Skip to main content

Prime Stage Theatre presents a very live Edgar Allan Poe

 


The year is 1849, you’re strolling through New York City on a brisk autumn evening and decide to take in a lecture by a rising young author and literary critic named Edgar Allan Poe.

What would that have been like?

A new Prime Stage Theatre play by Pittsburgh sci-fi/horror fiction writer Lawrence C. Connolly offers a glimpse of Poe’s celebrated magnetism in Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination.

The world premiere production runs for seven shows Nov. 7-16, 2025 at New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, on Pittsburgh’s Northside.

Directed by Art DeConciliis, Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination recreates the dark genius of Poe in his prime performing a selection of favorite tales before a spellbound live audience.

The Poe play is the first production in Prime Stage Theatre’s 2025-26 season of world premiere plays by Pittsburgh playwrights that includes Freedom House:  Giving Life a Second Chance by L.E. McCullough (Jan. 23-Feb. 1, 2026) and Speak by Tammy Ryan (May 1-10, 2026).

The 5-member cast includes Alex Blair, Justin Mohr, Jenn Rian, Jess Uhler and Sam Lander as Edgar Allan Poe.

Lawrence C. Connolly’s writing has appeared in fantasy, horror and science fiction journals around the world from Amazing Stories and Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone Magazine to the Nightmare Cinema anthology film and the Veins Cycle novel series set in Western Pennsylvania. His latest novel, Minute Men: Execute and Run, touted as Mission Impossible meets X-Men, will hit bookstores Oct. 14, 2025 on the Arc Manor imprint.

In Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination, Connolly presents an insightful portrait of an author who was often as mysterious as the characters in his stories.

“Poe was the son of professional theatre actors,” says Connolly. “He was a natural performer who gave lively readings and lectures to packed auditoriums across the Eastern U.S.”

Poe’s personality permeates his stories, adds Connolly, and the resulting eccentricities aren’t always conducive to dramatization. “It’s the reason why so many Poe adaptations are more ‘inspired by’ than ‘based on’ his stories. But from the start, I wanted to stay as true as possible to the works and to what we know of the writer himself.”

Since its founding in 1996, Prime Stage Theatre has presented over 100 plays that introduce student and family audiences to classic and contemporary works of world literature.

“Three years ago, we commissioned Lawrence  Connolly to create a stage play offering a new take on Mary Shelley’s original Frankenstein tale,” says Prime Stage artistic director Dr. Wayne Brinda. “That was a very exciting dramatic recasting of a well-known story, and we believe audiences will find Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination just as dynamic and thought-provoking.”

As a preview, Prime Stage Theatre presents a Poe-themed fundraiser “An Evening of Poe Pourri” on Saturday, Oct. 18 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at The Whitehall House, 4201 Brownsville Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15227 featuring hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, entertainment, wine bar, mystery trivia, silent auction and immersive theatre performances of Poe poems and stories.

For more information, contact Connie Brinda, Prime Stage Theatre General Manager, at (724) 773-0700 or cbrinda@primestage.com.

WHAT:  Prime Stage Theatre presents Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination written by Lawrence C. Connolly, directed by Art DeConciliis

WHERE:  New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh PA 15212

WHEN:  7 shows running Nov. 7-16, 2025

·      Fri. Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. (Preview Night, pay-what-you-can admission)

·      Sat. Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. (Opening Night)

·      Sun. Nov. 9  at 2:30 p.m.

·      Fri. Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

·      Sat. Nov. 15 at 2:30 p.m. (Sensory Inclusive with pay-what-you-can admission: sponsored by Autism Pittsburgh)

·      Sat. Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

·      Sun. Nov. 16 at 2:30 p.m. (Audio Describe and Live Caption, sponsored by Downtown Pittsburgh Lions Club)

MORE INFO:  https://primestage.com/productions/mr-edgar-a-poe-presents/

*  For more information on Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination please contact Connie Brinda, Prime Stage Theatre General Manager at (724) 773-0700 or cbrinda@primestage.com

ACCESSIBILITY:  Prime Stage Theatre has made a special commitment to promoting accessibility for special needs audiences. In 2022, Prime Stage Theatre audio describer Nathan Ruggles won a national Achievement Award in Audio Description from the American Council of the Blind.

