Casting Set for BABY and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at Front Porch Theatricals
Learn more about the season here!
By: Blair Ingenthron Feb. 08, 2025
Front Porch Theatricals has announced casting for their 2025 season. “We were humbled to have nearly 250 talented Pittsburgh actors come out for auditions and callbacks. Our region is truly lucky to have the caliber of artists that made our directors' jobs both easier and much more difficult,” said Producer Bruce E. G. Smith.
From May 16 - 25 the company will present Baby, with a book by Sybille Pearson, music by David Shire, and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., that first ran on Broadway from 1983 to 1984. And from August 15 - 24, FPT is thrilled to present the first locally produced professional production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George.
Baby includes returning cast members: Allan Snyder (A Man of No Importance) as Alan, Saige Smith (A…My Name is Still Alice) as Lizzie, Becki Toth as Arlene (in her 7th FPT), and Lindsay Bayer and David Ieong (each in their 5th FPT production). New to Front Porch include performers: Maria Bechtell, Braden Stroppel, Sarah Hennessy, Isabella Corea and William Forrest Smith.
The cast of Sunday in the Park with George includes: Aaron Galligan-Stierle as George (new to FPT), as well as returning performers Saige Smith (A…My Name is Still Alice) as Dot/Marie, Becki Toth in her 8th FPT production and David Ieong in his 6th production, Marnie Quick (Bright Star, Merrily, Bandstand), and Christy Rodibaugh (Grand Hotel). New performers to FPT include Daphne Alderson, Favor Buchi, Shawn Doremus, Robert Frankenberry, Ben Nadler, Sarah Joyce Reynolds, Tommy Sanders, Brad Smoak, Caroline Travers, Matty Thornton, and Eleni Elizabeth Josephs.
THE SEASON/THE SHOWS
Front Porch Theatricals 2025 Season will be produced at the New Hazlett Theater on Pittsburgh's Northside.
BABY
May 16-25
Director: Kristiann Menotiades
Music Director: Deana Muro
With a book by Sybille Pearson, music by David Shire, and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., this musical first ran on Broadway from 1983 to 1984. The show was nominated for many awards and won the Drama Desk and Theatre World awards for best musical. This updated 2021 version of Baby follows three couples on a university campus dealing with the painful, rewarding and unexpectedly funny consequences of the universal experience of pregnancy and parenthood. The couples include two college students, barely at the beginning of their adult lives; the thirty-somethings, having trouble conceiving but determined not to give up; and middle-aged parents, previously looking forward to an empty nest when an unexpected night of passion lands them back where they started. This musical will give us all a lot to consider about the ups and downs of parenthood.
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
August 15-24
Director: Rob James
Music Director: Camille Rolla
Sunday in the Park with George is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (painted, 1884–1886). The plot revolves around George, a fictionalized version of Seurat, who immerses himself deeply in painting his masterpiece, and his great-grandson (also named George), a conflicted and cynical contemporary artist. The Broadway production opened in 1984. The musical won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (there have only been 10 musicals that have won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama), two Tony Awards for design (and a nomination for Best Musical), numerous Drama Desk Awards, the 1991 Olivier Award for Best Musical, and the 2007 Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production. It has enjoyed several major revivals, including the 2005–06 UK production and a 2017 Broadway revival. The show deals with the challenges of making art especially in trying times, and the intrusion of technology in our lives, as well as the importance of family and legacy.
THE COMPANY
FRONT PORCH THEATRICALS is a Pittsburgh-based musical theater company recognized for producing high quality, professional musicals embracing meaningful subjects using Pittsburgh's tremendous talent base. The Company, an IRS §501(c)(3) charitable organization that in 2016 proudly became an Allegheny Regional Asset District asset, produced Only Me in 2009; Next to Normal and In the Heights in 2012 and 2013 in association with Carnivale Theatrics; Parade in 2014; The Last Five Years and The Light in the Piazza in 2015; The Spitfire Grill and Floyd Collins in 2016; Violet and Big Fish (sold out run) in 2017, A New Brain and Grey Gardens (sold out run) in 2018, Bright Star and Fun Home in 2019 (largest season audience in our history), A Man of No Importance and Grand Hotel in 2022, Falsettos and Merrily We Roll Along in 2023, and A…My Name Is Still Alice and Bandstand in 2024. The Company's mission is to provide our region with professional, high-quality socially relevant musical theater productions featuring Pittsburgh's diverse actor, artistic and technical talent base. Emphasis is also placed on mentoring youth through our intern and apprenticeship programs and in hiring local artistic and technical talent to create a high-level professional vehicle for directors and artists to realize their visions. Front Porch emphasizes shows addressing serious social, cultural and moral issues and is deeply committed to inclusiveness and utilizing local performers and Production Team members.
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