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The new musical’s producers, writers and costume designer reflect on the training that put them on the path to Broadway

“The Lost Boys” just might be Broadway’s “most” show this season — most spectacular, most rock-and-roll, and most Tony-nominated. It also has the most Carnegie Mellon University alumni as part of its production team, racking up seven of CMU’s 15 nominations this year.

The show’s three lead producers, James Carpinello (CFA, 1997), Marcus Chait (CFA, 1997) and Patrick Wilson (CFA, 1995) met over 30 years ago in the School of Drama as acting students, but early on, Chait had his sights set beyond the stage.

We celebrate our talented alumni who work on stage and behind the scenes to bring each Broadway season to life! The list below highlights CMU alumni who have worked on productions in the 2025/2026 season.*

All Out: Comedy About Ambition

Jake DeGroot – Lighting Designer

Peter Hylenski – Sound Designer

Dan Miele – Associate Sound Designer

Art

Ankit Agrawal – Producer

The Balusters

Erica Hemminger – Associate Scenic Designer

Celeste Lagrotteria – Senior Production Manager

Beaches

Iris Rainer Dart – Book & Lyrics

Tamara Tunie – Producer

Bug

Celeste Lagrotteria – Senior Production Manager

Selby Souza – Assistant Scenic Designer

Call Me Izzy

Ankit Agrawal – Producer

Jamie deRoy – Producer

Evan Schild – Associate Producer

Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Tara Lashan Clinkscales – Actor

Chess

Bradley Dean – Actor

Jamie deRoy – Producer

Evan Schild – Co-Producer/Associate Producer

Dog Day Afternoon

Iris Chiu – Assistant Sound Designer

Jamie deRoy – Producer

Thomas Ford – Associate Sound Designer

Every Brilliant Thing

Jamie deRoy – Producer

Michael Kelly – House Carpenter

Fallen Angels

Tina Benko – Actor

Giant

Jamie deRoy – Producer

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Cayden McCoy – Actor

Tripp Taylor – Actor

Liberation

Kristolyn Lloyd – Actor

The Lost Boys

James Carpinello – Lead Producer

Marcus Chait – Lead Producer

Patrick Wilson – Lead Producer

Ankit Agrawal – Producer

Chris Hoch – Book Writer

David Hornsby – Book Writer

Ryan Park – Costume Designer

Henry Blazer – Assistant Scenic Designer

Mamma Mia!

Grant Reynolds – Actor

Brian Webb – Associate Scenic Designer

Marjorie Prime

Sidney Rubinowicz – Production Assistant

Oedipus

Jamie deRoy – Producer

Proof

Tate Abdullah – Assistant Sound Designer

Ankit Agrawal – Producer

Major Curda – Actor

Punch

Will Harrison – Actor

The Queen of Versailles

Stephen Schwartz – Music & Lyrics

Peter Hylenski – Sound Designer

Ryan Park – Technical Costume Design

Andrew Kober – Actor

Ryah Nixon – Actor

Dan Miele – Associate Sound Designer

Henry Blazer – Assistant Scenic Designer

Scott Wasserman – Ableton Programmer

Ragtime

John Clay III – Actor

Ben Levi Ross – Actor

Matthew Scott – Actor

Schmigadoon!

Kaleigh Cronin – Actor

Jamie deRoy – Producer

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Ankit Agrawal – Producer

Brian Webb – Associate Scenic Designer

Waiting for Godot

Ankit Agrawal – Producer

Jamie deRoy – Producer

*This list features productions that opened between April 28, 2025 and April 26, 2026.

We apologize for any omissions. Please email Shannon Musgrave with any corrections.

From center stage to creative teams behind the curtain, Carnegie Mellon University alumni are once again leaving a strong impression on Broadway, earning a record-breaking number of Tony Award nominations this year. That momentum is carrying into awards season, where a number of CMU Tartans have been nominated for the 79th Annual Tony Awards®, set to take place June 7.

The 2026 Tony Award nominations were announced on “CBS Mornings” today, including 10 Carnegie Mellon University alumni who are nominated in 8 categories. This year marks 17 consecutive years in which Carnegie Mellon alumni have earned Tony nominations.

