Pittsburgh’s Theater Crisis—and Some Armchair Consulting

My hometown theater scene seems to be collapsing. A recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article (behind a paywall, sorry) described the dire situation facing Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh CLO (Civic Light Opera), and City Theatre—serious enough that the three companies are considering a merger.

The story was unusually detailed because the reporter gained access to a consultant’s report analyzing each theater’s finances, audiences, and early ideas for a merger. (It’s not clear whether the theaters shared it or it was leaked, but the companies did issue a joint statement in response.)

I can’t help but indulge in some armchair consulting here. Think of me as a football pundit—commenting from the sidelines, without being in the meetings or the locker room.

1. The Struggle to Adapt

The crisis in Pittsburgh is part of the larger story of American nonprofit theater. For decades, theaters followed roughly the same model—subscription seasons, foundation support, professionalized staffs. But audiences, funders, artists, and staff have all changed dramatically in recent years.

I just read the 1990s management parable Who Moved My Cheese? for the first time. Its moral: adapt or starve in the maze of business. I was tempted to send a copy to every large theater leader in the country.

2. Marketing Malaise

I checked the social media accounts of all three Pittsburgh theaters. They look like most arts organizations: sparse posting, mostly about themselves, with little to capture or grow an audience. As I’ve said before (here on why arts organizations should embrace “edutainment”, here on the upskilling needed in marketing departments) this is why younger audiences drift away.

But let’s be fair—they’re no worse than the sector as a whole. Theaters everywhere are struggling to figure out how to market in the digital age, though I am flummoxed as to why they are struggling after so many years of social media being dominant.

3. Audience Numbers: Better Than You Think

Pittsburgh’s population is about 307,000, with additional draw from surrounding suburbs. National Endowment for the Arts data shows that 10% of American adults attend at least one play annually, and 15% attend a musical.

The consultant’s report said these three theaters sold 163,000 tickets last year, with about 10% overlap among audiences. That’s not 163,000 individuals, but still, by national standards, it’s a strong reach. (Caveat: without actually seeing their data, I can’t tell what their penetration is for certain – remember, this is armchair consulting.)

Here’s the rub: if the theaters’ survival plan depends on significantly expanding their audience, they’re in trouble. They may already have saturated the market. Growth will require big, bold changes in programming and experience—much bigger than most institutions have been willing to make.

Some Ideas

• Think local. Pittsburgh Public’s hit The Chief—about the legendary Steelers coach Art Rooney —worked for a reason.
• Think volume. Add lower-cost, smaller-scale events—cabarets, narrative comedians, singer-songwriters—that keep audiences coming back more often. This will be especially important if their recovery strategy requires audience expansion.
• Think fun. Make the venue a place people associate with a good time. Serious topics can still be entertaining.

On the financial side:

• Right-size operations. Fewer productions and lower fixed costs may feel like loss, but they can stabilize the organization. Process the grief, but don’t get stuck in it. The consultants report recommended 13 productions combined across the three theaters. Right now they’re doing 12 and on the brink of collapse. Maybe there’s a serious pull back, adding smaller low cost events like I described above.
• Prioritize individual donors for the long term. Small and mid-level donors are more reliable than foundations that can shift priorities overnight. Investing in those donors now can grow them into reliable major donors over time.

The Bottom Line

If Pittsburgh wants locally made theater, people have to show up and support it. And if civic leaders want these institutions to survive, they’ll need to invest.

What’s happening in Pittsburgh isn’t unique. It’s a test case for the rest of the nonprofit theater field. Theaters can cling to the old model—or they can pivot, rethink, and right-size for today’s reality.

The question isn’t just whether these institutions survive. It’s whether they—and their communities—are willing to change.