The ancient Greeks considered theater a healing art. Whether you’re stressed out about post-holiday debt, crabby from doing Dry January, or just facing some of that good old seasonal depression, going to see a theater performance can be one way to get out of your own head and focus on something else. Pittsburgh’s world-class performing arts organizations have started up their spring shows for 2025, and there’s something for everyone in the upcoming months. Plus, look for special Valentine’s Day shows to enjoy with that special someone.
Fall in Love with Pittsburgh Theater Performances This Winter
Armida
Pittsburgh Opera, January 25 – February 2
This January’s Armida is the Pittsburgh Opera’s very first production of Haydn’s musical masterpiece, with a libretto by Antonio Tozzi. Enchantress Armida attempts to seduce the knight Rinaldo, but finds that she falls in love with him herself as war rages around them. This tale of conflict and conquest has enchanted audiences for centuries, and this spring it can enchant you too.
Shostakovich’s Final Symphony
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, January 31 & February 21
Oboist Cynthia Kolmedo DeAlmeida will be performing the last symphony famed composer Shostakovich penned, in the twilight of his life. The orchestra describes it as “intensely personal, enigmatic, and somewhat surreal.”
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, February 7, 8, 9
Experience John Williams’s iconic score as never before with a live symphonic concert from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The movie will be screening at the same time as the artists play under the direction of conductor Jacob Joyce. Don’t miss this one, for classical music aficionados and sci-fi fans alike.
Dvorák’s New World Valentine’s Weekend
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra February 14, 15, 16
Czech composer Antonin Dvorák traveled to America and drew inspiration from the music he heard there for his “New World” symphonies. If you’re soft-launching a new relationship, consider celebrating the newness of love with these inventive classical pieces. Or, take a long-standing beau to remember that you can always see something new in each other.
Life of Pi
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, January 28 – Sun, February 2, 2025
Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi, an epic tale of the search for meaning in a confusing world, now takes to the stage. Fans of the movie and the original novel may remember that a tiger and an orangutan is one of its central components, and the stage adaptation doesn’t skimp on those with world-class puppetry and stagecraft. No real tigers, though.
Trouble in Mind
Pittsburgh Public Theater, February 5 – February 23,
Broadway executives once banned this satirical play by Alice Childress. Its original premier date was 1955, but it didn’t get its due until 2021, 66 years after. Why? Well, you’ll have to see it to find out. It’s a case of a play-within-a-play and a commentary on the treatment black performers receive on Broadway. This winter, it’s showing in Pittsburgh for the first time since its Broadway debut.
Unreconciled
Barebones Theater, Jan 31 – Feb 16
Unreconciled is a true story, following a survivor of sexual abuse in the Catholic church attempting to navigate a victims’ reparations program. It asks complex questions about what true reconciliation and healing really looks like, in the form of a one-man-show.
Romeo and Juliet with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater Orchestra
Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Feb 14, 15, 16
You can’t beat Romeo and Juliet for romance. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is putting on a special Valentine’s Day performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s gorgeous ballet interpretation of the greatest love story ever told. (And before you protest that “they both die at the end,” nobody ever said a great love story had to be a happy one).
Story by Emma Riva
Photo Rinaldo and Armida by Karl Ferdinand Sohn, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Opera
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