• Pittsburgh Musical Theater is ready for its annual show at the West End Overlook. Called "Disney on Broadway (live) at the Overlook!" and co-sponsored by the West Pittsburgh Partnership and City Parks, it presents six pros and 10 young members of the PMT Stars youth troupe, Aug. 7, 8, 9, 15 and 16, 7:30 p.m. at the West End Overlook Amphitheater (directions at www.pittsburghmusicals.com; more info there or at 412-539-0900, Ext. 232). The park will be reserved from 6 p.m., so bring a picnic.

Their pitch: "The stunning Pittsburgh skyline (as spectacular as that from Victoria Peak in Hong Kong) is the backdrop for selections from 'High School Musical' and 'Beauty and the Beast,' plus 'The Wedding Singer' and 'Cinderella.' Watching the sun set as the city lights up is unforgettable. Designed to delight the entire family and the price is right -- free."

Cast: (pros) Larissa Petrucci, Jason Swauger, Vinny Tresco, Katie Mae Maloney, Leah Zahner and Katie Kerr; (students) Beth Anderson, Nicki Uram, Anne Ciarlone, Brittany Dorazio, Zuri Hodge, Shannon Daily, Maria Fazio, Zeke Stewart, Krysta Bartman and Adrianne Knapp.

• This week and next the CLO is conducting its annual poll to discover what shows you'd like to see on its mainstage and cabaret schedules. There are 45 possibilities listed for the Benedum, from "All Shook Up" to "The Wiz," including "Legally Blonde," which has a check beside it because the national tour has already been announced to lead off the season. I'm going to weigh in with my opinions next week. (Hint: I won't vote for "Barry Manilow's Copacabana" or "Pippin," but I just might for "Damn Yankees" or "Ragtime.") There are also eight cabaret possibilities.

Vote! You can use the flyer being distributed, but if you aren't seeing "West Side Story," you can vote online at www.pittsburghCLO.org.

• As I said in Tuesday night's On Stage Journal, a reason I went to the opening-night party for "West Side Story," aside from parties being parties and of course the wine and food, was to say Hi to Yurel Echezarreta, Ahmad Simmons and Steffi Garrard, the three young ensemble members I interviewed last week. (My annual interview with a few ensemble members is one of my favorite PG traditions.)

But I forgot to note there or in today's review that Garrard, playing one of the Jets girls named Clarice, is the one who gets to sing (off-stage) "Somewhere" while Tony and Maria do their escapist dream dance in Act 2. In the Broadway premiere it was sung by a Sharks girl, Consuela. I wonder if that makes a difference? Probably not, as long as it's sung well, as it is, very sweetly, by Garrard. But what if you could tell it was a Shark singing? Or is any difference obliterated by the dream setting? Is that the point?

• As it did at the end of its Beckett Fest, PICT plans a public discussion at the conclusion of the Synge Cycle, Aug. 17, about 9 p.m., following the 7 p.m. performance. Everyone's invited, whether you attend that evening's show or not. Andrew Paul expects to gather the full company of actors and designers. I'm sorry to say (well, not entirely) that I'll be on vacation, so who will volunteer to send me notes on what transpires, so I can cover this in my On Stage Journal?

• Paul also sends word that PICT's recent Lear, Dakin Matthews, will play Cardinal Wolsey opposite Frank Langella in the upcoming Broadway revival of "A Man for all Seasons" at the Roundabout -- great roles for both. You may recall that Orson Welles played Wolsey opposite Paul Schofield in the film.

• Andrew also sent some incisive (opinionated?) comments on the New York Beckett Marathon that included Ralph Fiennes, Barry McGovern, Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Sam Shepard and Stephen Rea. If he'll permit, I'll publish them in my On Stage Journal.

• Bette McDevitt writes about New Castle native, actor/writer Chris Clavelli, whose "A Little More Than You Wanted to Spend" plays this weekend at the Off Square Theatre Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo.; it's about his response to the death of his 5-year-old son, Jesse.

Bette remembers that when she went to New York for Jesse's funeral she stayed at the Edison Hotel, specifically because I had written about it as August Wilson's regular New York home. "Since then," she says, "the hotel has provided a free room for two nights, two years in a row, as first prize for the Merton Center raffle," thanks to the Wilson connection to Pittsburgh. Bette has since recommended the Edison to others with success.

So I guess this is a recommendation, too.

• We announce the fall trip (Nov. 19-23) in Sunday's paper. Call Gulliver's Travels at 441-3131 to beat the rush.

• The Terra Nova Theatre Group in Little Washington concludes its play-reading series Friday with Pittsburgher Tammy Ryan's "A Confluence of Dreaming" (info at 724-413-0650 or www.terranovatheatregroup.org). The play was developed at Philadelphia Theatre Company's 2006 STAGES series and was a finalist for the 2008 Julie Harris Playwriting Award. Set in Pittsburgh in the weeks and days before Sept. 11, 2001, it includes a passionate cyber-affair and "brings to life an American family struggling to confront their unspoken conflicts and secret desires." Featured will be Susan Martinelli, Mark Yochum, Tony Bingham and Melissa Tolner.

A quick list of some theaters that have produced Ryan's work is impressive: Alliance Theater Company, Florida Stage, People's Light and Theater Company, Marin Theater Company, Philadelphia Theater Company, Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, Primary Stages and 29th Street Rep, not to mention City Theatre and Pittsburgh Playhouse.

• Paid admissions at city's pro theaters for the week ending Aug. 3: