Ringing in the New Year with the re-opening of Penn Avenue
As the ball drops and midnight kisses ring in the New Year, residents in Garfield may be celebrating for a different reason — the re-opening of the neighborhood’s main artery, Penn Avenue, to two-way traffic.
Revamped Warhol and Free Admission Offer
Two exhibits closing this weekend and The Andy Warhol Museum’s 2014 rehang are a good reason to visit, not to mention free Good Fridays all this month. More in Program Notes.
The Revamped Warhol, Plus Free Admission Offer
This year’s newly created permanent exhibits on Warhol himself are worth the visit; Good Fridays free for January
Belvedere’s New Year’s Eve show moved to Howlers after fire
Money will be raised to help Belvedere’s employees out of work while the bar rebuilds.
Parading puppets once again ring in the New Year at First Night
For more than a decade, artist Cheryl Capezzuti has been curating Pittsburgh’s big First Night parade. More than 300 colorful puppets and nearly 700 volunteer marchers, musicians and drivers will march down Penn Avenue to ring in the New Year.
Kitchen fire closes Belvedere’s
The bar is expected to be closed for a month; events this week (including New Year’s Eve) are currently up in the air.
MP3 Monday: Kinetic
Stream or download “Waiting for Giving,” by Kinetic.
A few thoughts on “The Interview”
In case you missed the news in between exchanging gifts, eggnog and holiday turkey, Sony Pictures decided to release its controversial film The Interview after originally pulling it over threats made against theaters showing the film. Locally, viewers had two options to see the film: streaming online or at the South Side Works theater. In…
CP Weekend Podcast – Dec. 25 – 28, 2014
This week on the CP Weekend Podcast: Dance at an 80s funk and soul party, drink up during power hour, and catch up on your zine reading.
Into the Woods
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s stage musical Into the Woods — a mash-up of Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack (and his beanstalk), Rapunzel, et al. — takes its cues more from William Blake than from Wilhelm Grimm. Act I is Songs of Innocence — into the woods they go, where they delight in some tantalizing…
Short List: December 24 – 30
SPOTLIGHT: Tue., Dec. 30 — Stage Starting in the 1960s, Motown really was, as it claimed, “The Sound of Young America.” More subtly, the iconically black-owned hit factory founded by Berry Gordy, with its African-American producers, songwriters and musicians, helped bridge racial divides during the Civil Rights era and beyond. According to Jesse Nager, it’s…
2014 Films of Note
By now, you’ve undoubtedly seen myriad Best Films of 2014 lists, and there’s no point in repeating a list of the worthy winners. Instead, I’d like to briefly revisit some films that perhaps didn’t get as much attention, or weren’t greatest movies ever but still have something to offer, or skipped your notice because they…
Jamison’s
Jamison’s 3113 W. Liberty Ave. Dormont 412-561-3088 Hours: Mon.-Fri. 3 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sat. Sun. noon-2 a.m. Prices: Appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers $5-12; entrees $11-17 Liquor: Full bar Everyone knows you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but what about a restaurant? The Suburban Room, a cozy little watering hole tucked along Dormont’s West Liberty…
Goodbye to All That
Fortyish and mostly clueless dad Otto (Paul Schneider) is surprised when his wife (Melanie Lynskey) asks for a divorce. And — oh ho! — is he even more surprised by the wacky world of dating in these hook-up friendly times. Apparently, all the women out there are good-looking, sex-crazed and/or variously neurotic. Not surprisingly, this…
We explore affordable alternatives to Champagne
It’s that magical time of year, the time when it’s OK to gorge on sticky-sweet cookies, sentimental kitsch and, of course, plenty of bubbly. Though Champagne is the go-to choice for New Year’s Eve toasts and brunches with the in-laws, a decent bottle doesn’t come cheap. Like Camembert cheese or Prosciutto di Parma, Champagne has…
The Imitation Game
Seems like every year around the holidays, Santa (or Father Christmas, if you prefer) delivers one of those sturdy British crowd-pleasers: a period dramedy (often adapted from true events), with tip-top actors, perfectly aged tweeds and a feel-good, lightly inspirational and/or educational vibe. Think: The Iron Lady, The King’s Speech. The package this year —Morten…
Beyond applesauce: An apple-pear-ginger marmalade proves a good method for using up exess fruit
The apples were free — crisp, tart, plucked from an untended neighborhood tree of unknown variety. But our attempt at apple butter didn’t turn out so well (more like applesauce) and we had leftovers. Then the pears from our own tree began to ripen. Thanks to Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard’s The Complete Book of…
The King and the Mockingbird
Animator Paul Grimault and writer Jacques Prevert collaborated on this fanciful, funny and beautifully illustrated retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep.” The tale of two portraits that come to life and are forced to flee an evil king, with the help of a clever mockingbird, is simple enough to keep…
National Gallery
As expected from a director fascinated with how institutions work, parts of Frederick Wiseman’s three-hour documentary about Britain’s National Gallery do go behind the scenes of this world-class art museum, noted for its collection of classical paintings. There’s talk of money, hanging exhibits, managing crowds, cleaning floors. And winding through some scenes is the trickier…
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
Shawn Levy directs this third iteration of the series about museum exhibits that come to life after hours. Now, the ancient Egyptian tile that creates this magical transformation is running out of juice, and Larry (Ben Stiller) and a small gang of nocturnal regulars, including Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams) and tiny diorama buddies (Steve Coogan,…
