New Hazlett Theater Heralds New Phase of Resident Company Model
Excerpts from the article in OnStagePittsburgh published on January 28, 2026
By SHARON EBERSON
The branding of the New Hazlett Theater as more than a venue sometimes gets lost in the translation.
An anchor of the North Side cultural district that includes the National Aviary and neighboring Children’s Museum, the New Hazlett’s website declares, “More than just a theater, we’re an incubator for the arts,” and “… for the artists.”
“There’s been a conscious choice made to say we are doing things other than serving as a venue,” said Rene Conrad, the New Hazlett’s executive director. “I think the communications plan about that was not robust, because that happened way back when we started.”
To herald its evolving developmental mission, the New Hazlett on Wednesday announced “a pivotal expansion of its commitment to the creative community, leading with a unified approach to growth and the already-active Resident Company Model (RCM),” including new co-presenting partnership with The Becoming Arts Collective, that demonstrates the theater’s immediate impact through a partner-focused approach.”
New Hazlett Theater on Allegheny Square, North Side.
Resident Company Model, established in 2023, includes advantages such as:
Stability & Efficiency: Reducing production costs and exploring inter-organizational cost savings.
Reach & Support: Amplifying joint marketing while providing priority space access, box office support, and Front of House labor.
Collective Action: Facilitating professional development through shared DEAI and marketing workshops.
UPLIFTING RESIDENT COMPANIES
Being known as a venue for resident companies remains a factor in New Hazlett’s ability to wear different artistic hats.
…
More than just a venue for resident companies, “We like being able to play the role of helping facilitate the growth of all those small companies,” Conrad said in an interview several weeks before Wednesday’s announcement.
While the pandemic brought many presenting and producing companies to the brink of disaster, Conrad said the New Hazlett came out of the shutdown with a sustainability plan that they continue to foster.
“What we saw was, we’re a midsize organization. We have a little bit of financial stability in the form of a little bit of an operating reserve, but we were able to see three years from now, there’s a cliff. And obviously you know this story. Everybody else who’s a big organization did the same thing … but these little guys, either didn’t see the cliff, or didn’t really realize what it was going to mean to them. And so as we came out of the pandemic, we started fundraising for what we are now calling the resident company model to say, ‘How can we collaboratively help these small organizations be sustainable?’ ”’
That next phase will include Darrin J. Friedman’s Becoming Arts Collective, a relative newcomer on the local theater scene.
The partnership is set to feature three programs, including the second Bridges and Stages 10-Minute Play Festival, and two full-length theatrical productions.
“To partner with the New Hazlett Theater in this way is genuinely inspiring. Their mission is deeply aligned with our focus on bringing new and transformative art to this community. This co-presenting effort allows us to build stronger connections through compelling storytelling that aligns with our mission to uplift and inspire hope,” said Friedman, Managing Director and Founder of The Becoming Arts Collective.
Becoming Arts would seem to be perfectly aligned with its new home. It’s tagline?: “A vibrant arts incubator for the Pittsburgh stage.”
