Bricolage’s Chicks With Dicks
The commercial success of a stage production is entirely relative; the total turnout for a good three-week, 15-performance run at most local professional theater companies wouldn’t constitute a decent weekend’s work for a big touring Broadway show like Wicked. But on the local level, there are trends that suggest ways newer or smaller companies can…
Happy Holidays — with a SPECIAL wish
Usually, the City Paper offices are constantly thrumming with the sound of consent being manufactured, but this morning a quiet calm has settled in. It’s the sort of magical silence that descends on only the holiest of days — those which our salespeople take off for vacation. So let me take a moment to wish…
Cullen It In
Wondering what Lynn Cullen is up to these days? Fans will be distressed to hear that, since being ousted from WPTT earlier this year, she’s been reduced to hanging out with the likes of … me. Last week, Cullen and I did one of those John McIntire-organized panel discussions in the Cultural District. It was…
Survivor Post-Mortem
So Survivor just ended, and Mark Burnett and the gang are going back to the well for the 18th time. The next series will take place in Brazil and is likely already underway, but that won’t stop me offering some suggestions, should this show run on into infinity. More old people. The ones that don’t…
It’s A Burgh(er) Thing
So it’s come to this: Pittsburgh’s finest local-politics blog, The Burgh Report, has gone dark. As you’d expect, there’s been some online gnashing of teeth. But whereas the departure of PittGirl attracted a front-page story in the Post-Gazette, and Teacher.Wordsmith.Madman author Chad Hermann got a full-page op-ed piece to explain his departure, the Burgh Report…
Blogs That Aren’t Here Any More
This space laments the departure of The Burgh Report, which has inarguably been the city’s premiere blog for local news junkies Why did the shadowy Burgher depart the scene? He e-mailed both WTAE’s Bob Mayo and I the following a few minutes ago: You have to choose your enemies wisely because they will come to…
Scam Artists
There’s been some buzz lately about Pennsylvania adopting “early voting” procedures in future elections. In other states, such procedures — which include measures like making it easier to vote by absentee ballot — reduced long lines in the 2008 election. The advantage of early voting: It makes it easier for hard-working family-raising Americans, to get…
The Brothers Size at City Theatre
In the often-thrifty world of local theater, this fascinating show is one of the few I’ve seen that might benefit from even more minimal staging. Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play (running through Sun., Dec. 21) is rich in emotion, but theatrically it’s spartan by design: McCraney says he wrote it to be played on a sidewalk,…
Long Road Back
The scene at 8:27 p.m. Nov. 13, 1971, on the Ohio River Boulevard in Edgeworth was of Frank Capra-like innocence: A station wagon full of seven boys — one of them celebrating his 16th birthday — waiting to turn into the local Burger King so they could get some burgers on a crisp, fall, Saturday…
January, Wilson Avenue
A poem by Lori Wilson
This Just In: December 18 – 25
Highlights from the local TV news: Old Testament justice!
Greener Stories
“In the last two, three years, people are knocking down our doors saying, ‘How do we get involved? Help us. What do we do?'”
The Santaland Diaries and Season’s Greetings
Stephen Santa’s sardonic wit, charm and surprising energy propel Crumpet as he leads the audience in a Santa cheer followed by a comical techno-dance number.
A Musical Christmas Carol
Gregory hasn’t made this a solid drama about memorable people.
St. Nicholas
McPherson’s writing in St. Nicholas is funny and filled with small moments of surprise.
Neighborhoods: Hazelwood resident hopes gardens are way to fight blight
When Barbara Williams first planned to bring a vegetable garden to Ladora Way, she thought the produce would “support the area as well as bring Hazelwood out of the doldrums.” She didn’t know that she’d be one of the people in need of support. In August, the work-from-home customer-service agency she worked for started cutting…
LGBT Issues: Mayor looking for ‘GLBT Council’ members
Mayor taking applications for LGBT advisory panel, but some activists are concerned by the selection process.
Mateo’s Pasta & Panino
Homey Italian restaurant fits the bill.
Paramount Styles is all out of class at 31st Street Pub this week
With Failure American Style, Scott McCloud’s whispery voice retains its sense of innuendo and intrigue.
Indie-rock trio Donora releases debut full-length on Rostrum Records
“It looked like a tiny city was being built in the middle of the living room.”
The Tale of Despereaux
Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen’s animated family adventure-comedy is about a soup-loving kingdom where order is disrupted — and then restored — by various rodents. First, a visiting rat named Roscuro (voice of Dustin Hoffman) lands — literally — in the soup, with far-reaching consequences. To the rescue comes Despereaux, a plucky mouse (voiced by…
Yes Man
In Peyton Reed’s comedy of wacky affirmation, the dull life of Carl Allan (Jim Carrey) changes radically when he opts to say yes to every opportunity. Thus, we get lots of scenes of Carrey doing kooky things, plus a “real meaning” arc where Carl’s newfound yes-ness restores his humanity and nets him a new girlfriend,…
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The 1951 sci-fi classic has been re-imagined as an eco-thriller by director Scott Derrickson. The visitors arrive with a very tough-love green message: You humans made a mess of this planet, so we’re gonna clean it up for you — the hard way! And it takes seemingly hours for this lackluster film to make its…
Selective History
Pittsburgh was founded on industry and the backs of its workers, so why have the city’s 250th birthday celebrations not been celebrating that fact?
Mixed Report
When people say political reform moves at a glacial pace around here, they only know the half of it. Glaciers move slowly, sure. But they can also move in two directions at once: The ice on top can advance uphill, while the glacier’s base continues sliding toward the sea. Which sums up local efforts to…
Celebrate the holidays with silver, gold, food and ugly sweaters
Audience members are encouraged to dress in their most repulsive seasonal knits.
Mad Elf
Beat the seasonal stress with this potent Pennsylvania holiday brew.
Ceann conjures up a fun night on the town with Making Friends
Ceann’s music sets out to bring all partiers together under the common ground of, well — partying.
Black Moth Super Rainbow frontman releases solo disc Fucked Up Friends
A few tracks sound like a hybrid of soundtracks from ’70s elementary-school educational films and adult films of that same era.
Power-poppers The Lampshades are more than Alright
Vocalist Jaren Love has an off-kilter, bookish delivery akin to a Stephen Malkmus or a J. Mascis.
Ishtar’s Bellyrock offers pan-Levantine melodies and myriad influences
Some fundamentalists might hurl accusations of cultural poaching, but who cares?
Sam McDonald’s journey from “fat bastard” to published author invites questions about whether self-control can be its own kind of addiction.
“People said I was an alcoholic in the beginning and anorexic in the end. I think that’s a cop-out.”
Savage Love
OK, I need a kick in the face or something. My boyfriend of two years and I broke up a little more than a week ago. He cheated. But there’s a bit more to the story: He was a raging alcoholic, and I’ve broken up with him a few times. One of those times –…
At Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, Cat Chow and Jesse McLean work wonders with found objects and images.
The remainder of the works are inspired by minimalism, utilizing repetition and simple forms, and are no longer garments.
Tuning Out Santorum
Back during the Depression, Americans used to tune in to the radio and listen to escapist entertainment like, say, Little Orphan Annie and The Shadow. These radio serials created alternate universes, dreams spun of gossamer, that could divert us from the hardship of the real world. In the midst of our own economic collapse, similarly,…
