off the WALL productions at Carnegie Stage A Pittsburgh Theater

March 2014         A Feminine Ending Written by Sarah Treem Directed by Matt Morrow With: Erika Cuenca*, Ingrid Sonnichsen*, Weston Blakesley*, Shaun Cameron Hall, Andrew Wind* Amanda wants to be a great composer, but she’s in a profession that only recognizes famous men. At the moment, she's living in New York City and writing advertising jingles to pay the rent while her almost-famous fiancé, Jack, pursues his singing career. Her parents are getting divorced, her first love reappears, and there's a lot of noise in her head, but none of it is music. Until the end. A gentle, bittersweet comedy about a young woman who knows what she wants but not quite how to get it. Reviews: "...the play is really a showcase for Erika Cuenca as Amanda, who, in a mammoth performance of intense focus and rock-ribbed conviction, keeps reminding us of the humanity deep inside Treem’s compelling script." - Ted Hoover - City Paper “... the electricity between them and the...

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...

Ingrid Sonnichsen and Weston Blakesley – photo by Heather Mull Off the Wall Theater was fortunate to have Tony Ferrieri create our current set. Besides being named Designer of the Year by the Pittsburgh City Paper and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tony has 35 years’ experience with City Theatre. So what can you expect when you enter through the front door of our theater? More doors! How many doors do you think Tony worked into this intricate set? 10, 20, 30, 50?  Keep going. We’re over halfway to the final count, but not quite there yet!  Keep reading for the answer. If you’re wondering why the focus on doors, you’ll catch yourself chuckling when you hear the line “There used to be doors everywhere. I’ve forgotten what doors look like.” A Feminine Ending, by Sarah Treem, is the story of a female composer trying to make it in a man’s world. As she works to advance her career as a female composer, it seems as there are no open doors; that all possible doors to her dreams ...

Erika Cuenca and   Ingrid Sonnichsen Photo by Heather Mull Do you have unrealized dreams?  Is so, you’re not alone. Come see the hilarious comedy that spans the generations.   A Feminine Ending , by Sarah Treem, is about the crossroads of life’s decisions and following, or not following, your dreams.  Amanda (Erika Cuenca), a young composer in a man’s world, is giving up her dreams in order to be the fiancé of the almost famous Jack, a soon to be music star! Could it be that Amanda’s mother (Ingrid Sonnichsen), when presented with similar life altering decisions at the same tender age, also gave up her dreams?  Is Amanda about to embark on a similar journey, thus repeating her mother’s life?  Enjoy an evening at the theater to find out the inspirational turn of events in the lives of each of these women.   Click here to purchase tickets or learn more. Appealingly outlandish humor.” – The New York Times If you haven’t been to our local Pitts...

Erika Cuenca and Shaun Cameron Hall - Photo by Heather Mull The suitor versus the plague!  What happens when a young woman finds herself putting her dreams on hold to support those of her almost famous fiancé, and is then thrown into the mix of her parents’ struggles AND also happens upon her high school sweetheart? Well, besides setting the stage for some both cantankerous and amusing scenes, the scenario also calls for some deep, heart-wrenching decisions.  The parents want to see their lovely daughter live an extraordinary life, a life that she deserves, but are concerned that she is making the wrong decision. A Feminine Ending , playing through March 15, is the story of Amanda, a young woman with dreams of being a great composer.  When she happens across her high school sweet heart Billy, whom her parents adored and refer to as the suitor, she is already engaged to Jack.  Jack is an aspiring artist with his own manager and big record deal.  Amanda’s ...

Think about the great composers across time. Mozart, Sebastian Bach, Handel, Strauss, Beethoven, Chopin, Verdi, Haydn, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Gershwin… and the list goes on. What do each of these composers have in common? Is it the way they use harmony in their symphonies, their use of phrasing, the way they interweave melodic lines, the use of syncopated rhythms, their use of instrumentation? No. The single common factor is simply this: They are all men! So you can see why young Amanda, played by Erika Cuenca, is struggling to make it in a man’s world. She dreams of being a famous composer, but in her master’s level classes, not only is she the only woman in class, she is treated with a definitive lack of respect for her talents. Add to this her diminished role as the fiancé of an almost-famous musician and you can understand why the music in her head is a cacophony of irregular rhythms and dissonant half-steps. “Nothing makes sense t...