2026 Carnegie Mellon University Tony Awards Nominees

Writers David Hornsby (1998) and Chris Hoch (1998), School of Drama alumni, were nominated for their work in “The Lost Boys” (Best Book of a Musical).
Actor Will Harrison (2019), School of Drama alumnus, was nominated for his role in “Punch” (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play).
Actor Ben Levi Ross (2017), School of Drama alumnus, was nominated for his role in “Ragtime” (Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical).
Designer Ryan Park (2009), School of Drama alumnus, was nominated for his work in “The Lost Boys” (Best Costume Design of a Musical).
Producer Jamie deRoy (1967), School of Drama alumna, was nominated for her work in “Giant” (Best Play), “Schmigadoon!” (Best Musical), “Every Brilliant Thing” and “Oedipus” (Best Revival of a Play) and “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” (Best Revival of a Musical).
Producers James Carpinello (1997), Marcus Chait (1997), Patrick Wilson (1995), School of Drama alumni, and Ankit Agrawal (2014), Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy alumnus, were nominated for their work in “The Lost Boys” (Best Musical).
Producer Ankit Agrawal (2014), Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy alumnus, was nominated for his work in “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” (Best Musical).

Quantum Theatre’s latest production gives audiences an immersive peek behind the curtain at the drama of putting on a play.

10 out of 12 by Anne Washburn is a clever comedy set amid the chaos of a technical rehearsal of a play. Quantum’s ambitious production, which runs through April 26, is directed by School of Drama professor Andrew Smith with lighting design by professor C. Todd Brown, and costume design by alumna Carrie Anne Huneycutt. Current School of Drama students are also part of the production with senior directing student Sean Barnett as assistant director, senior costume design student Kendall Swartz as wardrobe supervisor, and senior acting student Olivia Ruhnke in the cast, alongside recent alumnus Evan Vines.

Barnett describes the production as an immersive experience that puts the audience right into the center of the action. Each audience member receives a headset (like those that stage managers use to communicate with the other members of a show’s technical staff), which becomes an important vehicle for the storytelling.

“Imagine Waiting for Guffman mixed with Sleep No More,” Barnett says. “It is a story not only about making fun of ourselves as theatre people, but also one that celebrates the joy, love, and heart we put into the things we are passionate about, which I hope audiences of all backgrounds, theatre people or not, are all able to equally enjoy together.”

Barnett is in his final semester at the School of Drama, where he studies directing. He says working as an assistant director is all about supporting the director’s vision for the piece, and that his training has helped him to anticipate a production’s needs.

“For this show, it has been about being attuned to what Andrew’s intentions for the play were and how he saw conducting the process of staging this insanely technically complicated piece,” says Barnett. “I have been there as another voice for him to bounce ideas off of, helping coordinate schedules alongside our wonderful stage management team, as well as keeping track of and organizing notes for him to give to the actors in a big spreadsheet.

“It has also been such a joy in this process, as I prepare to graduate next month, to flash back to my very first class on my first day of freshman year in Andrew’s Acting I class, as I now work with him professionally in this capacity as a director.”

Curtain Up on the Mellon Institute

Quantum Theatre is known for staging plays in unlikely places, and 10 out of 12 is no exception. While the space it’s performed in may look like a traditional theater, it is actually a space inside the Mellon Institute that was originally created as a recital hall for the scientists that worked and studied there.

Normally closed to the public, the Mellon Institute stands as a temple to science and one of Pittsburgh’s architectural treasures. Designed by Benno Janssen and William York Cocken, the building opened in 1937 and occupies an entire city block. The signature 62 monolithic limestone columns — each weighing 60 tons and hand-carved — create a dramatic exterior. Beneath the surface, the structure extends into bedrock to minimize vibrations that could disrupt delicate scientific experiments.

In 1967, the Mellon Institute merged with the Carnegie Institute of Technology to form Carnegie Mellon University. The building houses faculty from the Mellon College of Science and the Neuroscience Institute.

CBS Pittsburgh’s Boaz Frankel speaks with School of Drama alum Evan Vines and Quantum Theatre’s Alex Ungerman about “10 out of 12” inside the Mellon Institute.

Quantum Theatre’s 10 out of 12 is running now through April 26 at the Mellon Institute. Tickets and more information available at quantumtheatre.com.

Featured photo of the 10 out of 12 cast by Jason Cohn, courtesy of Quantum Theatre.

Since 1960, the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc. (USITT) has been the country’s leading hub for research, innovation, and education among practitioners of theater design and technology. Its annual conference, held in a different city each year, serves as a gathering space for live entertainment’s best and brightest, which includes the faculty, students, and alumni of Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama.

