and Audiences) Throughout the Region

Inspired by similar efforts in Portland and Washington, D.C., the Go See a Show campaign was developed with funding from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD); earmarked for a future collaboration between City Theatre and the Public Theater, the companies opted (with RAD’s blessing) to put the money toward an initiative that would lift companies throughout western Pennsylvania.

“There are cultural districts across this region,” McNeel says. “This is a way of lifting [them] up. It’s just smart business, too … While we do have crossover amongst our audience, obviously, it wasn’t as much as we thought, and it wasn’t as much as we had prior to the pandemic,” when theatergoing habits changed profoundly. Combined with a downturn in media coverage for arts events — “We have a real deficit in terms of how you get the word out about this culturally rich community,” McNeel says — the need to amplify shows throughout the region was clear.

One-Stop Shopping for Live Theater

The Go See a Show website, which will be active at least through July, lists the next event from each of the more than 20 (and counting) organizations that are taking part in the campaign. The website does not charge partner organizations for inclusion; they only ask them to keep information current, McNeel says.

In an era when many arts organizations face reduced funding, McDill says efforts like Go See a Show help remind locals of the abundance of art in their communities.

“There’s so many things happening in the city; how do we put forth something together, in a unified fashion, that speaks to the arts portion of arts and culture?”

The Go See a Show website is live, with links to 17 current and upcoming performances, now.

Story by Sean Collier
Photos by Kristi Jan Hoover for Malcolm X and Redd Foxx City Theatre

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