Tag: Culture

Here are five fun things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend, November 7 – 10.

Screwing It Up:

Halloween might be over, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop hearing ghost stories. You have one more weekend to see “Turn of the Screw.” It’s a classic Henry James story with all the elements of a scary story; a classic English Manor House, a new governess, and creepy howls at midnight.

Creep over to the North Side and catch, “Turn of the Screw” at the New Hazlett, Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh.

For details, go to www.newhazletttheater.org

This is STILL Halloween:

You have another chance to let Halloween linger before Thanksgiving is upon us. You can listen to the sounds of “Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands,” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” at Heinz Hall as the orchestra brings the music of Danny Elfman to life.  Elfman’s famous film scores are enhanced by Tim Burton’s original film sketches, drawings and story boards on a big screen, from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Sounds like a fantastic time.

For more details, hit up Heinz Hall www.pittsburghsymphony.org

Wedded Bliss:

Take a beloved Adam Sandler romantic comedy and just add a musical score and you have “The Wedding Singer.” Wedding Singer Robbie Hart is down on his luck when his fiancée leaves him. Along comes Julia, the waitress who wins his heart. Can he pull off the performance of a decade to win the girl of his dreams? Spoilers! Of course he can, but it’s still fun to watch the gang at Stage 62 pull it off.

Hum along at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, 300 Beechwood Avenue, Carnegie. The show runs till November 17. Details can be found at www.carnegiecarnegie.org

Murder in McKeesport:

The unsuspecting residents of Sunset Towers are summoned to the reading of a mysterious will, only to find themselves locked in a thrilling game, “The Westing Game.” They must discover who is responsible for killing an eccentric millionaire.

“The Westing Game” has been described as a combination mystery novel, jigsaw puzzle and game of “Clue.” I suspect it was Colonel Mustard in the drawing room with a candlestick.

The mystery will be solved at the McKeesport Little Theater, 1614 Coursin Street, McKeesport. Additonal details can be found at www.mckeesportlittletheater.com

Oh, Hecuba!:

A new take on Euripides’ Greek Tragedy presented by the Conservatory Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Playhouse.  Thursdays, Fridays, 8pm, Saurdays 2 and 8pm, Sundays 2pm, through Nov. 24^th.  Look for the upcoming review on ‘Burgh Vivant.

– MB.

The ‘Burgh is the place to be any night of the week, and here are five fun things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend, October 31 to November 3.

Chalk It Up

Peter Kope and Michele de la Reza are always doing innovative things over at Attack Theater (Dirty Ball fans give us a big “whoop, whoop!”). Here’s a great chance to see to them combine modern dance, live music, and multimedia art forms on Chalk Line.  Attack describes the performance, “Drawing and erasing the line between audience and performer, imagination and reality.”  Like all good work in chalk, it’s only temporary, so get down there right away. It runs weekends from November 1 to November 16 at 8:00 at 2515 Liberty Avenue in the Strip District.  Get drawn into the experience by going here:  www.attacktheatre.com

Orange you glad I didn’t say Blue?

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater is an odd venue in Pittsburgh. They are a constant reminder that the best theater doesn’t have to be in a grand hall with chandeliers and velvet curtains.  In November they will host the Phoenix Theatre’s production “Blue/Orange.” A story that taks place in a London psychiatric hospital where an enigmatic patient claims to be the son of an African dictator.

Up a steep and very narrow hallway, at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater, 937 Liberty Avenue, 3^rd Floor, Downtown Pittsburgh. Click here for more details: www.phoenixtheatrepgh.org

Radio Days

Arcade Comedy Theater is adding more old timey radio shows to its schedule. What? You haven’t heard of “Dodge Intrepid Radio Adventures? You have to check it out. But this coming week, check out three new radio shows (Psst. They’re not actually on the radio) with Retro Radio Review, live sketches inspired by radio shows from the 30s and 40s. See “Arson and Old Lace,” “Living Dead Doll,” and “The Pricess of Polish Hill.”  Head down to 811 Liberty Avenue for all the fun! For more details, check out things at the website (it’s like a radio with pictures) www.arcadecomedytheater.com

Earth Shattering Kaboom

Want to see some comedy? Cheap? Check out the “Best of the Burgh Comedy Showcase” at the Corner Café, 2500 South 18^th Street, South Side. Tommy Kupiec hosts Andy Picarro, Carl Schimmel and Vinny K. Mantalto, from MTV and Comedy Central and owner of KaBoom Comedy. It’s great comedy at a great price. And you get to say “Yinz goin’ to the Sousside, n’nat?  Hit my boys up on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/518657911545540/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

Parlour Tricks

Quantum Theater presents Jez Butterworth’s “Parlour Song.” Watch this edgy, funny and slightly sinister show at the Waterfront in Homestead. It explores the mysteries beneath the manicured surface of a suburban housing tract, where all is not well in the lives of two friendly couples. The show is directed by Martin Giles (recently featured here on ‘Burgh Vivant). Show opens November 1^st. For more about Parlour Song, make the quantum leap to their website here: http://www.quantumtheatre.com

Come back next week for a review of “Parlour Song” right here at Burgh Vivant.

