Prime Stage Theatre to Present 2nd Annual Cemetery Walk at Homewood Cemetery

If you've ever wanted to have an intimate conversation about Oreos or Fig Newtons with the fellow who invented them, stop by Homewood Cemetery on the afternoon of Sept. 28 and meet Sylvester Stephen Marvin.

While Marvin died in 1924 at age 83 after founding Nabisco and other landmark baking companies, he'll be one of seven Homewood Cemetery residents portrayed by professional actors in period costumes during Prime Stage Theatre's 2nd Annual Cemetery Walk.

The rain-or-shine event offers 11 one-hour walking tours from noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at Homewood Cemetery, 1599 S. Dallas Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA in Point Breeze. Tickets are $20 per person, available online and presale only at https://primestage.com/events/.

Pittsburgh actors taking on historic identities are Sandy Boggs, Jeff Boles, Mark Boles, John Dolphin, Rebecca Godlove, Mairead Roddy and Suzanne Ward.

Besides Marvin, notable figures on the tour include a Civil War nurse, a 1910s suffragette, a Roaring Twenties stockbroker, the first director of the Carnegie Hero Fund, the wife of a Pittsburgh city councilman and Irish emigrant Charles Arbuthnot offering recollections on surviving the Great Pittsburgh Fire of 1845.

Homewood Cemetery was established in 1878 from the estate of William Wilkins, a 19th-century Pittsburgh judge who served as U.S. Minister to Russia and Secretary of War under President John Tyler. Nearly 79,000 graves lie within 200 acres of well-maintained landscape dotted by a profusion of monuments ranging from angels and obelisks to mausoleums and illustrated headstones.

"Many of our mainstage plays have history as a central focus," says Prime Stage Theatre artistic director Dr. Wayne Brinda. "The Cemetery Walk is a chance for us to present audiences with a personal look at historic Pittsburghers and the impact they had on shaping our community."

Founded in 1996 with the mission of "bringing literature to life", Prime Stage Theatre has produced over 100 plays and won national recognition as a leader in educational theatre.

See a preview of the cemetery walk below!

For more information on Prime Stage Theatre's 2024-25 season, contact Connie Brinda, Prime Stage Theatre General Manager at (724) 773-0700 or cbrinda@primestage.com

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