Prime Stage Theatre offers student matinee performances, as well as an array of teacher workshops demonstrating how theatre enhances literacy and classroom lear

*  UPCOMING Prime Stage Theatre Events

Sat. Oct. 18, 2025, 6:30-9:30 p.m. – Fundraiser: An Evening of Poe Pourri

Fundraiser for Prime Stage Theatre features hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, entertainment, wine bar, mystery trivia, silent auction and immersive theatre performances of Poe poems and stories by Prime Stage Theatre actors. Tickets onsale.

Nov. 7-16, 2025 – Mr. Poe Presents An Evening of Horror, Mystery, and Imagination

By Lawrence C. Connolly; directed by Art DeConciliis

 Popular sci-fi and horror fiction writer Lawrence C. Connolly recreates the dark genius of Edgar Allan Poe performing a selection of favorite tales before a live audience in the 1840s.

Jan. 23-Feb. 1, 2026 ­– Freedom House:  Giving Life a Second Chance

By L.E. McCullough; directed by Scott Calhoon

Historical playwright L.E. McCullough dramatizes the 1967 creation of Freedom House Ambulance Service, America’s first mobile emergency medical unit staffed by professionally-trained paramedics from Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

May 1-10, 2026 – Speak

By Tammy Ryan; directed by Dana Hardy Bingham

 esident New Dramatists playwright Tammy Ryan brings to the stage Laurie Halse Anderson’s acclaimed young adult novel Speak, the contemporary story of a teenage girl who uses art to find her voice and redefine her identity after the trauma of rape.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sanctified Explores Through Music How Diverse Attitudes are Transformed into an Inspired Unity

  Marissa Lily, Mils James, Manny Walker, Emir Hardy, Chuck Timbers, Cheryl El Walker, Katy Cotten & Brenda Marks Set by Mark Clayton Southers Credit all Photos: Kim El One of the many things live theater does well is taking its audience to different places, times and moods through the power of story-telling. While this is a fairly obvious observation, this thought became especially poignant when, over a period of less than 24 hours, when I found myself on board a battleship in late 18 th century Portsmouth, England, then, 17 hours later, walking into a small Black church in rural South Carolina in the present day. The vehicles for this geographic time travel to places and times worlds apart were Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera, “H.M. S. Pinafore” and playwright Javon Johnson’s “Sanctified.” Both works, while musical comedies with morals to the story, came from diverse and rich cultural backgrounds. I’ve already published my review of Pinafore on my arts and enterta...
Post a Comment
Read more

Exciting Things are Happening at PFO!

  Dear Friends, I invite you to join me in experiencing the voice of opera legend Csilla Boross as she kicks off our Legends in the Limelight concert series on September 24 at the Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie! Csilla performed the title role of Adriana in PFO’s concert opera debut of  Adriana Lecouvreur  on September 8 at the Carnegie Music Hall. Please enjoy the below video of Csilla singing Poveri fiori aria Act 4 from our final dress rehearsal! It was truly and amazing performance! I am hopeful you can join us for this magical evening! As you know, at PFO it’s all about the VOICE!!! Much love, Click below for a sneak peak of Csilla Boross: Sneak Peek of Adriana Lecouvreur! - YouTube For More Information and Tickets CLICK HERE Calling all young professionals! Please join us for a PFO Happy Hour this Wednesday, September 18 at the Mansions on Fifth! Come meet our staff as well as other Pittsburgh area young professionals! You will also have the opport...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mon Valley Fans of Live Theater Get a Sumptuous Taste of Future Possibilities

The Cast of "What Do I Wear, 2,500 Tears of Fashion in Theatre" Credit all Photos: Kelly Tunney     The Mon Valley YMCA in Monongahela never looked so festive, so blatantly celebratory, as on the evening of April 13 when a troupe of 16 actors arrived with a trailer full of colorful costumes, many of which were quite elaborate.     The audience barely understood the full depth of the dazzle that awaited them as they took their seats for an event exuberantly titled “What Do I Wear, 2,5000 Years of Fashion in Theatre.”     The fundraiser for Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre was the brainchild of PICT’s artistic director, Elizabeth Elias Huffman. Elizabeth Huffman at the Podium     Huffman conceived of an idea that called for choosing selections from plays that started with the era of the ancient Greeks, marched on through Elizabethan England and Shakespeare, popped in on Restoration England via an American playwright,...
Post a Comment
Read more