THE MOTH IN PITTSBURGH
Building a Bridge: Stories from Both Sides
with host Tom Shillue and local storyteller Terrance Hayes
On Thursday, August 13, 2009 a sold-out crowd packed the Pittsburgh Opera space in the Strip District’s renovated Westinghouse Air Brake Factory to listen to, The Moth in Pittsburgh, stories told by Stephanie Summerville, Boris Timanovsky and Pittsburgh’s own Terrance Hayes.
Emceed by Tom Shillue (regular Daily Show contributor) and with a soundtrack provided by UkuLizzy (aka Liz Hammond), the storytellers entertained and entwined the audience with true stories on the theme “Building a Bridge: Stories from Both Sides”.
Actress and singer Stephanie Summerville told of the time she came face to face with a Klansman and his wife in Southern Indiana and the unexpected strength she gained from the experience.
Boris Timanosvky mused on a failed pen pal correspondence between his son and friend Vlad’s daughter. Through a series of events he ends up writing to himself in the voices of the children and re-discovering his childhood dream to be a sea captain.
One of Pittsburgh’s most accomplished poets, Terrance Hayes, closed the evening with his story about meeting his father Butch for the first time. While Butch proves a hard man to pin down, Terrance finally learns more of his family history and his grandfather’s heroic death in Vietnam.
The Moth cast and crew had a great experience on what we hope is the first of many visits to Pittsburgh. The only complaint we heard was “I wish it had gone on longer”! Check back for news of a future new collaboration between The Moth and American Shorts @ WYEP next summer.
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