by Genea L. Webb, For New Pittsburgh Courier
For 32 years, New Horizon Theater Inc., has been showcasing what many call top-notch nationwide Black talent for Pittsburgh’s African American theater community.
“We just keep moving along. We make it work. We have to make it work,” said Joyce Meggerson-Moore, New Horizon Theater Inc., chairperson. “We still produce quality plays. People tell me that they haven’t seen anything they didn’t like, so that’s good. Then COVID came and we didn’t have a consistent theater space. We make adjustments as we go along and we have many multi-talented people who do more than just one thing. A lot of the theaters now have one person who does this and one person who does that and that’s good, too, but some of our main people like Herb Newsome, Eileen Morris, Layon Gray, they can write plays, direct and do programs. Even me, I write proposals and work the door, do publicity and that’s what we have to do and I think that’s what helped us out. We just keep moving along.”
New Horizon Theater was founded in 1992 with the mission to bring the Greater Pittsburgh area consistent, high-quality, cultural events reflecting the Black point of view, and to provide an ongoing venue for other ethnic writers and performers to further their professional development. The theater’s major accomplishments have been to manage board and operations with an all-volunteer core of people. Elva Branson assembled a core group of artists who had a series of discussions about the need for a venue for African American performers. An initial proposal to find a production was written around the first play, “Home,” and was cast for the play in 1992. A board of directors was put together by Branson. They all worked together to identify the mission of the theater company. The name of the company was New Horizon Theater with artistic input from other members of the former Black Horizon Theater. Branson worked with the organization until her move out of state in 1996.
In 1997, the theater applied for and received its 501(c)(3) tax exempt status under the board leadership of Meggerson-Moore and Vice Chairperson Barbara H. Naylor. Ernest McCarty served as artistic director from 1994 to 2008. In 2022, New Horizon Theater was named one of Pittsburgh’s Cultural Treasures.
For the past 26 years, the organization has been holding an annual black tie fundraising event. The event brings national recording acts to the Pittsburgh stage. Attendees are treated to an amazing night of music while raising money for the theater company and its endeavors. Past performers included Ruby Dee and Ozzie Davis, Melba Moore, Ashford and Simpson, The Delfonics, Ray, Goodman & Brown, Christopher Williams, Ruben Studdard, and The Stylistics.
This year’s event, which will take on Saturday, May 4, at the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Avenue, Downtown, will feature The Manhattans, featuring Gerald Alston.
“We are very excited. New Horizon is a wonderful organization and Joyce is a wonderful person and it’s a wonderful group of people to work with and it’s a wonderful opportunity,” Alston told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “I love working with Joyce. She does something that gives back to the people. Her audience loves the groups and the kind of music she brings in and she gives something back to the older groups by having us come in and perform. We are willing to perform and work with her and do those fundraisers for New Horizon and what they are doing. It’s just a wonderful thing.”
Alston has been the lead singer for The Manhattans since 1970. Alston promises Steel City concertgoers a trip down memory lane, back to a time when music told stories of love and sometimes, heartache.
“We’re going to do songs from the ‘60s, ‘70s and present-day. We’re going to give Pittsburgh everything we’ve got. We’re going to put it all out there,” Alston said. “We’re looking forward to performing and signing autographs and spending time with the audience. We are not doing our fans a favor; they are doing us a favor by coming to see us sing. Performing for our fans is a joy. I believe in our fans, they are dedicated to us. They keep coming to see us. If it wasn’t for the fans, the group wouldn’t have lasted 63 years.”
The audience on May 4 will also get to experience an excerpt from “Blues is the Roots,” a previous play that New Horizon Theater produced to show people the caliber of the work the theater puts out on a consistent basis.
Chris Moore, veteran TV and radio broadcaster, will serve as master of ceremonies. “I do this for New Horizon each year because I love and support my wife and I believe in New Horizon’s mission,” explained Moore.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.newhorizontheater.org, calling 412-431-0773 or visiting Dorsey’s Digital Imaging on Frankstown Avenue.
There are various parking options available to New Horizon’s patrons. They include the 350 Oliver Garage (above ground) or the Oliver Garage (below ground), Ft. Duquesne & Sixth Garage or Sixth and Penn Garage, both located within a block of the O’Reilly Theater, or the Theater Square Garage, right next door to the theater on Penn Avenue.
“We need more people like Joyce (Meggerson) Moore who are working hard to keep the theater going. We need to have theaters like New Horizon back in the schools,” Alston said. “And people need to step up and donate because New Horizon and Joyce are just wonderful and we will be there for them any time they need us.”
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