"Eat, drink, and make beautiful theatre" just might have been the motto for City Theatre's open house held on September 8. Each year, the theater opens its doors to its subscribers and the community, offering them free food, a guided tour, and samples of the upcoming shows.

This year's season contains shows dealing with a variety of topics, from mythical legends to body image. The season will begin with The Good Body, a play on how women see their bodies, written by Eve Ensler who is most widely known for her thought-provoking play The Vagina Monologues. Next is A Picasso, a psychological drama by Jeffrey Hatcher. After that comes the New American Trio, a series of new plays never before performed. Two of the plays, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's The Muckle Man and Michele Lowe's Mezzulah, 1946, saw staged readings last spring at City Theatre. The third play in the series, The Missionary Position, is a commissioned piece by Keith Reddin and is currently still being written. Finally, the season will end with Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel, a show dealing with gender, race, and lingerie.

There are also a few treats in store for avid theater fans. Not only will The Good Body see its Pittsburgh premiere at City Theatre, Ensler was in town on September 20 for a brief discussion on her play. Also, a variety of workshops, discussions, and open readings will occur for the shows in the New American Trio.  

Apart from a warm welcome from the theatre's staff and the local restaurants providing a myriad of dining options from the South Side, the most exciting part of the evening was the tour of the City Theatre grounds.

Beginning in the rehearsal room, the tour presented each step in the process of creating the high quality shows that the theatre puts up each season. In the rehearsal room, actors read selections from upcoming shows in the season, The Good Body and Mezzulah, 1946.

Next visit was the costume shop where the costume designer showed ideas for the costume design for A Picasso, going up this November as well as explaining the process of designing for a show. Similar presentations were given by the props master about Mezzulah, 1946 and the set designer about The Muckle Man in the prop shop and scene shop, respectively.

Then, the tour went to the company's black box theatre right onto the stage for a class with Sister from City Theatre's current production, Late Night Catechism 2. Apart from getting a preview of Sister's unique personality, this provided a sneak peek at the set and encouragement to return to see that show or Sister's Christmas Catechism, opening in late November.

The tour ended with a short video recap of last year's season and promises for another year of new exciting shows at the City Theatre.

Subscription packages at the City Theatre start at $90. Single show tickets range in price from $15-$40. However, students and those 25 and younger can reserve $15 tickets for all of this season's performances. The Good Body opens October 5. For more information about City Theatre, visit the City Theatre website.

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