Performance Location: New Hazlett Center for Performing Arts
6 Allegheny Square E., Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Performance times are at 7:30 on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2:30 on Sundays

Freedom House: Giving Life a Second Chance

Written by L.E. McCullough
Directed by Scott P. Calhoon

The world premiere play presented with live music celebrates the true story of America’s first mobile Emergency Medical Unit when doctors trained residents of the Hill District to become the first local, national, and international paramedics

January 23 – February 1, 2026

BUY TICKETS

Run time is approximately 2 hours including one 15-minute intermission.

Friday, January 23rd is Preview with Pay What You Can
Saturday, January 24th is Opening Night with our Post-Show Discussion

VIDEO: YouTube - L.E. McCullough Interview

INTERVIEW: Voice of the Arts - Prime Stage Theatre – Freedom House: Giving Life a Second Chance

ARTICLE: Staging the Freedom House Story in Pittsburgh (pdf)

Opening Night Post-Show Discussion with the following panel:

Dr. Rickquel (Ricky) Tripp
Pitt School of Emergency Medicine, City of Pittsburgh EMS, UPMC and is Medical Director for 4 local EMS agencies.

Ms. Bea Charles
wife of the board president of Freedom House Ambulance Service

L.E. McCullough, Playwright
Scott P. Calhoon, Director
Wayne Brinda, Producing Artistic Director

Sponsored in part by

Cast Bios

Willa Catherine Cotten, Ruth Gardner (Dispatcher) and Ensemble
Willa affectionately called “Katy” is a native of Pittsburgh. From 2003 to 2008/2015 she was cast in several small roles in the Langston Hughes play entitled Black Nativity, directed by Oronde Sharif, and in 2006 was nominated by the AACTA (African American Council for The Arts) Onyx Awards as best supporting actress in a musical or revue. As a part of the Kuntu Repertory Theatre under the direction of Dr. Vernell Lillie, Katy was cast as Sarah Vaughn in a Rob Penny production entitled Clean Drums, 2009 and was also cast as the wife of the great Negro Baseball League pitcher Satchel Paige in Among the Best, 2009. Katy was cast in several roles in Raisin, the musical based on Lorraine Hansberry's “A Raisin in the Sun”, her roles included an understudy for Beneatha, Althea the bar proprietor, and several dance numbers. She was cast as an ex-wife in the play entitled I Gotcha,The Story of Joe Tex and the Soul Clan, a New Horizon Theatre Production. Katy also experienced her first Pittsburgh Playwrights Black and White festival in a lead role in 2014. In the Washington Community Theater production Hairspray, she was cast as Motormouth Maybelle, with Pittsburgh Playwrights, she was cast as Dinah Washington's mother, and a background vocalist in Dinah, a musical about the life of Dinah Washington. Her most recent musical was Sanctified written and directed by Javon Johnson of Tyler Perry's Oval, where she was cast as an elder of the church named Sarah. She played “Roberta” in the off-Broadway play of Sistas: The Musical, a New Horizon production last summer, and was cast in the role of a lifetime as “Ma Rainey” in August Wilson's Ma Rainy's Black Bottom. Katy is grateful for every opportunity given to her by God to use her gifts.

Cynthia Dallas, Barmaid and Ensemble
Cynthia is a proud native of Pittsburgh and graduate of the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland. Local theater credits include performances with The Pittsburgh Public, Prime Stage, City Theater, The Pittsburgh CLO, PICT, Real Time Arts, and The HiawathaProject. Cynthia is also a member of several improv teams at Arcade Comedy Theater, including the award winning Latchkey Kids and CoWorkers. Prior to studying abroad, she lived in Los Angeles for over a decade where she worked in TV, film, commercials, and stunts. Recent credits include American Rust,The Bold & The Beautiful, and Lee Daniels' horror film The Deliverance. Repped by Docherty Talent Agency.

Justin Mohr, Phil Hallen and Ensemble
Justin is excited to be working with Prime Stage again and working with Scott Calhoun. He previously appeared in Edgar Allen Poe Presents and Fahrenheit 451 at Prime Stage. Justin graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in Theater Arts. He spent several years in NYC and Chicago performing with sketch comedy/improv groups, theater companies, and commercials. Justin has worked on several major films and TV shows. He was also in The Baristas, a Pittsburgh based web series that is on YouTube. Favorite past roles include: Jack Leading Ladies, Gary Lejune Noises Off, John Smith Run for Your Wife, Bernard Boeing, Boeing, and many others. He will next be seen in Speak, which is the next Prime Stage production. Love and thanks to this cast and crew. Special thanks to his friends and family for their ongoing support.

