My classmates and I stand in an inward-facing semicircle around Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s entrance while Executive Director Joseph Hall gives us a crash course in its surprisingly long history. It’s mid-February, and a few of us (including me) are shifting, stamping, and hopping about in the chilly air, but otherwise we’re interested and attentive, our focus assisted by Joseph’s adept storytelling. As we do our best to stay warm, we learn that the theater’s fortunes have always been tied to those of its neighborhood, East Liberty, with transformations in the space’s use responding to the needs of the local community. When its name was changed from the original Regent Theatre to become today’s Kelly Strayhorn, the gesture wasn’t only in commemoration of two great East Liberty performing artists, but also signaled a much deeper pivot in identity and mission. I have no trouble seeing Gene Kelly-pizazz in KST’s boisterous personality, but it’s Billy Strayhorn who truly seems to represent it best. As a Black and openly gay composer in the hostile environment of 20th century America, his courage mirrors the theater’s own as it seeks to empower marginalized BIPOC and queer voices today (“Gene Kelly & Billy Strayhorn”).
There’s more to say here, but that can wait—it’s cold and we’ll both be more comfortable if we start moving! So follow me (and the rest of Secret Pittsburgh) as we wander onto the stage, play a theater game that gets everyone laughing, and head back out onto Penn Ave, making our way up the street toward Alloy Studios. Along the way, we have time to learn some more about East Liberty, as Joseph and Education Coordinator Simon Phillips point out prominent landmarks like East Liberty Presbyterian—last class’s destination, not to mention a frequent partner with KST—and some things that can’t be seen at all, only remembered. Old heads and even nineteen-year-old ones like mine might recall a magnificent mural at the corner of Penn and Euclid, too exuberant to fit on anything less than two full sides of a gigantic warehouse. For those who don’t (or just want to see it again), search “Lend Me Your Ears” and you’ll find a celebration of color, abstract swirls, pigeons just a bit larger than life, and happy residents of East Liberty.
One of the reasons why the artwork was so impactful was that the girl and young men on it were portraits of real people that lived in the neighborhood—and that’s also why it’s doubly sad now that both sides have been completely washed in gray (Brennan). Kelly Strayhorn bears no ill will toward the building’s current occupant Duolingo (actually another community partner—KST knows everyone!), but Joseph expresses what’s likely on the minds of many who remember from before: he wishes the mural stayed. At the end of the block we encounter another story, unfortunately even harder to hear than the one we’re leaving behind. To our left you’ll notice a Whole Foods and some office space behind it—crisp prisms of glass-walled modernity; then we cross S St Clair and encounter a wasteland of weeds and asphalt stretching across an entire city block. This is jarring all by itself, but even more so when we learn that both sides are owned by the same company, which demolished the erstwhile Penn Plaza Apartments to make room for an organic grocery store and nothing (Land & Power).
In the face of so much erasure, perhaps you can see why KST’s role in the area is an important one. You might be inclined to think of artsy theaters as inherently forward looking—and in this case you’d even be right—but we should also remember that (in some form or another) Kelly Strayhorn has been in East Liberty for generations. It’s a keeper of memory as much as a torch bearer for the future, which is a big part of why it’s so devoted to empowering the community’s less represented voices. If today the theater is able to put astonishingly diverse groups and organizations in dialogue (or at least mutual awareness), it’s because the staff tries to remember everyone in the neighborhood, even those who’ve been displaced from it. Take one look at KST’s packed schedule and we’ll find that their efforts haven’t gone to waste; judging by a nearly countless stream of events, classes, and performances the theater’s “centering of historically resilient folks” is deeply appreciated (“About”).
As we approach Alloy—now as an irregularly bunched line that’s anything but secret—it’s worth observing that the connection between East Liberty and Kelly Strayhorn goes both ways. We’ve seen how the theater uplifts and actively remembers its community, but without that community acting, singing, dancing and—maybe most important of all—filling the audience, there’d be no KST. Which brings us to another piece of sad news: even with a full schedule and enthusiastic local support the theater’s existence is threatened as long as McKnight Realty Partners refuses to renew their lease, set to expire in 2029 (Deto). As we at last enter the dance studio—humbler than the main theater but magnificently light-filled and an even more flexible performance space—it’s impossible to keep this from weighing on our minds. Towards the end of the tour our guides gather us in a group so we can all shout a word of our choosing, something to express our expectations for the still-young year. We speak and listen; the sounds are jumbled but our good will for Kelly Strayhorn, our hope for its future, is loud and clear. Then it’s time to leave—we have to let the staff set up for tonight’s show!
Works Cited
“About.” Kelly Strayhorn Theater, https://kelly-strayhorn.org/artist/about/. Accessed 14 April 2023.
Brennan, Lissa. “For some, the erasure of a landmark East Liberty mural reflects the travails of gentrification.” Pittsburgh City Paper, 16 December 2015, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/arts-entertainment/for-some-the-erasure-of-a-landmark-east-liberty-mural-reflects-the-travails-of-gentrification-1874183.
Deto, Ryan. “East Liberty development put on hold amid opposition from Kelly Strayhorn Theater.” Trib Live, 26 January 2022, https://triblive.com/local/east-liberty-development-put-on-hold-amid-opposition-from-kelly-strayhorn-theater/.
“Gene Kelly & Billy Strayhorn.” Kelly Strayhorn Theater, https://kelly-strayhorn.org/artist/bios/. Accessed 14 April 2023.
Land & Power from NPR, November 2020, https://www.npr.org/podcasts/935323333/land-power.