Outdoors again
RAD grant will allow PBT’s Open Air series to continue for years
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s spring Open Air series just concluded, but plans are already in the works to bring it back. The Allegheny Regional Asset District board approved a $250,000 connection grant that would allow PBT to continue the series with the inclusion of other RAD-funded and eligible organizations.
“Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has taken a community-minded approach to reintroducing the performing arts in our region,” Dusty Elias Kirk, RAD’s board chair, said in a prepared statement. “As stewards of taxpayer dollars, the RAD board strives to ensure that our funding supports greater access to our regional assets for everyone. The Open Air series offers an exciting way for people to engage with our many excellent performing arts organizations right in their own neighborhoods, and we are proud to support the series as it continues to expand its reach.”
Funding will be released in three phases: $125,000 in 2021, $75,000 in 2022 and $50,000 in 2023. The grant will support at least six more series events to be held each fall and spring.
“This is great seed support to then leverage other sponsorships,” said PBT executive director Harris Ferris.
PBT purchased the Stageline SAM450 mobile stage for $800,000 last summer with financial support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Edith L. Trees Charitable Trust, Jack Buncher Foundation and Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. The plan was that it could not only help PBT safely engage with audiences during the pandemic but also extend that opportunity to other arts organizations. The mobile stage got its premiere last fall when PBT presented a series of outdoor performances at its headquarters in the Strip District.
For the latest Open Air series, PBT set up the mobile stage on Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park for two weeks of programming by dozens of arts organizations, including dance, music and theater groups. The lineup concluded on Memorial Day.
“In some ways, it was better than we could have hoped for,” Ferris said. In particular, he credits PBT’s director of production Curtis Dunn and production stage manager Alicia Reece for keeping the mammoth production flowing smoothly.
He was encouraged by the positive feedback and turnout, too. More than 6,000 people registered to attend PBT’s performances alone, which doesn’t include those who chose to sit on the lawn.
“That’s pretty much double [the number of people in a theater] we would perform for during a mixed repertory program for a spring season,” Ferris said.
Audience members could pay to reserve a chair closer to the stage or bring their own chair or blanket to watch performances from the lawn for free.
“A lot of people elected to go put their blankets on the lawn. Maybe they wanted to have a picnic or open up a bottle of wine,” Ferris said. “A lot of people who even paid for seats decided to sit out on the grass and have that freedom. We learned that people do love the freedom of movement to sit wherever they want.”
He said PBT’s team is already brainstorming when, where and how to present
next Open Air series, including whether or not to make all seating free and open to the public. They’re also considering if another summer month might have better weather. This time, some participating arts organizations decided to cancel their appearances because of rain and cold temperatures during the event’s second weekend. Others, however, embraced the unfavorable conditions.
“The Balafon West African Dance Ensemble was amazing. They stoically performed in the rain, and the audience watched them in the rain,” Ferris said.
PBT also is researching where to take the Open Air series to in the future. In addition to Schenley Park and PBT’s Strip District headquarters, Hazelwood Green in Homewood, Boyce Park in Monroeville and Plum, and outside the Meadows Casino and Race track in Washington County are some options.
“We see this as a vehicle for the pied piper theory,” Ferris said. “Let’s bring the theater to them, and then lure audiences to [want to see performances in the Cultural District] and educate people and get others involved.”