Eddie Izzard at the Byham
Prior to his Saturday-night Force Majeure concert at the Byham, the only Izzard performances I’d seen were a few online videos and a small film role or two. Today, count me a fan. As Lissa Brennan emphasized in her interview with the British comic for CP, Izzard is singular; “comic” seems hardly an adequate label…
WolfePack Goods launch with an Art & Rock Show
A tragic passing can rattle a community — even more so when it’s the violent death of two well-regarded community members. In the case of Sarah and Susan Wolfe, many in the arts community have rallied together to preserve their memory. On Feb. 6, the Wolfe sisters were murdered in their East Liberty home. But…
SPACE’s monthly concert series begins tomorrow
Wreck Loose and Troxum are the series’ first acts
Singers Sought for Complaints n’ At Choir at Arts Fest
Amateur vocalists are welcome
Museum cancels exhibit featuring Israeli and Palestinian artists
Withdrawal of Palestinian artists cited as cause of cancellation
Mellon Square Grand Reopening Tomorrow
Live music, food trucks are back to the mark end of the five-year renovation
Mark Dignam returns with a sort-of-live album
Mark Dignam & the House of Song CD RELEASE. 8 p.m. Sat., May 31. Rex Theater, 1602 E. Carson St., South Side. $10-12. 412-381-6811 or rextheater.com As a veteran singer-songwriter, Mark Dignam is no stranger to recording. But when it came time to make his new album, Re-Build, things just didn’t feel quite right. “I’d…
Critics’ Picks: May 29 – June 3
[FOLK-POP] + THU., MAY 29 Jen Chapin and Pittsburgh’s own The Damaged Pies will share the stage tonight for a cause. Chapin’s 2013 album Reckoning showcases her Broadway-worthy vocals on all 11 tracks; she and The Damaged Pies are both members of the Artists Against Hunger and Poverty program, which enlists artists to raise funds…
On the Record with Tom Rainey
INGRID LAUBROCK/TOM RAINEY DUO opens for CORY HENRY. 9 p.m. Thu., June 5. Thunderbird Café, 4023 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $10-12. 412-682-0177 or thunderbirdcafe.net Drummer Tom Rainey played with numerous cutting-edge jazz musicians in New York before stepping out as a leader five years ago. He’s currently on tour as part of an improvisational duo with…
Short Honeymoon: With the ban on same-sex marriage removed, nondiscrimination is the next battle for “full equality”
As soon as Dek Ingraham heard that a federal judge overturned Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage, he sped to the City-County Building to apply for a marriage license. He was tired of waiting. He’d been in a 10-year relationship with his partner — a relationship the state has refused to acknowledge. But as it turned…
Tough Subject: PPS, union differ on usefulness of teacher-quality report
A recently released report from the National Council on Teacher Quality lists Pittsburgh Public Schools’ ability to work with the local teachers union as a critical component in improving teacher quality. That relationship, however, has become more and more strained over the past school year, following the district’s implementation of a new teacher-evaluation system that…
Altared State
When federal Judge John E. Jones III tossed out Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban last week, LGBT advocates celebrated in Shadyside and across the state. Mayor Bill Peduto expressed hope that the first wedding he presided over would be that of a same-sex couple. Scattered online commenters bitched that, while we can now marry whoever we…
Savage Love
I’m a straight guy. Last month, I was in the locker room at my gym at 4 a.m. I was getting ready to leave, when I noticed someone exiting the showers. He caught me looking (he was very well endowed), and I quickly turned my head, embarrassed. About 20 seconds later, he came around the…
Short List: May 29 – June 5
SPOTLIGHT: Sat., May 31 — Art The Mattress Factory opens Sites of Passage, a contemporary artistic examination of political turmoil in Israel and Palestine. The show — featuring collaborations between artists from Israel, Palestine and Pittsburgh — emphasizes the ideas of borders, walls and citizenship in the decades-old struggle. But as exhibit curator Tavia La…
The Wooden Nickel
The Wooden Nickel 4006 Berger Lane, Monroeville. 412-372-9750 Hours: Mon.-Wed. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Thu.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Prices: Soups, salads and appetizers $4-13; entrees $15-56 Liquor: Full bar The Wooden Nickel has been a Monroeville institution for more than 60 years. Recently, a new owner and an update made us wonder…