Andrew Wind & Erika Cuenca - Photo by Heather Mull Come join the fun that young love has to offer. In A Feminine Ending, Jack, the soon to be famous musician, struggles to understand the rules of the game! As Jack is courted by record deals, fancy meals, and directed in major life decisions by his new manager, he just doesn't seem to ‘get’ the nuances of his relationship with his fiancé, Amanda. Whether it’s all the attention Jack gets, his immaturity, self-centeredness or perhaps a mixture of all these ingredients, he is flustered by the rules of relationships. At the same time, Amanda is struggling with her own role in the relationship and choices she must make. These mingled complexities of young love set the stage for a fast paced comedy that will spark your imagination as to what could be, or perhaps what could have been. When one door shuts, as if often the case on this set with over 64 doors, will another open? A Feminine Ending: Plays February 28 to March 15,...

Weston Blakesley and Erika Cuenca  - Photo by Heather Mull A Feminine Ending is a play about a young woman, Amanda, who knows what she wants, but just isn’t sure how to go about getting it.  She finds herself torn between dreams.  Dreams of being in love with her almost-famous fiancé Jack, dreams of living a simple life with her high school sweetheart Billy, and dreams of becoming a famous composer. While Amanda struggles with those decisions common for many young women, her mother and father struggle with their own challenges in their long-term marriage.  Amanda begins to see her potential future, as her father, David, ruminates about the paradox of existence as it relates to aging.  We can’t avoid aging, yet as the years go by the aging process seems to sneak up on us.  Are we to act the age we feel or must we adapt to act the age that others perceive us to be? So whether you consider yourself young, old or somewhere in between, you'll be able ...

Ingrid Sonnichsen and Erika Cuenca - Photo by Heather Mull Amanda (Erika Cuenca), a 25-year-old woman trying to make it in a man’s world, finds herself giving up on her own dreams to support the dreams of her almost-famous fiancé Jack (Andrew Wind), while also dealing with the troubles in her parents’ marriage.  Though she may feel alone with her troubles, not only are her challenges similar to those of many women of her own generation, Amanda finds out that her struggles at this stage of her life are the same struggles that her mother dealt with at a similar age.  They are, no doubt, the challenges of womanhood. Amanda’s mother (Ingrid Sonnichsen), struggling with her own loss from neglecting her lifelong dreams, does not want to see Amanda suffer the same consequences.  She wants Amanda to be happy and fulfilled, and fears that if Amanda goes through with her marriage to the almost-famous Jack, Amanda will be in the same situation as herself in 25-30 years. ...

This month is all about love! If you caught our cabaret show this Valentine’s weekend, you know the songs, humor, dances and poetry were all about love. Who knew a martini could make such a great date? If you missed it, you can catch an all-new cabaret show at our theater the weekend of April 18th ( cabaret tickets ). In the meantime, up next, is the Off The Wall Productions play “ A Feminine Ending ” by Sarah Treem. In this bittersweet comedy, a young woman is trying to make it in a profession largely dominated by men. She is living with her fiancé when her first love reappears into her life. Although she dreams of being a composer, the noise in her head is anything but sweet music. Will love prevail?   Click here to purchase tickets or to learn more. "Appealingly outlandish humor." - The New York Times A Feminine Ending by Sarah Treem February 28 to March 15, 201 4. Click here to learn more or to purchase tickets. Off The Wall | Pittsburgh Theater ...

Our first run of Straightening Combs by Kim El was this past weekend and was a BIG HIT with the audience.  If you missed this hit, don’t worry!  We have a great line up of new productions.  Here’s a look at what you can look forward to in the next few months: Off the Wall Cabaret – February 14 & 15 .  Come enjoy first-rate comedy, spectacular singing, and a HOT new dance company, all under one roof.  Tickets . A Feminine Ending by Sarah Treem – February 28 – March 15 .  A gentle, bittersweet comedy about a young woman who knows what she wants but not quite how to get it. Tickets . Dorothy in Oz by James Michael Shoberg – performed by Rage on the Stage – playing at our theater March 20 – 29 .  This play will feature a brand-new opening, many never-before-seen jokes and bits, and NINE new actors! Straightening Combs by Kim El –April 4 – 6 .  Second run of this great repertory play about coming to age in The Pittsburgh Hill District...