This year’s conference took place March 18-21 in Long Beach, CA, where attendees took part in participatory labs, professional development workshops, an impressive stage expo, and an awards ceremony where several CMU students and alumni were honored.

Young Designers, Managers, and Technicians Awards

Caifeng Hong

Caifeng Hong (MFA, Costume Design 2025) is the recipient of the Zelma H. Weisfeld Costume Design & Technology Award, which recognizes an exceptional costume artist who is a current student (graduate or undergraduate) or an early career professional (within two years of graduation).

Julia He

Julia He (MFA, Stage & Production Management 2026) is the recipient of the USITT Stage Management Award sponsored by Clear-Com Communication Systems. This award specifically honors students who demonstrate strong organizational skills, effective communication, and the ability to lead collaborative production teams in demanding live performance environments.

Abby Yu Bi

Abby Yu Bi (MFA, Video & Media Design 2026) is the recipient of the USITT Digital Media Award sponsored by PIXERA. This award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated excellence or outstanding potential in the area of digital media design or creative technology in the performing arts while pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree.

Learn More About the YDMT Award Winners

Distinguished Achievement in Architecture

Len Auerbach

(BFA, 1966; MFA, 1967 – School of Drama)

Len is the recipient of USITT’s Distinguished Achievement Award in Architecture. The Distinguished Achievement Awards honor individuals who have established meritorious career records in specific fields of expertise in any area of design or technology in the performing arts or entertainment industry.

The Distinguished Achievement Awards honor individuals who have established meritorious career records in specific fields of expertise in any area of design or technology in the performing arts or entertainment industry.

Learn More

In addition to CMU’s award winners, several faculty and alumni led panels and workshops, while students took part in the many creative and practical offerings the conference had to offer.

Earlier this year, senior scenic design student Jordan Pincus won USITT’s poster contest and her design was sold during the conference. (Check out her work here!)

CMU at USITT 2026

Carolyn Burback and Harshitha Bharghava at USITT 2026

Scenic Design students Carolyn Burback and Harshitha Bharghava took part in the offerings of the USITT conference.

Scott Tedmon-Jones and Dick Block at USITT

Scenic Design alum Scott Tedman-Jones with Professor Dick Block at CMU’s booth on the USITT Expo floor.

Cat Wilson, Crystal Lee, and Mike Berger at USITT

Lighting Design alumni Cat Wilson, Crystal Lee, and Mike Berger reunited at USITT.

Stage & Production Management alumna Alana Clapp representing Cirque du Soleil on the USITT Expo floor.

Stewart Blackwood presenting a panel at USITT

Sound Design professor Stewart Blackwood (left) presented an Introduction to Creating Flexible Sound Cues panel at USITT.

Sydney de Haan and Katie Welker at USITT

Senior Costume Design student Sydney de Haan and senior Scenic Design student Katie Welker worked the CMU School of Drama booth on the expo floor.

Stage & Production Management alumna Danielle Bergman presented a session on “Creating the Stage Manager’s Toolkit for Sensitive Content.”

Scenic Design students Carolyn Burback and Harshitha Bharghava took part in the offerings of the USITT conference.

Scenic Design alum Scott Tedman-Jones with Professor Dick Block at CMU’s booth on the USITT Expo floor.

Lighting Design alumni Cat Wilson, Crystal Lee, and Mike Berger reunited at USITT.

Stage & Production Management alumna Alana Clapp representing Cirque du Soleil on the USITT Expo floor.

Sound Design professor Stewart Blackwood (left) presented an Introduction to Creating Flexible Sound Cues panel at USITT.

Senior Costume Design student Sydney de Haan and senior Scenic Design student Katie Welker worked the CMU School of Drama booth on the expo floor.

Stage & Production Management alumna Danielle Bergman presented a session on “Creating the Stage Manager’s Toolkit for Sensitive Content.”

Header photo: Alumni Sebastian Zavalza (second from left) and Issac Jo (third from left) served on a USITT panel titled “Integrating Antiracist Practices Into the Design Process.”

Tartans on the Rise celebrates recent alumni who are making an impact in their organizations and in their communities, across the nation and around the world through leadership, innovation and career achievements.

This year, three of the 16 honorees are alumni from the School of Drama.