– MB

There are cultural events in Pittsburgh every weekend. Here are five fun things going on this week.

Fake Breaking News!

Dateline: October 30, 1938: The Earth is Invaded by Martians.

Thanks to the talented folks at the Mercury Theater, people, who tuned in late to a broadcast of H.G. Well’s classic Sci-Fi story, believed that there really was a full scale invasion from space. To commemorate that historic radio broadcast, the fine folks at the Bricolage theater (Carpenter, Dixon and probably even Odie), bring you “War of the Worlds,” Midnight Radio style (performers at the microphones, Foley artists, games, prizes and more).

If you haven’t been to a Midnight Radio show, yet, this is your big chance. Midnight Radio is not on the radio and not at midnight, but it is a guaranteed good time. Heck, there’s even a happy hour in the theater thirty minutes prior to the performance. Get your tickets now, because these shows fill up!

The Bricolage Theater is located in 937 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh.

Go here: www.bricolage.org for additional details.

The Squawk Box

Matt Henderson the ubiquitous Pittsburgh actor is in yet another production at the Grey Box. This time you can catch him in Throughline Theatre Company’s production of “The Farnsworth Invention.”

In 1929, two ambitious visionaries (literally and figuratively) race against each other to invent a device no living room will be without, the television. Aaron Sorkin, who made his name on the boob tube with the “Sports Night,” “The West Wing,” and more, decided to tell you all about it.

History in the making can be seen at the Grey Box Theater, 3595 Butler Street, Lawrenceville. Additional details can be found here: www.throughlinetheatre.org

Who Ya Gonna Call?

There’s still plenty of Halloween fun happening around the city. Plenty of places to get a good scare; like the Scare House, Phantom Fright Nights, etc. But if you like to chuckle at your ghosts and goblins, check out “Live Read: Ghostbusters,” down at the Arcade Comedy Theater.

When three hapless parapsychologists, Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz and Ego Spengler, lose their prestigious positions at Columbia University, they venture out in to the private sector, hunting ghosts! Things get weird when they realize their cure is part of the problem.

The show is Friday and Saturday at eight. You might have to cross a river to get there, just don’t cross any streams! The Arcade Comedy Theater is located at 811 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh. For more, go to www.arcadecomedytheater.com

The Play’s the Thing

Another radio drama becomes a play, with Agatha Christie’s “Mousetrap.” The longest running murder mystery play begins a much shorter run in the South Hills.

Journey once more to Monkswell Manor; where the Ralstons and their invited guests are suspects in a murder! Yes. It sounds like every weekend in the English Countryside, but Christie was ahead of the curve, pioneering the tea cozy mystery before they were called tea cozy mysteries.

Will the killer get away? Probably not, but don’t spoil the fun. You must never reveal the secret.

Tyson Sears directs the Baldwin Players. Find out whodunit at 5001 Baptist Road, Pittsburgh.

For more check out: www.thebaldwinplayers.com

Countdown to Zero

When Rebecca takes a job writing a textbook for seventh graders about the Holocaust, it begins to bleed into her personal life. She starts meeting World War II Nazis on the train. Rebecca isn’t the only one seeing things. Rebecca’s girlfriend, O, sees her recently deceased mom popping up for arguments about her choices. Playwright Madeleine George asks, “How do you tell the truth about yourself when that truth might devastate the people who you love?”

Catch “The Zero Hour” at the Off the Wall Theatre in Carnegie from October 25 to November 9. For more information click here; www.insideoffthewall.com

More Than Zero?

Need to know more about the Zero Hour? Come back to ‘Burgh Vivant next week and watch a review.

-MB.

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Here are the top five things to do in Pittsburgh October 17 – 20. We’re deep into the Season of the Witch, so here are some Halloween related fun activities. And some other stuff, too.

Let’s Do the Time Warp Again!

What is Halloween without Richard O’Brien’s madcap sex romp, The Rocky Horror Show? The tongue-in-cheek (and everywhere else) show is about Brad Majors and Janet Weiss exploring their sexuality when they meet the way-way-out Dr. Frank N. Furter. The mad scientist is building the perfect man, with blond hair and a tan, but his servants, Riff Raff and Magenta, and Brad and Janet’s old science professor, Dr. Scott, wants to spoil all the fun.

