Eye of the Tiger: Furries seek to set record at convention this weekend
It’s that time again: Like the swallows to San Juan Capistrano, except more elaborately attired, The Furries are coming back to Pittsburgh for Anthrocon 2013. And just when you thought Pittsburghers might be getting a little jaded about the sight of people walking Downtown streets in fursuits … the Furries are kicking it up a…
Bricolage and STRATA Make National Theater Mag
The local troupe is featured in a cover-story roundup of “iimmersive and interactive” productions in American Theatre Magazine. More in Program Notes.
Bricolage and STRATA Make National Theater Mag
Production included in roundup of “immersive” productions
Lynn Cullen Live 07/2/13
Video Archive Phone guest: Susan; Furries are coming to town!; butter should have gotten Paula Deen fired a long time ago; Arizona wildfire; George Zimmerman trial; victim forgiveness; media inflating stories, bringing them out of context; St. Louis Cardinals putting a cross & Jesus fish on their pitching mound; Ed Snowden’s statement; TX state law…
Port Authority announces Fourth of July schedule
Thursday is the Fourth of July, which means Port Authority’s bus, light-rail and incline service will operate on holiday schedules. T routes will follow special holiday schedules, including service on Blue Line-South Hills Village. Special pink and blue service brochures are available at major schedule rack locations and posted here. For buses and incline, holiday…
Lynn Cullen Live 07/1/13
Video Archive Pittsburgh Pirates have the best record in baseball right now; 18 firefighters killed battling Arizona wildfire; Ohio state budget de-funds Planned Parenthood, sets new restrictions at rape crisis centers; Republicans re-defining the definition of ‘pregnant;’ Luke Ravenstahl’s federal case; Corbett’s PA budget — had the opportunity to create jobs, fix crumbling infrastructure, decides…
Final Weekend for Other Desert Cities
The Public presents three more performances of local-premiere production
Spadafora camp refutes claim that the fighter “passed” on nationally-televised fight
Paul Spadafora, Roy Jones Jr., Thomas Dulorme
Marriage equality bill to be proposed in Pennsylvania
Well that didn’t take long. Just more than 24 hours since the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and delivered a ruling that allows same-sex marriage in California, two Democratic state representatives from Pennsylvania say they will introduce a marriage equality bill here. (Sen.…
Final Performances of August Wilson’s Radio Golf
The great Pittsburgh-born playwright’s final work is onstage at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Co. through Saturday. A couple last thoughts in Program Notes.
Lawrenceville Galleries: One’s First Opening, Another’s Final Closing
The Inn opens tonight, while Butler Street fixture Fe shuts its doors tomorrow. More in Program Notes.
Final Performances of August Wilson’s Radio Golf
The towering Pittsburgh-born playwright’s 2005 work is notable for more than being his final play. As Michelle Pilecki pointed out in her review for CP, the current solid production at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Co. highlights Wilson’s lone portrait of the black middle class. From left: Wali Jamal, Mark Clayton Southers and Art Terry in Pittsburgh…
A political marriage
There were lots of great moments taking place on Liberty Avenue this morning as hundreds of folks gathered to watch the Supreme Court strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. As we noted earlier, several local electeds spoke out in support of the rulings and the LGBT community. One of the lighter moments of the…
Big day for gay rights: SCOTUS strikes down DOMA.
