CHILINA KENEDY & SASSON GABAY IN “THE BAND’S VISIT” | PHOTO BY MATTHEW MURPHY

“There is poetry to starting where we left off.”

These words from Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Broadway Programming Marc Fleming are a perfect way to describe the return of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series. It will kick off with “The Band’s Visit” — the final show to play the Benedum Center before much of its run was canceled in March 2020 due to the pandemic.

“More than half of the audience members who purchased tickets were unable to attend the show in 2020 due to the shutdown, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring the show back to complete its run and raise the curtain again for Broadway in the Cultural District,” Fleming said in a statement.

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL | PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST

The 2021-2022 series will include eight shows. There were two changes to the original schedule: “Pretty Woman” has moved to February and “Hadestown” will run in November 2022 as part of the 2022-2023 PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh season.

HAMILTON | PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST

“Hamilton” will run for 32 performances, and “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical” has been added as a season special in March for five performances. “The Band’s Visit” will run for six performances, and all others will run for eight.

The new schedule is as follows:

• “The Band’s Visit” Oct. 28-31
• “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” Nov. 16-21
• “Oklahoma!” Jan. 4-9
• “Pretty Woman” Feb. 1-6
• “Hamilton” Feb. 22-March 13
• “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical” March 18-20
• “To Kill A Mockingbird” April 19-24
• “Ain’t Too Proud” May 17-22

Season tickets are on sale now at trustarts.org/broadway. Tickets to individual events will go on sale to the general public on a show-by-show basis, to be announced at a later date.

THE NUTCRACKER | PHOTO BY RICH SOFRANKO

On Thursday, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre announced it too will return to the Benedum Center in October.

A mixed repertory program including Helen Pickett’s “Petal” (2008), a world premiere by Jennifer Archibald, George Balanchine’s “Diamonds” (1967), and Victor Gsovsky’s “Grand Pas Classique” (1949) will run Oct. 22-24. 

Terrence Orr’s “The Nutcracker,” the beloved holiday tradition, will run from Dec. 10-24. 

Derek Deane’s “Alice in Wonderland” will run Feb. 11-13. From March 24-27 at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, “Here + Now,” a mixed repertory program celebrating female choreographers, will include the following: 

• Staycee Pearl’s “SKIN + saltwater” (delayed from March 2020 because of the pandemic)
• A world premiere by Aszure Barton
• A trio by Helen Pickett
• Anabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “La Pluie” (2006)
• Gemma Bond’s “Depuis le Jour” (2019)

The final performance of the season will be “Swan Lake,” staged by PBT’s new artistic director Susan Jaffe, from May 6-15.