The Rocky Horror Show, a precursor to The Rocky Horror Picture Show (movie version) runs until October 31 (naturally). How do you get there? Well, it’s a jump to the left, and a step to the right.  Actually, the location is secret, but it’s somewhere in Munhall, PA.

Location released after ticket purchase. www.brisbane-management-group.com

Spirited Debate

When cantakerous novelist Charles Condomine gets re-married, he is haunted (literally) by the ghost of his late first wife in Blithe Spirit. Blame Madame Bovary. Noel Coward’s comedy about the gap between love and marriage, life and death is presented by the Actors & Artists of Fayette County at the Geyer Performing Arts Cente, 111 Pittsburgh Street, Scottdale, PA.

No need to look into a crystal ball, just phone: 724-887-0887 or visit www.geyerpac.com

A Phantom’s Revenge

Looking for some cheap thrills? Okay, how about some reasonably priced thrills? Come out to Kennywood Park for Phantom Fright Nights. Not only are all the regular rides in full swing (literally and figuratively), there are several haunted attractions operating, with a cast of scary characters roaming the park (ideal for photo opportunities). Check out BioFear for Sci-Fi fun, the Voodoo Bayou takes the Raging Rapids and turns them into the Raging Cajuns, or sink your teeth into the Villa of the Vampires.

Fright Nights start at seven, but it’s suggested that you arrive early to get a good spot in line. The park fills up during the Phantom festivities.

www.phantomfrightnights.com

Picture This!

Get Wilde with Oscar at the Steampunk Dorian Gray in South Park. Rage the Stage Players promise a lewd and lascivious time at the re-imagined “Picture of Dorian Gray.”  Dorian is blessed with good looks. He embraces a life of pleasure, but his portrait isn’t so lucky. The painting takes the physical hits instead of the man himself.

Don’t bring the kiddies to this one, folks. The show contains adult content and partial nudity.

This Cider House Rules

If All Hallow’s Eve isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other holiday’s coming up to hold your interest. You could go to the Artisan Sale at the Cider House in Gibsonia. Several amazing vendors will be on hand selling their handcrafted wares. Stop and smell the rose-colored soap from Buttercup and Thistle Soap Shop, with soaps like Pineapple Cilantro Goats Milk, Lemon Verbena Goats Milk and many, many more. Check out Featherfield Pottery (the ceramic frog is adorable). Admire Aileen Lampman’s Ai Jewelry, which just won Best in Show in Jewelry at a craft fair in Williamsburg, Virginia October 5th. See the colorful and creative glasswork from ACK Creates, especially the Oliver Ashe trays, flattened wine bottles designed to be either ashtrays or olive trays (smoke your olives).

Saturday October 19, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Cider House, 1 Treesdale Commons, Gibsonia, PA 15044. Call 724-625-6391 for additional details.

-MB.

The weekend is sneaking up fast upon us. Here is a list of Five Fun Things to do in Pittsburgh October 10, 11, 12 and 13. This week people are talking with their hands, i.e. there is plenty of puppetry on hand.

Doing the Pigeon

There’s Pigeons Down at Market Square. They’re on Liberty Avenue as well. Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Festival of Firsts presents, “The Pigeoning,” a full-length puppet play. It’s the story of Frank, a fastidious office worker with Monk-like compulsions about cleanliness and order, encounters pigeons, the epitome of filth and chaos. The nearly wordless work features Bunraku puppetry, video and original music to explore the themes of obsessive compulsion, safety and order in the context of the end of the world.

The Pigeoning runs from October 9 through the 12, 7 p.m at 937 Liberty Ave, Downtown Pittsburgh.

If you have additional questions, there’s no need to send a carrier pigeon, just call 412-456-6666.

Baby, It’s Dark Outside (or Puppetry Part II)

There’s a second puppet show in the Festival of Firsts (wait, what?). You can see “It’s Dark Outside,” October 9 through 11 at 9:00 p.m. at the Trust Arts Education Center, 805-807 Liberty Ave, Downtown Pittsburgh.

The Perth Theater Company from Australia presents a show with puppetry, mask, animation, live performance, and original music all next weekend. Catch “The Pigeoning” at 7:30 and “It’s Dark Outside,” at 9:00 and have a whole evening of puppet fun!

Turn off the lights and head over to “It’s Dark Outside” at the Trust Arts Education Center. Check out www.trustarts.org for additional details.

Rocky Mountain High

There’s one weekend left to see “Colorado” at the Grey Box Theatre in Lawrenceville.  Those whacky people at 12 Peers Theater found a disturbing and funny play about the disappearance of a teenage beauty queen in Colorado, called, “Colorado.” The playwright, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, has written some of the most twisted theater pieces produced. A few years ago, Off the Wall made “Boom,” and Bricolage produced “Hunter/Gatherers.” Both shows were not to be missed. Now, you have another chance to catch the dark, dangerous and hilarious mind of Nachtrieb one more time. You have been warned.

