Off the Record set to poke fun at newsmakers
Off the Record is back, and “It’s Buc’n Huuuge!” The smart one-evening-only musical satire is in its 16th year and has raised more than $500,000 for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and other charities.
In this election year, the OTR XVI theme is a mashup of Pirates’ woes, Pittsburgh news and newsmakers and all those pesky candidates, within a framework inspired by the musical “Damn Yankees.” The show taking place Thursday at the Byham Theater, Downtown, was written primarily by Gary Rotstein, a Post-Gazette reporter and co-founder of the annual event with its longtime producer, PG senior theater critic Christopher Rawson. Lyrics are set to Broadway and pop tunes by present and former PG staff, and the performers include professional actors from SAGAFTRA Ohio-Pittsburgh, which co-sponsors the event with the Pittsburgh Newspaper Guild.
Nothing’s off base — everything from driverless cars to the Stanley Cup-winning Penguins will be spoofed — under the direction of Mindy Rossi-Stabler, head of the Pittsburgh CAPA theater program, and music director Michael Mackey.
Onstage will be the familiar faces of local actors such as David Flick as Donald Trump, Sam Turich as a swoon-worthy Francisco Cervelli, Lisa Ann Goldsmith as Hillary Clinton, Tressa Glover as Katie McGinty and Christine Laitta as ... sorry, it’s off the record before the show. They and former Pirates announcer Lanny Frattare (bravely tackling the role of former Pirates announcer Lanny Frattare) share the stage with talented (to varying degrees) amateurs, politicians and PG staffers, all donating their time for a few good causes.
The comic look back at local and national news and sports includes a celebration of Kevin McClatchy, honored for helping to keep the Pirates in Pittsburgh. KDKA-TV’s Ken Rice returns as emcee, and PG columnist Gene Collier — a stand-up comedian in his nonwriting life — fills the role of what has come to be known as the Off the Record “prebuttalist.”