After a lengthy hiatus, Pittsburgh’s favorite queer DIY theater space has found a new home in West Homestead. But the group behind it, which, since 2017, has organized numerous events throughout the city, needs public support to make the move a successful one.
The artists and self-described “weirdos” behind the Glitterbox Theater, including founding member Teresa “Tree” Martuccio, recently launched a fundraising campaign to turn a mechanic’s garage into the community-based performance space of their dreams. Previously, Martuccio says most of the plays, concerts, dance parties, drag shows, craft markets, and other Glitterbox offerings occurred in the North Oakland-based Blumcraft building.
After the Glitterbox left Blumcraft in April 2021 due to the pandemic, its future was uncertain.
Martuccio says the Glitterbox project is animated by queerness, accessibility, and love for experimental theater, which she describes as “folks trying new things, taking chances, putting form to feelings, stuff getting super weird, avant-garde, absurd, super kooky sorta stuff.”
In the years following the Blumcraft departure, Martuccio says they experimented with virtual events and sparingly hosted in-person activities, which showed there was still a demand for a space like the Glitterbox.
In summer 2021, the Glitterbox team hosted its Ten-Minute Play Festival at the Irish Center, and Martuccio says they were wowed by the huge turnout. Although the event was a success, Martuccio says trying to find an affordable space to rent in the first place was an “eye-opener.”
“Pittsburgh has gotten really expensive,” she says. “With the rising cost of real estate and living in Pittsburgh, it is hard for artists to keep Pittsburgh a place where artists can experiment and find community with other weirdos … We were like, ‘Man, the Glitterbox just has to come back.’”
Fortunately, they connected with the owner of a property in West Homestead who had just lost a tenant. Despite being zoned as a mechanic’s garage, the Glitterbox team thought it had the potential to be a great performance space.
To test out that premise, they threw the Xmas Xtravanganza with the Mistle Hoes Christmas cabaret in December 2022. “It just felt good. It felt right to be in there, and people really came out,” Martuccio says.
In order for the Glitterbox to stay in the garage, a cavernous, ground-level space with concrete floors, the collective needs to construct more entrances and bathrooms to make it more accessible. The space also needs a heating system, Martuccio says.
So far, the Glitterbox has raised over $23,000 of their $40,000 goal, most of which came in during the fundraiser’s first week. Their fundraising campaign will continue through mid-June, Martuccio says, and its outcome will determine the Glitterbox’s future.
The Glitterbox’s new incarnation is led by a volunteer collective made up of artists Olivia Devorah Tucker, Nina Ruffini, Nick Stocks, Lex Ackson, and Martuccio. Though the group is currently small, they hope to welcome new members, “breathing a lot of new life into it and getting different people and different experiences,” Martuccio says.
The plan is to have collective members contribute $150 each month to cover rent, in exchange for which they get to use the space for revenue-generating projects or activities like workshops or performances.
“So, it would be like you could pay $150 a month, but then ideally, you would be making more than that back,” Martuccio says.
In the long run, Martuccio says they plan to make the space a bit more professional with a backstage area, green room, tech booth, and box office. Even with these upgrades, the Glitterbox will continue to emphasize affordability, accessibility, and queer normativity.
“I know a lot of spaces, beautifully, are queer-inclusive, but we really are striving to be queer normative,” Martuccio says. “We’re in a scary time … [we are] trying to foster a place where people feel comfortable and safe, and that [queer people] are sort of leading the space, both as headliners and participants, and goers and operators.”
The Glitterbox Theater. 210 W. Eighth Ave, Homestead. glitterboxtheater.com