BFA Acting, 2018

Sarah Pidgeon

Sarah Pidgeon’s profile as an actor is growing across the stage and screen, with a Tony nomination and major leading roles in just the last five years.

“There’s a complexity that I want to bring to all characters that I play,” Sarah says. “They’ve had so many different colors to them, but they all share a strong sense of self with both nuance and intelligence.”

More About Sarah

MFA Dramatic Writing, 2015

Tracy Held

Tracy Held’s passion for environmental issues shapes her art. She’s a writer and producer with a personal mission to elevate conservation conversations by weaving green themes into her stage productions and screenplays. By shaping the narrative around conservation, she hopes to inspire others to get more involved with solving the climate crisis.

More About Tracy

BFA Directing, 2022 | MAM, 2023

Moses Garcia

The Tony- and Grammy-winning musical “Buena Vista Social Club” features a live Afro-Cuban 10-piece band onstage with a multilingual book, making it the first Broadway musical fully sung in Spanish.

As the show’s inaugural and ongoing associate director, Moses Garcia played a formative role in bringing this celebration of Cuban culture to life onstage.

More About Moses

Meet all the 2026 Honorees.

Click here

Tartans on the Rise

For three School of Drama students and two faculty members, spring semester began half a world away. Costume Design professors Susan Tsu and Mindy Eshelman took third-year MFA Costume Design students Mary Alice Groat and Harumi Hirata, and second-year MFA Sound Design student Sabina Ali to India for the fourth annual International Festival of Theatre Schools (IFTS) in January. Hosted and organized by the School of Drama and Fine Arts at the University of Calicut, Thrissur, IFTS has a mission to foster a dynamic exchange of global pedagogical practices in theatre and performance. Carnegie Mellon University has sent a delegation from its School of Drama the last three years of the festival, with Tsu championing and leading the effort.

“The IFTS provides the opportunity for our students to meet brilliant theatre practitioners who are as jazzed about making theatre as they are, and to understand that theatre is made for different reasons in wildly different ways across the world,” said Tsu. “Experiences like these inevitably lead to creating work that is more deeply informed and artistically brave.”

Ali agrees. “As a designer for theatre, it is imperative to expose yourself to new ideas and perspectives,” she said. “As an American, it is very easy to fall into a bubble of what culture is, and going on trips abroad helps to broaden your knowledge base on how cultures exist in different parts of the world, especially from a theatrical lens.”

“IFTS is a living classroom, a civic theatre, and an open archive of global healing practices.”
– International Festival of Theatre Schools Website

THEATRE AND HEALTH

The theme of this year’s festival was “Carnival of Pedagogy: Theatre and Health,” reimagining the pedagogical potential of the performing arts in an era marked by physical vulnerability, mental distress, social fragmentation, and ecological uncertainty, according to the festival website. Attendees came from India, Great Britain, Japan, South Africa, France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Australia, Germany, Russia, Hungary, and the United States. Theatre students, professors, and practitioners were joined by health professionals for the festival, which centered theatre as both a pedagogical praxis and an agent of health, care, and community restoration.

The CMU delegation conducted a three-day workshop that focused on this year’s theme. Eshelman and Tsu conceived an experience for fifteen student participants entitled An Unexpected Fashion Journey. The workshop began with a meditation led by Eshelman, which guided participants through their bodies, encouraging them to tune into any health concerns. Following the meditation, students painted what was at the center of their journey and shared what surfaced as most important. Ali listened to the students’ stories and began composing and incorporating sound, while Groat and Hirata joined Eshelman and Tsu in working with students to create headdresses that were symbolically representative of their health concerns. The workshop culminated in a runway walk that drew on the students’ personal experiences of pain and transformed them into a celebration of creativity and community.

Design students showing their headdresses in India — An Unexpected Fashion Journey, International Festival of Theatre Schools 2026.

KERALA KALAMANDALAM

Part of the trip included a visit to Kerala Kalamandalam, India’s premier public institution dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Kerala’s traditional performing arts. For Hirata, whose own artistic practice is shaped by training and professional experience within Japanese, American, and British theatrical traditions, one of the most impactful parts of the journey was seeing both traditional and innovative Indian theatre.

“There is so much cultural richness outside of your knowledge and past experiences,” she said. “It was something you could see in the visuals and the narrative–their core principles and disciplines have been kept for centuries.”

Groat added, “I think international experiences are really valuable because they can open us to a completely different viewpoint on the things we are very familiar with. In the Indian theatre that we experienced, there was a much stronger emphasis on rhythm and precise, controlled movement than Western theatre.”

