Media Contact:
Saul Markowitz, President, Markowitz Communications
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Three Stooges Festival media assets: HERE
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Announces
“Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk” needs no translation; Three Stooges Festival
hits the Harris Theater on September 16, 2023
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 12, 2023: Across the vast divides of time, culture and nation there is still a universal language, accessible to us all.
Music? Uh, yeah, besides that one. No, we’re talking about slapstick comedy.
You don’t need an in-depth study of historical context, cultural references, etc., to explain why slapstick kings the Three Stooges are funny. They’re just three funny-looking guys (four if you throw in Shemp) doing goofy things, purely for laughs. No need to overthink it.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will present its second annual “Three Stooges Festival” 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Harris Theater, 809 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, 15222. Tickets are $15 each for general admission, kids 12 and under are free to attend. It will be hosted by comedian/writer Sean Collier, who helped pick the films. There will be trivia questions, with prizes awarded. For more information, visit Pittsburgh Cultural Trust official ticket sources: TrustArts.org or call guest services 412-456-6666.
This year’s theme is “Stooges At Work,” built atop A PLUMBING WE WILL GO (1940, 18 minutes), where Larry, Moe and Curly pose as plumbers, contracted to fix a mansion’s ailing pipes. But, of course, they have none of the required skills and experience, and soaking-wet chaos ensues. Horror fans may also get a kick out of this one -- Bruce Campbell has cited this Stooges short as a major inspiration for some his own physical comedy and pratfalls, with tributes to the film recognizable in the original EVIL DEAD (1981).
The six Stooges shorts selected for the festival include:
A PLUMBING WE WILL GO (1940)
DIZZY DOCTORS (1937)
NO CENSUS NO FEELING (1940)
GOOF ON THE ROOF ( 1952)
STUDIO STOOPS (1950)
HOT SCOTS (1948)
*The last three all feature the comedic talents of Shemp, who replaced Curly after Curly Howard’s stroke in 1946.
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The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's Harris Theater is one of the most active arts facilities in the region showing art films nearly every day of the year. Formerly known as the Art Cinema, the Harris Theater represents a milestone in the redevelopment of Liberty Avenue. The Art Cinema was the first moving picture house in Pittsburgh to commercially show art movies until competition from other city theaters led to its conversion to an adult movie house in the 1960s. As part of its mission to transform the Cultural District, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust purchased and restored the facility leading to further conversions of run-down properties along the Liberty Avenue corridor. With 194 seats for movies and 178 seats for live performances, the Harris Theater officially opened to the public on November 9, 1995.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh’s most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country’s largest land masses “curated” by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh’s quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts. TrustArts.org
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