Some theaters host shows; the Benedum is one. Opened in 1928 as the Stanley Theatre — a 2,800-seat movie palace of French Baroque splendor — the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts was restored in 1987 as the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s flagship stage and the spark that ignited the Cultural District.
Today it hosts the biggest nights in Pittsburgh arts: PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh tours, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera and the Pittsburgh CLO’s summer musicals, all beneath chandeliers and gold leaf that have glowed for nearly a century. Its grand lobby alone — marble, mirrors and that staircase — is worth the ticket.
The Benedum Center is at 237 7th Street downtown. The full Cultural District calendar, including the Trust’s galleries and the Byham and O’Reilly theaters, is at trustarts.org.