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, meaning same-sex couples legally married should get the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples. You can find the ruling in the United States v. Windsor here. The Court essentially did not rule on Proposition 8, which, as the Post-Gazette…
World War Z
World Waz Z Directed by Marc Forster Starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos In 3-D in select theaters It’ s fair to say that among the persistent scourges of the past half-century are various forms of zombie. At least in popular entertainment. Now, in Marc Forster’ s World War Z, the undead acquire true global dominance,…
New Releases
Theia Collides Fragments (Self-released) Five-track EP from the local four-piece that emerged from the breakup of The Hitchcock Curse. These tunes are effects-laden, proggy and sprawling, sometimes calling to mind Muse, sometimes leaning more toward metal (as on the upbeat and driving “Highway to Middle Earth”). The rhythm section here is especially strong — Ben…
I Killed My Mother
Xavier Dolan’ s semi-autobiographical debut, I Killed My Mother, depicts the troubled relationship between a gay Montreal teen named Hubert (Dolan) and his single mother (Anne Dorval). They share a cramped apartment, where the high-strung Hubert is tormented by his mother’ s tacky style, and her insistence on caring for him. They bicker, make up…
Mind Cure Records provides history lessons along with music
MIND CURE RECORDS THIRD ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION. Noon-8 p.m. Sat., June 29. Mind Cure Records, 3138 Dobson St., Polish Hill. 412-621-1715 or www.mindcurerecords.com Some kids dream of becoming professional athletes, or getting signed to a record label. Mike Seamans was called up to the majors, in a manner of speaking, when he was still just a…
After a long journey, Smiling Moose owner Mike Scarlatelli celebrates 10 years with a grin
SMILING MOOSE ANNIVERSARY SHOW featuring JOE GRUSHECKY AND THE HOUSEROCKERS, GERMAN SHEPHERD, THE COMPOSURE. 9 p.m. Wed., July 3. The Smiling Moose, 1306 E. Carson St., South Side. $10. 412-431-4668 or www.smiling-moose.com If you haven’ t been to the Smiling Moose in five or six years, you likely wouldn’t recognize the place today — and…
It’s back to basics for some established local musicians on the Old Head/Outsideinside split 12-inch
OLD HEAD/OUTSIDEINSIDE SPLIT RELEASE. 9:30 p.m., Sat., June 29. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. 412-621-4900 or www.brillobox.net When the members of Old Head started jamming together a little more than a year ago, singer/guitarist Phil Boyd brought out a box of old posters he’ d collected through high school and college. “When we go to…
Critics’ Picks: June 27-July 1
[TROPICÁLIA] + THU., JUNE 27 Since its resurrection in 2006, Brazilian psych band Os Mutantes has been churning out fresh progressive-rock songs that diverge from — but are still in line with — the music the band put out when it was originally active throughout the ‘ 60s and ‘ 70s, at the advent of…
Kelly O’s
Kelly O’s 100 24th St., Strip District. 412-232-EGGS (3447) Hours: Mon.-Sat. 6 a.m.-3 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Prices: $3-14 Liquor: None Perhaps nowhere in Pittsburgh do the past and the present intersect more fluidly than in the Strip District, whose current character as an open-air market and general wonderland of ethnic, imported and specialty…
With its The Green Swan, The Pillow Project digs deeper into improv
THE PILLOW PROJECT presents THE GREEN SWAN 10 p.m. nightly Fri., June 28-Sun.,June 30. The Space Upstairs, 214 N. Lexington St., Point Breeze.$10-15. www.pillowproject.org For nearly a decade, Pearlann Porter’ s Pillow Project has been on the leading edge of dance in Pittsburgh. Founded by Porter in 2004, the company created an instant buzz, bolstered by…
Customers rallying behind soon-to-be-evicted Istanbul Grille
Coskun Gokalp — known as “Josh” to his customers — won’ t let you leave hungry. “You’ re too thin!” the owner of the Downtown Istanbul Grille told me, weeks ago when it was just his Turkish specialties and not his story drawing me in. He piled my container, the “meat dish,” high with chickpea…
An exhibit by an artist famed for painting live to jazz
AL BRIGHT: ABSTRACT JAZZ WORKS Continues through Sun., June 30. 709 Penn Gallery, 709 Penn Avenue, Downtown. 412-224-4651 www.trustarts.org In the years after WWII World War II, when American culture was coming into its own, modern jazz, or Bebopbebop, and Abstract Expressionist painting were key areas of avant-garde activity, , related in their use of…
There is likely a salad green growing near you
While our cultivated backyard garden keeps expanding, I’m a bigger fan than ever of the “weed” called lamb’s quarter. Spinach and lettuce must be planted and tended, and still they get stripped by mysterious insects. Lamb’s quarter, by contrast, grows on its own, everywhere, in profusion, from late spring into fall, and nothing seems to…
Kopit and Yeston’ s Phantom at Pittsburgh CLO