Unbroken
The life experiences of Louis Zamperini would seem perfect for a film (or two). Son of immigrant Italians, he was an Olympic medalist as a teenager. Later, he served as a bombardier in the Pacific theater in World War II. He survived an at-sea plane crash, and more than a month floating in a lifeboat.…
Pittsburgh’s 2014 in Music
My Five Favorite Opening Acts of 2014 5.The Spring Standards (opened for PigPen Theater Company at Mr. Small’s Theatre, April 1). The Spring Standards took advantage of the sparse audience, descending from the stage to play a campfire-like acoustic set. It was the kind of moment you can’t photograph, and one that brought Mr. Small’s…
Five local art projects that thought outside the box in 2014
Pittsburgh’s art scene keeps growing in venues, events and variety, including performances, pop-ups, evolving exhibits, crowdsourcing, interactivity, etc. No one can catch it all, so consider these outside-the-box examples as representative and not the result of a comprehensive survey. I preferred the more focused original vision for the Pittsburgh Biennial as showcasing only artists living…
Katie Hate represents young faces in the rock scene
PUNK THE HALLS feat. KATIE HATE, SCENE STAGE THE WORLD, FIVEUNDER, A LOVELY CRISIS, HARBOURS, ANTHONY SARNELLI 6:30 p.m. Sat., Dec. 27. Mr. Small’s Theatre 400 Lincoln Ave. Millvale $8 All ages 412-821-4447 or mrsmalls.com The three guys in Katie Hate are young — all under 21. But it’s not a young band, per se.…
Classics Redux in Pittsburgh Theater 2014
What makes a classic? Whole libraries could be filled with essays, arguments and philosophical treatises on the subject, but for our purposes, “the test of time” suffices. All too often, “classic” means “tired old chestnut.” Sometimes, though, the spark of what made a play great in the first place comes through. Here are seven, in…
Critics’ Picks, Dec. 25-31
[INDIE POP] + FRI., DEC. 26 Here’s an alternative to sitting around in a post-holiday coma: Badboxes is bringing some electronic cheer to brighten your holidays at home. The local trio will pour out some heavy, self-proclaimed “Northern pop” in Cattivo tonight. The band wasn’t fully formed until after lead man Harrison Wargo released Badboxes’…
Off the Wall’s Or,
OR continues through Jan. 10 Off the Wall Theater 25 W. Main Street Carnegie $5-35 888-718-4253 or insideoffthewall.com Though it’s got absolutely nothing to do with the holiday season, my Christmas present arrived a bit early with Off the Wall Production’s staging of Liz Duffy Adams’ 2010 comedy Or,, one of the most charming plays…
New Releases
Klaymore Justifiably Pissed (Self-released) klaymore.bandcamp.com Thrashy metal from the local four-piece; this EP was released earlier in 2014. Good, aggressive, riff-driven stuff that’s tight musically, and at times super-catchy. After the album starts with snarling, almost Lemmy-like vocals, I hoped for more, but most of the singing throughout is smoother and higher pitched, in Bruce…
Pittsburgh Playwrights’ Ubuntu Holiday
UBUNTU HOLIDAY continues through Dec. 30 937 Liberty Ave Downtown $15-20 412-687-4686 or pghplaywrights.com At last year’s Theatre Festival in Black & White — Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s annual celebration of local writers — Kim El debuted Ubuntu Holiday, her one-act about a family’s Kwanzaa gathering. She’s since turned the work into a full-length play…
12 Stories of Note: A look back at a dozen tales that shaped Pittsburgh in 2014
Everything’s better when it’s set to music. At least that was our premise while putting together this year’s list of noteworthy events from 2014. The following list, sung to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas if you so desire, is a quick look back at some of the stories that we reported on…
It was a year for notable debuts in fiction by local authors
Pittsburgh’s year was marked by notable debuts in fiction by local authors. Among them: Jacob Bacharach’s The Bend of the World (Liverigth) is a madcap, wickedly funny but still poignant coming-of-age novel about a 30-year-old Pittsburgh office drone, his messed-up buddies, various conspiracy theories, and UFOs over Mount Washington. Strong reviews included one in The…
Endpaper: After 30 years, South Side’s City Books closing
About 30 years ago, Duquesne University philosophy professor Edward Gelblum began running City Books. In the wake of Big Steel’s collapse, the East Carson Street storefront, known under its prior owner as City Books and Antiques, occupied a corridor thick with neighborhood bars. Within a few years, the South Side would also be studded with…
Eight dance shows that left audiences captivated
In a year filled with compelling dance productions, here are eight (in order of performance) that left audiences captivated. 3 X 3. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s program at the August Wilson Center charmed with Julia Adams’ cleverly crafted “Ketubah,” inspired by Marc Chagall’s art about Jewish wedding rituals; the world premiere of Viktor Plotnikov’s marvelously inventive…
Greatest Gift
It’s hard to explain to those that have everything That there are those who have nothing I watched an attorney’s wife Smack him on his little dome Because of my swearing. Guess no matter how hard I try to tell her It wouldn’t make a difference But these are true stories. Real people I met…
Big Eyes
Big Eyes Directed by: Tim Burton Starring: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz Starts: Thu., Dec. 25 Tim Burton’s latest film, Big Eyes, is both a bio-pic of Walter and Margaret Keane, 1960s artists famed for their sentimental “big-eye” portraits, and a celebration of the space such works inhabited: the oft-sneered-at lower rungs of popular culture. It’s…
Savage Love
I’m a short guy and I need advice. I don’t want a small paragraph’s worth of advice, like you gave “Below Their League” a few years ago. I need advice beyond “Women like men taller than them, get over it!” I get it. I’m short (5 foot 2), and most women are taller than me.…
