Laura Osnes, Santino Fontana, Stephanie J. Block & More Set for 2015-16 TRUST Cabaret Series

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is pleased to announce the fourth season for the 2015-2016 TRUST Cabaret Series. This popular series provides audiences with a rare opportunity to experience the finest cabaret artists and their outstanding musical accompanists at the intimate Cabaret at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue, in downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District. The 2015-2016 TRUST Cabaret Series will showcase award-winning Broadway, stage and film stars Tommy Tune, Stephanie J. Block, Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana performing together on one night, followed by Rebecca Luker and closing the season will be a performance by Paulo Szot. These exceptional performers will share a special evening of cabaret featuring songs from current Broadway, Jazz, American Standards and more.

Subscription packages for the 2015-2016 TRUST Cabaret Series are on sale Friday, June 19, 2015. Single tickets will go on sale Friday, August 14, 2015. TRUST Cabaret Series performances begin at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., Cabaret at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue. Series subscriptions include all five performances and are available as follows: Tables and Hi-top seating subscriptions are $240; Theater seating subscriptions are $200. For subscription information call (412) 456-1390. Groups of 10+ call (412) 471-6930. Accessible services are available. Table and hi-top seating for single tickets: $60; Theater seating for single tickets: $50. Full tables are also available.

For information, call (412) 456-6666, visit TrustArts.org/Cabaret Series or in person at Theater Square Box Office, 655 Penn Avenue. Food and beverages are available for purchase at the Cabaret at Theater Square. Enjoy fabulous entertainment, a great menu, delicious desserts, coffee and a full bar. Theater Square also offers convenient parking.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust gratefully acknowledges the Benter Foundation and Richard E. Rauh for their generous support of the TRUST Cabaret Series, which is arranged in cooperation with rj productions.

TOMMY TUNE
Monday, October 5, 2015
Broadway icon Tommy Tune is one of the country's most prolific performer/director/choreographers of the great American stage. Throughout his outstanding career, Mr. Tune has received ten Tony Awards, The National Medal of Arts, eight Drama Desk Awards, three Astaire Awards, and multiple Life Time Achievement Awards including the Society of Directors and Choreographers' George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement. On June 7, 2015, Mr. Tune was honored with the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

A native Texan, Mr. Tune began his career as a dancer in the Broadway shows BAKER STREET, A JOYFUL NOISE and HOW NOW DOW JONES. He has received Tony Awards for THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES (Direction and Choreography), GRAND HOTEL (Direction and Choreography), MY ONE AND ONLY (Actor in a Musical and Choreography),NINE (Direction), A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD/A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE and SEESAW (Featured Actor in a Musical). Tune received two Tony nominations (Direction and Choreography) for THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS. Film credits include Hello Dolly, The Boy Friend, and Mimi Bluette...fiore del mio giardino, and in 1999, Mr. Tune made his Las Vegas debut as the star of EFX at the MGM Grand Hotel.

Mr. Tune is the recipient of the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor for artistic achievement given by the President of the United States, and he has been honored with his own star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into The Theater Hall of Fame by Gwen Verdon. In 2009 the New York Landmarks Conservancy designated Mr. Tune as a Living Landmark. In early 2015 Mr. Tune received rave reviews for his tap dancing and singing role in the Encores! production of Lady, Be Good! at New York City Center. He is currently touring the country in his one-man show, Taps, Tunes and Tall Tales.

STEPHANIE J. BLOCK
Monday, November 9, 2015
Ms. Block has established herself as one of the most relevant and versatile voices in contemporary musical theatre. She received both the 2013 TONY Award and Drama Desk nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood in The Roundabout Theatre's production of THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. Other Broadway credits include Reno Sweeney in the 2011 TONY Award winning revival of ANYTHING GOES, 9 TO 5:THE MUSICAL playing the role of Judy Bernly for which she earned a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She created the roles of Grace O'Malley in THE PIRATE QUEEN and Liza Minnelli in THE BOY FROM OZ (opposite Hugh Jackman). Ms. Block is best known for her portrayal as Elphaba in the Broadway company of WICKED as well as originating the role in the First National Tour for which she won numerous awards including the prestigious Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.

In addition to her Broadway roles, Ms. Block has an extensive career in Off-Broadway and regional theater productions. Other career highlights include featured vocalist with symphony orchestras throughout the United States, critically acclaimed solo concerts to sold-out audiences both here and abroad, and collaborations with award-winning songwriters and composers Stephen Schwartz, Marvin Hamlisch and the legendary Dolly Parton to produce her solo album This Place I Know. Ms. Block's voice can be heard on multiple cast recordings, including THE BOY FROM OZ, THE PIRATE QUEEN, WICKED's 5th Anniversary Album and 9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL (Grammy Nomination).

LAURA OSNES & SANTINO FONTANA
Monday, February 8, 2016
Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana have appeared together on Broadway. Both stars were nominated for 2013 Tony Awards for leading role performances in the acclaimed and beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA.

