• Stop me if I've written this before -- I've certainly been saying it enough, left and right -- but this May has been the perfect storm, theater-wise. All the fall-spring companies are still producing, many of the summer companies are under way, and season announcements and theater awards (Broadway, Kellys, etc.) sprout on every hand, not to mention fund-raising galas (CLO, Public and City within 10 days, plus smaller companies). So yes, those are bags under my eyes. But I'm not complaining: It's great to have a robust beat to patrol.

• This also seemed the right time for yesterday's commentary on the future of the Playhouse -- both the legacy of the company and the surviving building -- in the light of Point Park's plans to build a new Pittsburgh Playhouse Downtown. (By the way, does anyone find it slightly spooky that on the same day my piece appeared, the Playhouse had to suspend performances because the power went off?)

Of course, the move Downtown won't happen immediately, not with so much money still to raise. But I'm sorry my story had little space to describe the Playhouse's history, including the many stars who played there. Click here to see Richard E. Rauh's evocative list.

My wife, a birthright Pittsburgher (I'm a transplant of just 40 years standing), suggests it's time to gather Playhouse memories. So this is a public call: if you feel so moved, send me (e-mail or snail) a significant, characteristic, unique or just favorite Playhouse memory. Some of you will have many, but pick one or two. I'll start publishing them, occasionally here, mainly online. But I'll also save them for the inevitable farewell to the old Playhouse some day. And maybe, if Point Park's new Downtown theater complex makes good on president Paul Hennigan's directive that it commemorate Playhouse history, your memories will prove useful to them, too.

• As I say, 'tis the season for fund-raisers. I covered the CLO's Pink Frolic and Rodgers Award pretty fully in my online On Stage Journal, but I still haven't caught up to the Public's party at the Hilton with Brian Stokes Mitchell or City's evening of auction and gambling at Heinz Field. And I never got to the Unseam'd Shakespeare fund-raiser -- but I (and you) can still send a check.

• My subhead is a tribute to Walt Kelly's 1968 political masterpiece, "Equal Time for Pogo," and this lament, which may be relevant this year, too:

• Melanie Dreyer, actress, director, Pitt theater professor and international entrepreneur has accepted a position at Cornell University beginning in the fall. "International Culture Lab (my new theater company located in NYC) will continue to produce international work and my new location will make that process easier for me," she writes. "Meanwhile, I shall miss Pittsburgh and my friends and colleagues very much. I plan to return as often as possible to direct and say hello. I think of this move as extending the Pittsburgh network."

• Well-represented in last weekend's "Womenscene" (reviewed Saturday by Samantha Bennett) was Kim Zelonis, but she points out this was probably the last opportunity to see a staged work by Kim Zelonis, because May 3 she married John Dale and is changing her byline to Kim Z. Dale. "My first play under this name (unless something else comes up quickly) will be at the Women's Theatre Alliance 10-Minute Play Festival on June 11 at Theatre Building Chicago."

The wedding was in Chicago, where Kim moved last year. The Pittsburgh theater contingent included John Lane, Ro Vigilante, Jim Hee, Tony Carra, Chris Rudolph and Cathy Rudolph; Pittsburgh theater ex-pats were Todd Kreidler, Erin Annarella, Jason Fliess, Alex (Groff) Fliess and Erin Gallagher, maid-of-honor and dress designer; and the reception included Don and Tressa (Glover) DiGiulio, Corey Reiger and Susaan Jamshidi.

• F.J. Hartland's new play, "Onions," was part of Springfest 2008 at the Emerging Artists Theatre, New York City. His "Postcards From a Dead Dog" (voted best play at the 2005 Pittsburgh New Works Fest), is going to be published in an anthology of best plays at Emerging Artists Theatre.

• John Reoli, who moved to New York just over a year ago to pursue acting and writing, writes, "What a difference a year makes! My full-length play 'One Seat in the Shade' (you reviewed the one-act version in the first Pittsburgh Pride Festival in 2004) was accepted into the New York International Fringe Festival, running Aug. 8-24." For dates/times/venue, check www.fringenyc.org.

• Pittsburgh native Kris Andersson (North Allegheny '88) was Drama Desk nominated for his solo show, "Dixie's Tupperware Party," which will launch a 20-city tour in the fall. According to theatermania.com, it "includes outrageous tales, free giveaways, and the most fabulous assortment of Tupperware ever sold on any stage."

Paid admissions at city's pro theaters for the week ending May 18: