off the WALL productions at Carnegie Stage A Pittsburgh Theater

Inky, a young nanny caring for the children of a self-centered, pretentious couple bent on having it all, just happens to have an intense infatuation with Muhammad Ali. You’ll find her jabbing and sparring as she models the one and only great Muhammad Ali. But this play isn’t about boxing. Inky encompasses a complex array of traits: soft-spoken, maternal, intuitive; yet also driven, conniving, and ambitious. Yet her infatuation with Muhammad Ali and with boxing skews her outlook on life and her interactions with those around her. Inky’s skewed outlook on life leads to a lot of laughs. If you are a young girl and Inky is your nanny, you can be sure that other kids won’t pick on you more than once. But Inky doesn’t stop there, helping a young girl protect herself. She, like her idol, wants to fight! She wants to better her life and the lives of those she cares about, and she’s not afraid to use blackmail to achieve her goals. Inky Pittsburgh Theater off the wall Theater Abby Quattro...

“Striking…Inky packs a punch.” – Newsday Rinne Groff, playwright of several plays and musicals that have been produced and commissioned by Yale Rep, Playwrights Horizons, and the Manhattan Theatre Club, among others, is the playwright of our upcoming production Inky. Abby Quatro - photo by Heather Mull Inky is about a love-starved Manhattan couple bent on ‘having it all’ during the high rolling, morally skewed 1980s. Some might say they suffer an aversion of sorts when it comes to parenting. However, they are not only forced to face their limitations, they must learn the importance of fighting back after taking in a young Slavic nanny to care for their nine-year-old daughter and infant son. Young as she is, her years date her beyond innocence. In this dark comedy, Inky might just help you discover the fighter in you! Learn more or purchase tickets.  Rinne, a graduate of Yale (B.A) and NYU (M.F.A), teaches in the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch School of...

If you’ve been yearning to relive your childhood days with a performance of the musical version of The Wizard of Oz, with the sweet mid-Western Dorothy and her caring bunch of supporters skipping down a lovely yellow brick road, then Dorothy in Oz may not be your cup of tea! However, if you’d like to saunter down a different road with Dorothy in a very different time, age and setting, then Dorothy in Oz by Rage of The Stage Players  will take you down that road, and beyond. Curious?  Here’s a look at the setting and characters. Setting :  Ozlin center – a facility for the mentally ill Dorothy : bi-polar and involuntarily committed by her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry Glinda : unhinged therapist who informs Dorothy she can only be released if she seeks the hospital’s mysterious administrat, the Great OZ Skarekrow ; a heroin-addicted goth-rocker Rusty : pierced, ax-wielding biker with several anger issues Mr. Lyons : a sexually frustrated deviant searching for a presc...

Andrew Wind - Photo by Heather Mull Meet Jack. Jack is an almost famous singer with a special star quality. What is this special star quality? He can make you think he’s singing to you! His manager says that a singer with a star quality can make each woman feel that he wants her. Our small, intimate theater is the perfect stage to find out if he’ll choose you. A Feminine Ending, ending this Saturday, is a bittersweet comedy about a young woman (Amanda) trying to make it in the man’s world of composing, when she finds herself torn between marrying the almost famous Jack, pursuing her high school sweetheart Billy, or following her dreams in music. Unknown to Amanda, her mother faced similar decisions in her younger days, and does not want to see Amanda throw it all away. The Doors will close.  If you haven’t seen this spectacular set yet, designed by Tony Ferrieri, hurry in to see it for yourself. With 79 doors on stage, and door #80 by the coffee bar, this is the last we...

Wendy Arons, associate professor of dramatic literature at Carnegie Mellon University, calls A Feminine Ending “ A Solid Production ” in this week’s review   in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Keep reading to see why! Enjoy this visual of scenes from the play and all of the cast. All captions are quoted from Ms. Arons'  review . "The play centers on Amanda Blue (Erika Cuenca), an accomplished oboist and aspiring composer whose career begins to stall after she becomes engaged to Jack."  - Wendy Arons - Erika Cuenca - Photo by Heather Mull "Jack (Andrew Wind), a self-absorbed  pop vocalist  on the fast track to stardom (think Bieber:   Mr. Wind's costume and hair certainly invite the association)." - Wendy Arons - Andrew Wind -  Photo by Heather Mull "Amanda reunites with her high school sweetheart Billy  (portrayed with terrific charm and comic timing by Shaun  Cameron Hall), now a postal ca...

Erika Cuenca - Photo by Heather Mull In a review   by Pittsburgh City Paper, Ted Hoover takes a look at our local premiere of A Feminine Ending. He gets right down to the basics and ponders the need for the play. The play is based on the story of young Amanda Blue, an aspiring musician in the man’s world of composing. Amanda is torn between giving up her dreams to marry her almost famous fiancé, Jack.  Her mother, having had to face the same crossroads over twenty years prior, thinks Amanda is choosing the wrong road. As Mr. Hoover points out, it’s been 40 years since the feminist movement inundated society with movies, TV shows, and lots of print. So why is a play about a woman trying to have it all still compelling? Will this same storyline ring true a few decades from now? We would hope the answer is no, that women will be able to find their authentic selves without having to sacrifice a relationship or career. But in the meantime, you’ll find this play to not only be...

Ingrid Sonnichsen and Erika Cuenca Photo by Heather Mull Brian Edward of ‘Burgh Vivant’ sat down with Lonnie The Theater Lad y to discuss the sold out showing of A Feminine Ending at our Off The Wall Theater. Here’s Lonnie’s Top Three Reasons to see the show: Truly a thinking person’s comedy. Lonnie considers the play to be funny, and witty with very tight writing.   The wonderful energy between Amanda, played by Erika Cuenca, and her parents.  To see the set created by award winning Tony Ferrieri. Really genius! 79 doors make up the set. The doors are symbolic of the ins and outs of life, of life changes, mood changes, scene changes, and so on. “Electricity between them and the energy between them [Amanda and her parents] was just electrifying!  So real and so much emotion, but yet so funny.  Truly a thinking person’s comedy.” - Lonnie The Theater Lady There’s still time to catch the show, but only two weekends remain. Click here to learn more an...