Eddie Izzard is back, with more history behind him than ever
EDDIE IZZARD: FORCE MAJEURE 8 p.m. Sat., May 31, and 8 p.m. Sun., June 1. Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St., Downtown. 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org It takes less than five minutes of conversation with Eddie Izzard to firmly establish that the British native’s knowledge of the history of the United States surpasses that of most of…
Local charities to benefit from campaign to promote the notoriously bitter Negroni
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the grasshopper, an oddly delightful dessert drink. If the grasshopper had a surly second cousin that you still loved to hang out with sometimes, it would be the Negroni, a perfect cocktail for a before-dinner summertime drink. Like the grasshopper, the Negroni is a colorful, equal-parts mix of…
At The ToonSeum, a Little Golden Books exhibit brings back memories
GOLDEN LEGACY: ORIGINAL ART FROM 65 YEARS OF GOLDEN BOOKS continues through June 30. The ToonSeum, 945 Liberty Ave., Downtown. 412-232-0199 or www.toonseum.org In 1942, Simon & Schuster took an enormous publishing gamble: It began producing inexpensive picture books for the masses without sacrificing quality in the process. The result was the internationally lauded Little…
A Downtown location of City Oven helps make up for the loss of the outpost on Banksville Road
My family still hasn’t gotten over the closing of City Oven on Banksville Road last fall. It wasn’t just the thin-crust fire-roasted pizza, or the vault-like entrance built into a former coal mine: A back deck, nicely insulted from Banksville’s ‘burb-bound dreariness, offered enough space for a toddler to let his freak flag fly, while…
A former Pittsburgher returns with a new book about life as a woman in Qatar.
LISA KIRCHNER BOOK LAUNCH 7 p.m. Thu., June 5. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. Free. LisaLKirchner.com When Americans learn that she once lived in Qatar, says Lisa L. Kirchner, they often exclaim about how badly women are treated there. But ultimately, Kirchner’s new book, Hello American Lady Creature (Greenpoint Press), emphasizes what the two cultures…
Alarum Theatre’s Saudade
SAUDADE continues through Sat., May 31. 33 Watson Blvd., Observatory Hill. $15 for two performances, $20 for four. alarumtheatre.com Hold onto something solid, because I’m going to try to tell you about Alarum Theatre’s Saudade: a senseplay. At a private home on Observatory Hill, you are ushered into the front parlor with four other audience…
Chef
Chef Directed by: Jon Favreau Starring: Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Emjay Anthony, pork America is having a love affair with certain foods: fussed-over, fused, authentic, tweeted and served from a truck. It was inevitable that somebody would seek to capture this giddiness in a heartfelt, small-scale movie. But I wouldn’t have guessed the cinematic cook…
Little Lake’s When We Are Married
WHEN WE ARE MARRIED continues through June 7. Little Lake Theatre, 500 Lakeside Drive South (off Route 19), Canonsburg. $12-20. 724-745-6300 or littlelake theatre.org When you open the program and see a cast list of 15, you know that the play about to unfold was written many, many moons ago. And so it is with…
Cold in July
An accidental shooting transforms one man’s soul in the indie drama Cold in July, from Jim Mickle. When surprised by an intruder late at night, Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall) shoots him dead. Dane is unnerved and guilt-ridden, especially when others in his small East Texas town express support. He even attends the burial, where…
X-Men: Days of Future Past
The newest X-Men film, directed by Bryan Singer, is set in a troubled future, where the few remaining mutants are holed up in China, and under attack from drone-like machines known as Sentinels. But what if someone could go back in time, prevent a fateful act from occurring and thereby guarantee that Sentinels are never…
1,2,3 weathers the storm to return with a sophomore album
1,2,3 ALBUM RELEASE with THE MHURS 9:30 p.m. Fri., May 30. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $8. 412-621-4900 or www.brillobox.net In mid-2011, 1,2,3 put out its first album, New Heaven, recorded by a big-name producer (Nicholas Vernhes) and released on a nationally known label (Frenchkiss); the band got some early buzz, toured a bit and…
