Pittsburgh's People of the Year 2021: Theater | Pittsburgh’s People of the Year | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper

Pittsburgh's People of the Year 2021: Theater

Monteze Freeland is a shining voice in the city's performance scene

click to enlarge Pittsburgh's People of the Year 2021: Theater
CP Photo: Jared Wickerham
Monteze Freeland
Monteze Freeland seems to be everywhere in the Pittsburgh theater scene. And recent developments demonstrate how his star has risen as a local actor, director, and playwright, with a background that includes working with Quantum Theatre, PICT, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, Prime Stage Theatre, and others. Freeland, a Baltimore native and Point Park University graduate, is currently serving as co-artistic director at South Side’s City Theatre. Throughout 2021, he has also consistently advocated for diverse creative voices in the city. In May, Freeland, who is Black, helped form Pittsburgh Arts Administrators of Color to support arts administrators of color in the Greater Pittsburgh Area. “Arts makers bear a greater responsibility to our communities than ever before, and it will require collective work to break the barriers to equal access and foster an inherent culture of inclusivity,” said Freeland in a press release. And in October, New Hazlett Theater reopened with the premiere of Kalopsia The Musical, a show Freeland wrote the script and lyrics for that brought awareness to mental health stigma in the Black community.
citytheatre.culturaldistrict.org/biography/monteze-freeland