Happy New Year! Let’s look back at 2015.

Happy New Year, PICT friends!

We send a heartfelt thank-you to each and every one of our fans for believing in and supporting us throughout our 2015 Season. We couldn’t have done it without you!

There were certainly some dire situations and tough decisions to be made for PICT in 2015. But through your generous giving and words of support, you let us know that we offer something you value.

Let’s take a moment to look back on some of 2015’s successes:

*Two Featured Artists were named for our 2015 Season: Martin Giles as actor in residence and Johnmichael Bohach as resident Scenic Designer. This continued the principle set by Alan Stanford to demonstrate an artist’s full range of talent and capabilities throughout a season.

*We announced an expansion of programming by producing two plays at the Trust Arts Education Center (Peirce Studio). This bold move would allow us to be active in the theater scene for two additional months, expand the length of our season and promote audience growth.

*We produced a world premiere, For the Tree to Drop, by local playwright Lissa Brennan.

Siovhan Christensen in “For the Tree to Drop.”

*Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, an emotional roller coaster of love, angst and melancholy conveyed through music, was so well received that we extended the run for five additional performances.

*In producing Sharon’s Grave, we brought the beauty of John B. Keane’s words to the Pittsburgh theater scene. This Pittsburgh premiere was singled out as one of the top ten productions in Pittsburgh for 2015.

*We welcomed approximately 12,000 patrons to at least one of our six productions throughout the season, including almost 600 high school students.

*We employed 162 actors and production staff, as well as two teaching artists at Pittsburgh Arsenal.

*We held our Shakespeare Camp at Falk School and conducted two summer theatre outreach programs at Hosanna House and The Sarah Heinz House, reaching more than 150 children.

*Alan Stanford and PICT began a partnership with The 1916 Easter Uprising: Pittsburgh Remembers committee.

*We launched a series of adult classes aimed at connecting the PICT professional theatrical community with the Pittsburgh community at large.

*Our second annual PICT UnCommon Pleas was well received, and we are grateful to Former PA Govenor Tom Corbett, Former Allegheny County Executive Dan Ondorato and Helen Hanna Casey for giving their time and wit to make it a memorable, fun, successful event.

*Our office building moved to River Park Commons in the South Side, and the scene shop moved to a warehouse in Lawrenceville.

*James FitzGerald, 2014 Featured Artist and longtime member of the PICT family, received the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Performer of the Year Award for 2015. His performances as Dinzie Conlee in Sharon’s Grave and Fagin in Oliver Twist (both our productions) were noted as the basis for this particular honor.

It was a year with its ups and downs, but we look forward into 2016 with a positive outlook and the promise that we will continue to offer performances that you treasure. We are in the final stages of negotiations for our upcoming season, and we hope to be making some exciting announcements very soon. So stay tuned! We can’t wait to see you at the theater in 2016.