A student with a traditional Indian performer.

Harumi Hirata with a performer from Kerala Kalamandalam.

Mindy Eshelman at Kerala Kalamandalam – India’s premiere public institution for the preservation and promotion of traditional performing arts.

A performance of an adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea by Kerela Karamandalam members

An historic first performance of an adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea by Kerala Kalamandalam members.

Tsu has long been a champion of international travel and ensuring that students in the School of Drama have opportunities to experience the artistry of different cultures.

“As a child, I was blessed to have parents who were not only passionately engaged as teachers in traditional education, but also were keenly aware of how travel, and opening the eyes of young people to the world was one of the best educations they could ever give,” she said.

In that spirit, as Tsu prepares to retire from CMU in 2027, the School of Drama has established the Susan Tsu Travel & Experience Fund, which will support School of Drama students in all areas of study who wish to expand their education with travel experiences.

Susan Tsu Travel & Experience Fund

Donate Here

To travel is to learn.

The 68th Grammy Awards was a spectacular showcase of the music industry’s top talent, and its impressive production value was thanks in large part to the talented creative team behind the scenes. Carnegie Mellon School of Drama alumni worked on the lighting design, art direction, screens, and animation for the ceremony, which featured nearly 20 performances and was broadcast live on CBS from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 1.

School of Drama Alumni on the Grammys creative team include:

Noah Mitz (BFA, 2005) – Lighting Designer
Will Gossett (BFA, 2015) – Lighting Director
Ryan Tanker (BFA, 2010) – Lighting Director/Programmer
Hannah Kerman (BFA, 2021) – Lighting Director
James Gallo (BFA, 2023) – Assistant Lighting Director

Kristen Merlino (BFA, 2005) – Supervising Art Director
Lex Gernon-Wyatt (MFA, 2016) – Assistant Art Director

Drew Findley (BFA, 1997) – Screens Producer
Dan Efros (MFA, 2013) – Associate Screens Producer
Kevan Loney (MFA, 2016) – Show Animator
SooA Kim (MFA, 2020) – Show Animator
Peter Kelly (BFA, 2021) – Show Animator
Sophie Chen (BFA, 2019) – Show Animator

Mitz, Gossett, Tanker, and Kerman return to the Grammys lighting team having won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Special for their work on last year’s Grammy Awards.

Merlino was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Production Design For A Variety Special for her work as Art Director on last year’s Grammys.

Buena Vista Social Club took home the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Its two leading ladies, Tony Award-winner Natalie Venetia Belcon (BFA, 1991) and Isa Antonetti (BFA, 2025), are both School of Drama alums, as are many of the creative team: Associate Director Moses Garcia (BFA, 2022; MAM, 2023), Associate Sound Designer Daniel Lundberg (BFA, 2014), Assistant Sound Designer Tauheedah “Tate” Abdullah (MFA, 2024), Sound Programmer Thomas Ford (BFA, 2017), Production Assistant Sidney Rubinowitz (BFA, 2023), and Producers Jamie deRoy (1967) and Heinz alumus Ankit Agrawal (MS, 2014).

Jesse Perlman, Edward James, María Zardoya, Josh Conway, and Doron Zounes of The Marías perform onstage for the 68th GRAMMY Awards

The Marías perform onstage for the 68th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena. [Getty Images for The Recording Academy]

Alex Warren performs onstage during the 68th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena. [Getty Images for The Recording Academy]

Leon Thomas III and Lauryn Hill perform onstage during the 68th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena. [Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy]

Best Musical Theater Album

Buena Vista Social Club

The 2026 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album went to Buena Vista Social Club. The show features School of Drama alumni on stage and behind the scenes, including the two leading ladies, Natalie Venetia Belcon and Isa Antonetti.

Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for New Work Announces Spring and Summer 2026 Programming

Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for New Work – a connective new force in Pittsburgh’s theater ecosystem – launches its spring and summer 2026 programming, building on a highly successful inaugural fall 2025 season.

The Center for New Work’s slate of programming continues its mission to support new voices, reimagine classical work, and foster sustained partnerships across the city and beyond.

“This season reflects the kind of expansive, forward-looking work we set out to build,” said Rick Edinger, co-artistic director of the Center for New Work and area chair of CMU’s Acting and Music Theater program. “After an incredibly strong fall, the spring and summer projects deepen our partnerships and continue to place students at the center of meaningful professional new work processes.”