Trivia fun fact: If you saw Matt Henderson in “Boom,” now you can see him in “Colorado.”

See “Colorado” in Lawrenceville, at the Grey Box Theatre 3595 Butler St., Pittsburgh. If you need more than that, call 412-586-7744

Pearls before the Swine

Pearl Jam comes to the Consol Energy Center on Friday, October 11^th. Throw on your corduroy, grab your brother and make footsteps down to Consol and rock out to the force of nature known as Pearl Jam. You will feel alive as an even flow of music washes over your body. This concert is not just for the faithful. Bring friends!

Hear them on October 11^th at 7:30 at the Consol Energy Center, 1001 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh.

Go here for more: www.consolenergycenter.com

Predicting a Good Time

Saturday October 12, you can circle your caravans and get over to the Christine Frechard Gallery, 5871 Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill for “Gypsy Night.” Apparently, the Roma are reclaiming the derogatory term and embracing it, thanks to shows like “American Gypsy,” and “My Big, Fat Gypsy Wedding.” You can explore some of the culture at the gallery.  Jon Banuelos will be playing some traditional music. There will be a Tarot card art exhibition with Melissa Von Underwood, but no evening out with the Roma would be complete without psychic readings.

Additional details can be found by calling 412-421-8888 or visiting www.christinefrechardgallery.com, but if you’re a psychic, you already knew that.

BONUS TRACK

Friday October 11^th is National Coming Out Day, and the Arcade Comedy Theater is marking the occasion by showcasing the talents of Pittsburgh’s best LGBTQ performers. The show starts at 8 p.m., but you can come out to friends, family and co-workers whenever you want.

Swing open that closet door, and come down to the Arcade Comedy Theater, 811 Liberty Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh. More details can be found here; www.arcadecomedytheater.com

-MB

Jam Packed!

Want to see a show no one has ever seen before and will likely never see again? Come down to the Cabaret Theater in Theater Square and watch the Improv Comedy Jam. Improv performers from all over Pittsburgh gather for a raucous evening of fun. You never know what’s going to happen next. The show, like all improv shows, is made up on the spot, from suggestions by the audience. You can even join the fun.

If you have a ticket from any other show in town that night, your admission is free.

For additional details check out http://trustarts.culturaldistrict.org/event/3200/pittsburgh-improv-jam

Soldiering On

If laughing isn’t your thing, try something more serious. Tammy Ryan’s new play, “Soldier’s Heart” is about the struggles women face in the military. Casey Johnson returns to Western Pennsylvania from the war in Iraq forever changed by her experience.

You can catch “Soldier’s Heart” at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in Oakland through October 13, 222 Craft Avenue.

You don’t need a horizontal situation display, just go here for more: www.pittsburghplayhouse.com

Naked Puppetry

The giant duck was just the beginning. You have a few great opportunities to see world premieres of new art, theater and dance at the International Festival of Firsts. In a film from Belgium comes “Kiss and Cry.”  The characters are portrayed by bare hands as they march around miniature sets.

“Kiss and Cry” opens October 2 at the New Hazlett Theater in Allegheny Square in the North Side. The show blends film, dance, text and theater into one unforgettable experience.

No need to let your fingers do the walking, find out more about the event here. http://trustarts.culturaldistrict.org/production/38837/kiss-and-cry

To Bee or Not to Bee

Hilarious. Adjective. Marked by or causing hilarity; extremely funny. Let’s use it in a sentence. “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is completely hilarious.

Learn new words and how to spell them while watching a musical comedy. Six kids compete in the bee to end all bees in this musical comedy. Come out to Elizabeth, PA and sit a spell.

It’s at the Grand Theatre 207 Second Avenue, Elizabeth, PA through October 6. Call 412-384-0504 or hit them up at www.monriverarts.ticketleap.com/spelling-bee

It’s all Greek to me

Yasou! It’s time for the Holy Cross Greek Food Festival in Mt. Lebanon. Actually, they have a festival in the summer, but they also have a mini-festival in the fall. It’s here.

Come out and get some Greek pastries, cakes, pies, jams and bread. Plus, they have all those wonderful Greek foods that you can’t pronounce. Just point and hand them money. Your tummy will thank you.

No need to consult the oracle of Delphi, just go here; www.holycrosspgh.org

P.S. While you’re in Mt. Lebanon, check out Art in the Park(ing lot). The Sunrise Rotary club is bringing a lot of talented artists into a parking lot. Come check out the fabulous creations while you’re getting your Greek on.

www.facebook.com/ArtInTheParkMtLebanonPa

-MB