Darrin Mosley Jr, Dave Rayzer (Paramedic) and Ensemble
Darrin is a recent MFA graduate of the University of Louisville Theatre Performance Program (2025) with a certification in African-American Theatre, and a Bachelors of Art in Dance Performance from Slippery Rock University. Darrin’s performance experience ranges from regional theatre experiences such as To Battle with Big Storm Company (2025) and Louville Hive, Charlotte’s Web with Faith Works Theatre Company, Macbeth with Steel City Shakespeare Company, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with South Park Theatre, Newsies with Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, Moby Dick the Opera with Pittsburgh Opera, Sassy Mamas with New Horizon Theater Company, and more. Darrin is excited to make his Prime Stage debut and wants to thank the entire team for allowing him to play such an important role, and his loving wife for continuing to support his artistic endeavors. To celebrate this show, Darrin has cut his locs as a promise/tribute to his late grandfather.

Anne Rematt, Dr. Nancy Caroline and Ensemble
Anne is delighted to be back for another performance with Prime Stage. They previously been seen in roles such as Lee Goldman in Prime Stage Theater’s world premiere of Perseverance, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet with Pittsburgh Classic Players, and M’Lady in The Three Musketeers with The Jester’s Guild. She has worked with Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Vigilance Theater Company, Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks, Big Storm Performance Company, and several others. Anne is also an Intimacy and Fight Choreographer for various companies throughout the Pittsburgh region. They spend the autumns portraying Queen Anne Boleyn at the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival. Internationally, they have had the opportunity to perform in several venues throughout Italy and Scotland. In her spare time, Anne is normally found at home with her dog, attempting to read every book she has recklessly purchased.

DeVaughn Robinson, James McCoy Jr and Ensemble
DeVaughn’s career began in Pittsburgh as a Project Facilitator at Manchester Academic Charter School. While building connections working for organizations like Jenesis Magazine, WQED, and BOOM Concepts, he joined the event brand MakeSureYouHaveFun in 2017 which has helped produce 100+ events in Lawrenceville featuring international DJs. Simultaneously, he performed in productions such as the self written TRIAL$, a fragile story and films such as The Rehabilitation of the Hill. Recently, he starred in Las Vegas’ Public Fit Theatre’s staging of Pipeline. DeVaughn starred in Prime Stage’s Production of Ruby Bridges Story and understudied PPTCO of Two Trains Running. DeVaughn earned a certification in Technical Project Management and now works in financial tech. Lately DeVaughn founded DreamTheatre, a company exploring theatre through the lens of modern culture, design and technology.

Ryan Warsing, Dr. Peter Safar and Ensemble
Ryan is a local improviser, actor, and writer. He previously appeared in Prime Stage's The 39 Steps (Hannay) and is glad to return for this important story. Ryan is a regular at the Arcade Comedy Theater, where he performs with the Allegheny Story Society and indie team Barbara, A Mother. He is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory and a former house improviser at Chicago’s iO Theater. Since returning to Pittsburgh, Ryan has performed in Little Lake Theatre's Barefoot in the Park (Paul), PICT's Bards in the Burgh festival, and the Becoming Arts Collective's Bridges and Stages festival. He has a Theatre degree from the College of William & Mary and uses it where he can.

Freedom House Plaque

Freedom House Plaque in the Hill District

Freedom House Ambulance
1967-1975
Pittsburgh's E.M.S. Pioneers

Inscription. Never to be forgotten.... This plaque honors the visionaries of the Hill District's Freedom House Ambulance Service - founders, staff, medical advisors, funders, and supporters--for their significant contributions to emergency medical services education. The men and women set the national standards for pre-hospital emergency care. Erected 2014 by The Hill House, in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Falk Foundation, and State Rep. Jake Wheatley.

Freedom House Plaque Marker The Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. It is in Middle Hill. It can be reached from Centre Avenue 0.1 miles east of Develliers Street. Marker is mounted on the face of the Hill District Credit Union office on Center Avenue, in Pittsburgh's Hill District. Marker is in this post office area: Pittsburgh PA 15219, United States of America.

More Information

Freedom House Museum
https://emsmuseum.org/collections/archives/service/freedomhousepa/

Freedom House Ambulance Service (1967-1975) - History
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/freedom-house-ambulance-service-1967-1975/

Founded in 1967 by the Pittsburgh civil rights organization Freedom House, which offered job training and assistance to Black Pittsburghers
https://teamrubiconusa.org/news-and-stories/freedom-house-ambulance-service-a-legacy-of-life-saving-care/

Pictures of Freedom House ambulance service
Link

The Story of Freedom House - Video (YouTube)
https://youtu.be/QpF2ZvaawBg

Freedom House - Street Saviors
https://www.freedomhousedoc.com/gallery.html

American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics novel by by Kevin Hazzard

Information on playwright L.E. McCullough
https://lemccullough.wordpress.com/ | https://tune.supply/musicians-2/lawrence-mccullough