History & local legend
The New Hazlett Theater on Pittsburgh’s North Side was the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s home for twenty-five seasons. Among the company’s backstage traditions was a ghost said to appear on strike nights—the nights after a production’s final performance, when the crew dismantled and removed its scenery.
Education director Rob Zellers recalled that tradition as the Public Theater prepared to leave the building in November 1999. Its final matinee there was How I Learned to Drive. After the performance, company members and supporters gathered in the lobby, drank champagne and exchanged memories of their years at the Hazlett.