Launched with significant support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Center for New Work brings together professional theatremakers and the CMU School of Drama community to develop original theatrical work through workshops, readings, residencies, festivals and productions. Serving as a bridge between higher education and Pittsburgh’s leading arts institutions, the center provides producing support for both the School of Drama and partner organizations while offering students hands-on access to the full lifecycle of new work development.

Fall 2025 marked a strong and dynamic beginning for the center’s inaugural season. Highlights included two high-profile performance events celebrating the work of Lauren Gunderson and Andrew Lippa, a developmental workshop in partnership with Kelly Strayhorn Theater, and the Momentum Festival with City Theatre, which featured staged readings by emerging CMU School of Drama MFA playwrights alongside nationally recognized artists. Together, these programs drew broad community engagement –— almost 1,000 people in total participated in or attended the center’s first events, establishing it as a vibrant hub for collaboration and experimentation in Pittsburgh.

“From early stage musical workshops to an international Shakespeare production, our programming demonstrates how a university-based center can operate as a true producing partner,” said Brannon Bowers, co-artistic director of the center. “The success of our fall programming affirmed the model, and what’s ahead continues that momentum in exciting ways.”

Momentum Festival: East Carson Street

Reading presentation of East Carson Street, one of the new works featured in the Momentum Festival in partnership with City Theatre. From left: Matthew Hydzik, Sophie Pollono, Justus Wheatley, Ayyoob Shuibat, Camille Nugent, Arkida Saiwai, Logan Yao, Allie DeMatteo, Andy Moats.

Three men sitting on stage with music stands

New Works Slam

CMU Drama professor Kyle Haden and current student Daniel Evans read a scene written by CMU alumni writer Sondai NaNaBuluku at the New Work Slam, presented in collaboration with City Theatre, at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s new Three Stories venue.

Students sit in a circle in a classroom, listening to Andrew Lippa

Andrew Lippa Master Class

MT Songbook Cabaret guest artist Andrew Lippa leads a master class on musical storytelling and songwriting for Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama students across all disciplines.

SPRING 2026 PROGRAMMING

Feb. 28 – March 7, 2026 | “Babies” by Jack Godfrey and Martha Geelan. A closed workshop adapting a new British musical for American audiences, presented in collaboration with commercial producers Crossroads Live, Indigo Productions and Alchemation. This workshop supports the musical’s next phase of development for future life in the United States and the United Kingdom.

April 7, 2026 | John Cameron Mitchell (creator and writer of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”) returns to Pittsburgh during his run as Mary Todd Lincoln in Broadway’s hit play “Oh, Mary!” to teach a workshop at the CMU School of Drama and visit City Theatre Company’s first rehearsal of “Hedwig” ahead of its run at Greer Cabaret Theater from May 2 to June 7, 2026.

April 25 – May 3, 2026 | Impulse Festival in partnership with Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO. A weekend of staged readings by emerging Carnegie Mellon MFA writers alongside nationally recognized artists presented across multiple venues Downtown, as well as another New Work Slam featuring the work of local writers, performed by CMU students:

“The Wizard Unworthy” by Hannah Honey Shepard, directed by J. Cody Spellman.
“I’ll Be Mother” by Liggera Edmonds-Allen, directed by Aurelia Clune.
“We Fly” by TJ Young, directed by Jade King Carroll, in collaboration with Pittsburgh Public Theater.
“Atlantic” by Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie, directed by Michael Herwitz, in collaboration with Pittsburgh CLO and Nancy Woodruff.

SUMMER 2026 PROGRAMMING

July and August 2026 | “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare in a modern verse translation by Jeffrey Whitty, directed by Kim Weild, in partnership with Play On Shakespeare for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The center’s inaugural season culminates with Tony Award-winning writer Jeff Whitty in residence to adapt his modern verse translation of “Midsummer” for a 2.5-week run at the largest performing arts festival in the world. This international co-production with Play On Shakespeare will be directed by CMU’s head of directing, Kim Weild, and will be designed, stage managed and performed by CMU students. The production will rehearse, tech and preview in Pittsburgh from July 1 through August 1, 2026, before transferring to Scotland for 13 performances at the world-renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe. For Carnegie Mellon University, this moment is both artistically and historically significant. In the university’s 125th anniversary year, CMU students will bring their work to Scotland, the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie, effectively returning the institution’s creative work to its origins while placing emerging artists on one of the world’s most prestigious international stages.

