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WHEREAS, 2014 marks the fourteenth year that The Pittsburgh Newspaper Guild/CWA 38061 and the Pittsburgh Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have joined forces to “satirize Pittsburgh for a good cause” with their creation and performance of Off The Record, and;
WHEREAS, the show is in the admirable tradition pioneered by such others as the old Press Club Shows and Don Brockett's “Forbidden Pittsburgh” revues, usually also starring Barbara Russell, and was created and written for the first twelve years by Post-Gazette reporter and wit Gary Rotstein and produced by theater critic Chris Rawson, who, at dire risk to his mental health still continues to produce it in this fourteenth year, even though Mr. Rotstein has handed the writing over to younger Post-Gazette colleagues, Bill Toland and Dan Majors, and;
WHEREAS, for the previous thirteen years more than 150 Pittsburgh professional actors, celebrities, politicians, reporters and other rank hams have done their stuff on page and stage to write and perform this annual musical satire, which benefits various local charities, raising nearly $350,000 for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank while also contributing toward the Newspaper Guild and SAG-AFTRA scholarship funds, and;
WHEREAS, over the years, Off The Record has drawn on the stage contributions of many, such as County Commissioner Dan Onorato, former Mayors Tom Murphy, Bob O'Connor and Sophie Masloff, and Council Members Natalia Rudiak and Doug Shields, and Off The Record XIV has the temerity to include in this year's cast several actual members of Pittsburgh's City Council, an august body whose actions and personnel are always above the possibility of comic commentary, and;
WHEREAS, Director, Gregory Lehane, music director Camille Villalpando Rolla, stage manager extraordinaire Jessica Haidet, choreographer Christine Laitta, visual artist Liz Gray, costumer Annette Ferrieri and many, many o...
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