LAURA OSNES
Laura Osnes was most recently seen on Broadway in the title role of Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA for which she received the Drama Desk Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical, as well as Tony, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League award nominations. She also earned a Tony nomination for the Broadway production of BONNIE AND CLYDE, having created the role of Bonnie at Asolo Repertory Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse. Osnes appeared as Hope Harcourt in the Tony-winning revival of ANYTHING GOES, Nellie Forbush in Lincoln Center's production of SOUTH PACIFIC, and made her Broadway debut as Sandy in the most recent revival of GREASE. Other credits include CAROUSEL at the Chicago Lyric Opera; The Threepenny Opera at the Atlantic Theater Company; ENCORES! productions of The Band Wagon, Randy Newman's Faust, and Pipe Dream; and a one-night-only concert of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Osnes has been seen on television in the CBS series Elementary, HBO's pilot The Miraculous Year, Sondheim: The Birthday Concert at Avery Fisher Hall, HBO's documentary Six by Sondheim, and the Kennedy Center Honors salutes to Barbara Cook in 2011 and Dustin Hoffman in 2012. Her many concerts and cabarets include performing with Michael Feinstein, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Pops, the Pasadena Pops, and appearing in such venues as Carnegie Hall, The Café Carlyle, 54 Below, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and the Las Vegas Smith Center. In addition to being heard on several cast recordings, Ms. Osnes has two solo albums, Dream a Little Dream: Live at The Café Carlyle and If I Tell You: The Songs of Maury Yeston.

SANTINO FONTANA
Mr. Fontana's Broadway credits include CINDERELLA (Tony Award Nomination), THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Clarence Derwent Award), BILLY ELLIOT, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS (Drama Desk Award) and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. Other stage credits include the lead role as Moss Hart in the autobiographical play ACT ONE (Lincoln Center Theater). Off-Broadway, Mr. Fontana has received acclaim for his lead role in Sons of the Prophet (Lortel, Obie awards), THE FANTASTICKS and PERFECT HARMONY (co-writer). Regional credits include Six Degrees of Separation, Death of a Salesman, A Christmas Carol, As You Like It, Hamlet (Guthrie); Love's Labour's Lost, On the Verge, September 11th Project (Chautauqua Theater Co.); NYSAF; Sundance Theatre Lab. Film: Frozen; Jack Ryan; Nancy, Please. Television credits include "The Money," "The Good Wife," "Nurse Jackie," "A Gifted Man," "Royal Pains," "Made in Jersey." He will be seen this fall in CW's "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" and NBC's "Shades of Blue". Webseries: "Submissions Only."

For his role as Prince Topher in CINDERELLA, Mr. Fontana was nominated for a 2013 Tony Award - Nominee for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, as well as Broadway.com Audience Choice Award nomination for Favorite Actor in a Musical, Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Favorite Onstage Pair, with Laura Osnes and Outer Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.

REBECCA LUKER
Monday, March 14, 2016
Rebecca Luker most recently starred in the world premiere of Ahrens and Flaherty's acclaimed new musical Little Dancer, directed and choreographed by Susan Storman, at the Kennedy Center. Ms. Luker's Broadway debut was in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA as Christine. She went on to play the Fairy Godmother in CINDERELLA, Winifred in the original Broadway production of MARY POPPINS, Claudia Nardi in NINE, opposite Antonio Banderas, Marian Paroo in THE MUSIC MAN, Maria in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Magnolia in SHOWBOAT and Lily in THE SECRET GARDEN. In total, Ms. Luker has been nominated for three Tony awards, two Drama Desk awards and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. Ms. Luker's recording career includes four solo albums: I Got Love - Songs of Jeremy Kern, Greenwich Time, Leaving Home, and Anything Goes: Rebecca Luker Sings Cole Porter; and she has been featured on multiple original cast recordings including PASSION, THE MUSIC MAN and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. She has performed Off-Broadway in THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES and DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY and THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE and WHERE'S CHARLEY? (Encores!).

Ms. Luker performed to sold-out audiences at her critically acclaimed American Songbook Series solo concerts at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She has been a featured vocalist performing with orchestras throughout the United States and abroad- American, Baltimore, Cleveland, Chicago, Hollywood Bowl, Royal Stockholm and London Orchestras and more. Ms. Luker's television appearances include "Boardwalk Empire," "The Good Wife," "Matlock, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and the Hallmark movie Cupid & Cate. Her films include Not Fade Away (directed by David Chase) and The Rewrite starring Hugh Grant, (directed by Marc Lawrence).

PAULO SZOT
Monday, April 11, 2016
Mr. Szot made his opera debut in Il barbiere di Siviglia in 1997 in Brazil and his Broadway debut as Emile De Becque in a revival of SOUTH PACIFIC in 2008. He won a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award and the Theatre World Award for his role in SOUTH PACIFIC, making him the first Brazilian actor to receive these honors. Mr. Szot has performed with the New York City Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Rome Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Opéra de Marseille and Vlaamse Opera and more in productions such as Carmen, Don Giovanni, La Boheme and Cosi fan tutte. In the 2008-2009 season, Mr. Szot made his New York Philharmonic debut in a concert conducted by Marvin Hamlisch, appearing alongside Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey and Kelli O'Hara. In 2010-2011, he made his highly acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in a new production of The Nose, conducted by Valery Gergiev, and he made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops Orchestra. Mr. Szot performed in the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center as part of the American Songbook Series, and at the Café Carlyle in New York City in a solo show An Evening with Paulo Szot. He was nominated for a Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs Award for Best Celebrity Show in 2013.

About the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh's most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country's largest land masses "curated" by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh's quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Cultural Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts. For more information, visit TrustArts.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.