Tickets for the spring Impulse Festival and summer production of ‘Midsummer’, along with additional special events, will be available March 1 through the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Box Office. Visit the Center for New Work’s website for updates and full program details.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR NEW WORK

The Center for New Work connects the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama with Pittsburgh’s established theaters and national partners to generate new work initiatives, creating a collaborative hub between higher education and regional theaters to sustain new live theatrical performance. Whether it be readings, master classes, workshops, or developmental productions, the center provides students with for-credit learning opportunities to engage with leading theatremakers as they develop their latest creations. These multilateral activities leverage individual organizations’ strengths and interests, building a collective effort to establish Pittsburgh as an epicenter of new work. Rick Edinger and Brannon Bowers serve as co-artistic directors, and Anna Hanson is the associate producer. The Center for New Work is funded by Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama and the Richard King Mellon Foundation with programming support from five artistic partners: City Theatre Company, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Public Theater and Play On Shakespeare. The center operates out of the Victory building at 212 Ninth Street in Downtown Pittsburgh through a partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and utilizes venues across the city, including the Greer Cabaret, Three Stories, the Trust Arts Education Center, the Lillie Theatre and CMU’s Purnell Center for the Arts.

Center for New Work Staff

Anna Hanson (Associate Producer), Brannon Bowers (Co-Artistic Director), Skyler Baker (Program Assistant), Isaiah Jones (Program Assistant), and Rick Edinger (Co-Artistic Director) are the staff of the Center for New Work.

Learn More About the Center

By Ella Johns, Dramatic Writing Class of 2027

The School of Drama community entered winter break feeling stronger and more artistically fulfilled thanks to the success of the 23rd annual Playground Festival. As a first year student, I had no idea what to expect, but what became inherently clear as I stepped into the Purnell lobby on the first day of rehearsals, is that the building becomes electrified and the energy is contagious.

I had the opportunity to speak with the co-managers of the festival, Carly Tamborello and Marion Mongello, both class of 2026 Stage & Production Management majors, about what this week means to them and how they would define the importance of Playground. Marion described this feeling of joy when you step into the building:

“The atmosphere is loving, supportive, sleep-deprived, and oh so joyous. Because we are all in the building making art together from 9am to 1am every day for nearly a week, everyone feels seen and knows we can lean on each other.”

Marion’s description is exactly what I realized almost immediately as I became addicted to the fast paced energy and overwhelming support. Everyone is running around from rehearsal to rehearsal with binders full of new work and energy drinks in hand, with a song in their heart and a million thoughts in their head. But, surprisingly, the community comes together through this chaos and feels closer as a result. One of the most important outcomes associated with the experience is the ability to meet people you would’ve never had the opportunity to collaborate with which Carly reflected in saying:

“There is no reason that anyone you pass in the halls can’t be a potential collaborator, and the shared understanding that we’re doing these things because we love doing them creates so much joy and excitement and support.”

Playground is an opportunity to meet new friends and do things that scare you such as act in a show as a non-performance major, fight with QLab for the first time, watch your vision come to life in front of your eyes and the eyes of your peers. I agree with Carly when she explained, “Who you get to be during that week is unlike any other experience we have all year round.”

Truly, the only way to describe Playground is magical, especially as CMU steps into becoming a leading conduit for new work in the Pittsburgh community with the addition of the Center for New Works this year. We as a student body celebrate the importance of creating our own performance opportunities in an industry where we might not otherwise have the opportunity to actually see our artistic visions come to life. As Marion explained, “Playground has been the birthing place of so many beloved works and theatre groups that continue long past their time at CMU, and that is because of the supportive and uplifting environment that Playground has fostered for the last 23 years.”

One final quote from Carly that stuck with me as I reflected on how important this event is to our community is truly that “It’s called Playground because it’s a place to do exactly that: to play.” And in a time where new ideas and creating community are needed more than ever, Playground reminds us all why we started pursuing theatre in the first place: to have fun, tell a story and create art that means something. So thank you to the festival managers I had the pleasure of chatting with, as well as everyone that played a part in producing Playground this year. You are an essential part of solidifying the CMU Drama family.

The 23rd Annual Playground Festival took place December 4–6, 2025.

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