News - Pit & Balcony Theatre

Commentary by Janet I. Martineau

Well, they don’t call them community theater actors for nothing.

Collectively they totally know how to really sell a song, decorate a set, costume for the occasion, develop a script and relate to an audience. Doesn’t hurt to toss in a dog or two either.

Reviewer: Janet Martineau

Never thought I would ever type the following about a serious real-life issue…sexual assault.

But, then, “The ‘Winkleigh Murders,” which opened Pit and Balcony’s 89th season virtually on Friday night, is not in any way a typical play.

March 14, 2020 | Jason Applegate

A play about a cosmic force that descends upon humanity without warning was ironically a pleasant escape considering the week we have all faced. Managing Director Amy Spadafore had a very difficult decision when she determined that the show must go on, and I commend her for making it. Spadafore decided to reward the hard work of the artists involved with a public performance, and it certainly made for a night of laughter at the end of an unusually stressful week.

March 14, 2020 | Jessica McFarland

In a nice change of pace from it’s more youth-oriented programming, Pit and Balcony has staged 2016’s Meteor Shower, a more mature four-person comedy by Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin). Of course, with the current Coronavirus fears running rampant, Pit was left with a much smaller audience than usual opening night. Still, the show must go on (although next weekend’s performances are cancelled), and I can safely say I haven’t heard such a small audience so engaged with a comedy in a long time.

January 25, 2020 | Jessica McFarland

Considered by many to be The Great American Novel, Fitzgerald’s jazz age classic gets a new interpretation at Saginaw’s Pit & Balcony Theatre. If any of you somehow missed your high school required reading, The Great Gatsby follows Midwestern naif Nick Carraway in the summer of 1922 as he moves to New York City and becomes embroiled in the loves and scandals of the West Egg upper class.