NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE contact: Stevie Sheridan 412-362-1713 / ssheridan@quantumtheatre.com
Quantum Theatre presents The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen at Nova Place (formerly Allegheny Center)
Who: Quantum Theatre
What: The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen
When: April 8 – May 1, 2016 (Opening/Press Night: April 8). Performances run Wed-Sat at 8pm; Sundays at 7pm
Where: Nova Place (100 S. Commons Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, map), Two Allegheny Center Building, 9th Floor
Tickets:$38-$51 ($18 student tickets available). Call Quantum Theatre 412-362-1713, or order online at https://www.quantumtheatre.com/the-master-builder/. Each evening includes complimentary bites and drinks.
(PITTSBURGH, PA)— Quantum’s affinity for Ibsen continues in collaboration with the Heinz Architectural Center of the Carnegie Museum of Art as part of their year-long focus on Modernism. Quantum stages The Master Builder mid-20th Century, and take audiences inside an iconic Modernist structure of some controversy: the soon-to-be-reimagined Nova Place (formerly Allegheny Center on the Northside), and into the mind of architect Halvard Solness, whose principles drive him past conventional morality and threaten to destroy him.
Halvard Solness is the Master Builder – a middle-aged, successful architect of distinction and local reputation, who has become jealous of younger rivals and haunted by guilt. In typical Ibsen fashion, into this scene comes a destabilizing force, and what a force she is: Hilda Wangel, a seductive young woman who supports not only his ego but his manic imagination and the invasion he imagines of demonic, troll-like forces.
Quantum veteran and Ibsen enthusiast Martin Giles directs a cast of seven, among them many Quantum veterans: John Shepard as Halvard Solness (The Electric Baby), Catherine Moore (The Golden Dragon), Phil Winters (When the Rain Stops Falling), Thomas Constantine Moore (TAMARA), and newcomers Hayley Neilsen, Kelly Trumbull, and John Reilly. A truly mid-century set by Tony Ferrieri and costumes by Richard Parsakian are lit by Alex Stevens; sound by Aaron Vockley.
CMOA’s current exhibit HACLab Pittsburgh: Imagining the Modern explores the city of Pittsburgh’s modern architecture that came about through an ambitious program of urban revitalization in the 1950s and ’60s. The exhibit untangles Pittsburgh’s complicated relationship with modern architecture and urban planning – not unlike Halvard Solness’ own complicated relationship with youth and change. In partnership with HACLab, Quantum will host a series of pre-show discussions centered around modern architecture:
- April 17, 7pm: a conversation with Art Lubetz
- April 20, 7pm: Tasso Katselas on Frank Lloyd Wright
- April 27, 7pm: Jeremy Leventhal of Faros Properties, the Nova Place development company, will lead a tour of the former Allegheny Center Mall and complex and discuss its future and place within the Northside community.
- April 29, 7pm: a conversation with HACLab’s Raymund Ryan and principal architects of Over, Under (a Boston-based practice with expertise in architecture and urban planning)
Quantum stages this production on the 9th floor of Two Allegheny Center in the Northside,100 S. Commons Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. Nova Place, formerly Allegheny Center, began as a shopping mall in 1965 and has evolved into an office complex. New York-based Faros Properties acquired the complex in 2015, following its acquisitions of Pittsburgh’s City View Apartments (formerly Washington Plaza), Park View Apartments (formerly Allegheny Center Apartments), and Carson Street Commons. The company unveiled plans to transform the 1.2 million SF complex, renamed Nova Place, into a campus for innovative companies, including the establishment of a collaborative co-working space, Alloy 26, designed to advance and promote the entrepreneurial community in Pittsburgh.
Parking is available in the garage under the building, accessible by Gate 6 located on E. Commons Street. The Master Builder will run April 8 (opening/press night) through May 1, 2016. More information can be found at https://www.quantumtheatre.com/the-master-builder/.
The complete schedule of special events in the run include:
- Opening/Press Night on Friday, April 8 27, post-show champagne reception.
- Quantum-on-the-Couch, April 9, featuring a post-show discussion of the psychology of the
characters led by analyst David Orbison, Ph.D. - Post-Show Discussion on April 10, post-show Q&A session with the cast and team.
- Ladies Night on April 13, a ladies-only reception and viewing.
- Quantum Quaff on April 14, which will include a special pre-show wine-tasting
- Architecture Discussion #1: April 17, will include a pre-show discussion with Pittsburgh architect Arthur Lubetz, 7pm
- Architecture Discussion #2: April 20, will include a pre-show discussion on Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture, led by Pittsburgh architect Tasso Katselas, 7pm
- Allegheny Center (Nova Place) Tour: April 27, 7pm
- Architecture Discussion #3, April 29, will include a pre-show discussion on architecture with HACLab’s Raymund Ryan, and architects from Over, Under, 7pm
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