KOPIT AND YESTON’ S PHANTOM continues through Sun., June 30. Benedum Center, 803 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $10-65.75. 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org . As the first act in Kopit and Yeston’s Phantom nears its end, Christine Daeé and the Phantom of the Opera sing a song over a harpsichord. “You Are Music” is a soaring duet, an…
Long obscure, ‘Super Punch’ may be poised for the big time
The D’Andrea family of Penn Hills has been importing wine and spirits for more than 30 years. John D’Andrea, who now runs the business with his brothers Frank and Henry, says they’ve seen a lot of brands come and go. But one libation’ s appeal has remained consistent: Jannamico Super Punch. And it may be…
Side By Side By Sondheim at CLO Cabaret
SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM continues through Sun., July 14. CLO Cabaret at The Cabaret at Theater Square, 655 Penn Ave., Downtown. $34.75-39.75. 412-325-6766 or www.clocabaret.com Is it possible, as Greta Garbo famously said in Queen Christina, to “feel nostalgia for a place one has never seen”? There was once a form of entertainment known…
Short List: June 26-July 4
FREE EVENT: Thu., June 27 — Your Rights News cycles lately have been dominated by stories of the feds encroaching on our privacy. But the ACLU of Pennsylvania’ s Greater Pittsburgh Chapter reminds us that we, the people, can demand access, too. On Thu., June 27, at the Homewood branch of the Carnegie Library, the…
A review of Yona Harvey’ s poetry collection Hemming the Water
YONA HARVEY 6 p.m. Mon., July 1. Writers LIVE, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Free. 412-622-8866 or www.pittsburghlectures.org A Singer sewing machine — some of us grew up with one. In Hemming the Water (Four Way Books), Yona Harvey’ s breakout poetry collection, she stitches, darns and hems with language as fabric.…
Course Correction
They’re hunched over laptops, all hugger-mugger, in Voluto Coffee, Penn Avenue, Garfield. It’ s well past closing time, but they’ve paid for the space, the sandwiches and the joe that keeps on coming. There are a dozen of them, bathed in computer glow, trying to unravel the Gordian knot of web design. Ages 19-50, female…
Road Trip: We spend a weekend traveling through post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh in The Last of Us
As you approach Pittsburgh in the new video game The Last of Us, you’ ll immediately feel at home: You find yourself stuck in a traffic jam on a highway that can only be the Parkway East. You’ re forced to exit into an area that vaguely reminds you of Second Avenue, with a rail…
Shore Leave
Back when the city was creating the so-called North Shore, some of us groused about how isolated the new developments were from the traditional North Side. Separated by railroad tracks and dimly lit tunnels, it was as if the whole sports-and-entertainment complex had been designed to shield visitors from the rest of us. Even the…
Journey to Italy
Screens in a newly restored version. Starts Fri., June 28. Regent Square In Roberto Rossellini’ s 1954 drama, a middle-aged English couple, Katherine (Ingrid Bergman) and Alex (George Sanders), travels to Naples to settle the estate of a dead relative. But perhaps because they are out of their comfort zone, the journey mostly illuminates the…
Savage Love
I am a 54-year-old postmenopausal woman. My libido has diminished significantly, and it takes me much longer to climax. My husband is unable to maintain an erection as long as he used to; this makes it even more difficult for me to climax. I have taken up an activity I did in my 20s when…
After Dowd: Officials say constituents won’t suffer when councilor leaves District 7 post
When Pittsburgh City Councilor Patrick Dowd formally resigns his District 7 seat this summer, as he announced he would last week, the area he’ s represented for six years will be temporarily disenfranchised. Dowd announced on June 18 that he will be resigning his seat sometime in July to take a job as executive director…
Lynn Cullen Live 06/26/13
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; DOMA found unconstitutional!; Justice Alito’s bad form; Prop 8 Ruling; CNN is late, as usual; Bruce Kraus asks Rich Fitzgerald, Bill Peduto to marry him; Downtown Pittsburgh celebration; Obama on climate change; Wendy Davis with a win for women; racist PA; Voting Rights Act bomb; Callers: Lauren Daley, CP writer…
The End of the World as We Know it
As a student of Carnegie Mellon University’s Education Technology Center, Neil Druckmann was taken in by the city’s history and architecture. Now eight years later, as creative director for Naughty Dog games Druckmann has created homage to the Steel City in the post-apocalyptic Playstation 3 game, The Last of Us. Druckmann, who received his Master’s…
Texas Men, Texas Women
i. Texas men wear belt buckles in the shape of the Lone Star State and will eat generally anything as long as it’ s been grilled. They want sex, mostly with Texas women and enjoy television shows offering expanses of scenery with little rainfall. Texas men like to explain that Texas isn’ t something to…
Q&A with The Evens’ Ian MacKaye
“What was happening in that moment was, we had no records out. We’d never played Pittsburgh. It was like, maybe we’re terrible.”
At Local Premiere, Gasland II Widens the Frame
“Gasland” Sequel Indicts Regulators, Politicians
