Pittsburgh’s own operatic oddities present their musical

Squonk Opera

“Bigsmorgasbordwunderwerk”

Saturday, Nov. 2

The Byham…

Squonk Opera

“Bigsmorgasbordwunderwerk”

Saturday, Nov. 2

The Byham Theater

8 p.m., $15 for students with ID

(412) 456-6666

If Squonk Opera is any indication, Pittsburgh’s avant garde is an exportable resource. Its odd blend of musical performances first got them attention in 1992 when the group performed in a junkyard with choreographed construction equipment. Most recently, they premiered their new show, “Burn,” based on Dante’s Inferno, last December at the City Theatre’s mainstage, then left to tour the country.

But their successful transplantation of their show “Bigsmorgasbordwunderwerk” from Pittsburgh to P.S. 122 in New York City, and then to Broadway, is perhaps the troupe’s most recognized accomplishment. And this weekend, Squonk Opera brings back the bigger Broadway version of this show, never before seen in Pittsburgh.

The group’s founders, Steve O’Hearn, mainly responsible for the surreal sets and props of Squonk’s shows, and Jackie Dempsey, who writes the often-haunting music for their shows, have a fierce loyalty to Pittsburgh even after making it big. Dempsey grew up here, and both went to college down the street from each other on Forbes Avenue – Dempsey at Pitt for music composition, where she then taught piano for six years, and O’Hearn at CMU for design.

“Bigsmorgasbordwunderwerk,” Squonk’s biggest and best-known production to date, works from a central theme that we all can appreciate – food. Like “Burn,” the performers, props and sets collide, eating and being eaten in a grotesque and surreal landscape. The show is quite timely for a showing the day after Halloween, featuring a singing severed head and possessed cutlery. With a bigger production, “Bigsmorgasbordwunderwerk” is sure to present Squonk Opera’s dark, intelligent humor on an even more chaotic scale.