Down the Test Tubes

City school students testing poorly in science

• by Chris Young

On Further Review

Advocates say Roethlisberger case puts spotlight on larger issues

• by Charlie Deitch

Hard Knocks

Lauren Fisher's quest for Olympic gold may be the easiest challenge she's taken on

• by Lauren Daley

Perk Me Up Coffeehouse

Highly rated scones are just one reason to stop in this Butler Street coffee shop. 

• by Lauren Daley

Bridges

A hotel restaurant that takes a refined approach to everyday food, with occasional great success

• by Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth

The Pittsburgh Pirates hope you'll root for the home team -- and homegrown music

"It's such a cool thing, being played for all those people when everyone is pumped up for the game."

• by Margaret Welsh

Geographically scattered, Aloha releases Home Acres

"I can go months at a time without even thinking of myself as my identity as a musician."

• by Andy Mulkerin

Faith and the Muse brings their dark spectacle to Fate Lounge

Their breathtaking orchestralism was compatible with the soundtracks of, say, Excalibur or Lord of the Rings, and a perfect clarion call to the neo-goth.

• by Manny Theiner

Heavy Trash swings through the Thunderbird Café for a Midnight Soul Serenade

"The hotel bedspread was a mess of colors -- looked like somebody had thrown up."

• by Aaron Jentzen

Job for a Cowboy's brutal metal has plenty of popular appeal

This is metal that makes Metallica sound like Wham!

• by Justin Jacobs

Death at a Funeral

Neil LaBute has directed an almost-all-African-American cast in a remake of the recent British comedy, and the difference is just barely more than skin deep. The story is simple: At a patriarch's funeral, his assembled kinsmen, including his widow and two sons, learn that he had conducted a secret gay affair with a dwarf. Mayhem ensues. And to tie the two versions together, Peter Dinklage returns in the role of the paramour with palimony and blackmail on his homosexual agenda. The American setting loosens things up a bit: Tracy Morgan is especially funny as the kinetic motor-mouth, and James Marsden executes some elastic physical comedy. One senses that the film's comic actors ad-libbed its funnier, hipper lines. (Harry Kloman) [2 out of 4 stars]

• by Harry Kloman

North Face

In 1936, top European mountain-climbers vied to complete the last challenge in the Alps, ascending the sheer and icy North Face of Eiger. Philipp Stoelzl's adventure drama, based on real events, tracks two young Germans in their quest; they climb for fun, but the tenor of the times means their conquest is virtually mandated for the glory of the Third Reich. The alpine scenery is gorgeous and the quest lighthearted -- until the mountain becomes a death trap. Indeed, the climbing scenes are harrowing (particularly with a unique score that mimics the ice axe hitting pitons), but Stoelzl also works in a shimmer of a romance, as well as critique of the prevailing nationalism. A must-see for armchair mountaineers. In German, with subtitles. Starts Sat., April 24. Harris (Al Hoff) [3 out of 4 stars]

• by Al Hoff

Whales: Tohora tells of whales -- and how New Zealand's people have viewed them over time.

"A beached whale in the past would have been an extraordinary resource."

• by Melissa Meinzer

This Just In: April 22 - 29

Highlights from the local TV news: From Cell to Cell?

• by Frances Sansig Monahan

Beautiful Dreamers

It's a fun trip, with Giles seamlessly weaving comedy, drama and song.

• by Michelle Pilecki

Shuffle, Ball Change ... and Die!

Hartland is Pittsburgh's premier gagmeister, blessed with the ability to pull laughs of thin air.

• by Ted Hoover

Shooting Star

Director Tracy Brigden gently tugs at the necessary heartstrings without veering into sentimentality or losing the comic pacing.

• by Michelle Pilecki

Richard III

Director Matt Gray's remarkable conception surges with disturbing vitality.

• by Gordon Spencer

Quantum Theatre offers a nightmarish work about revolution from a renowned East German playwright.

The play's structure is more dreamlike -- actually, nightmarish -- than linear.

• by Bill O'Driscoll

At Bricolage, Speech & Debate confronts censorship, sexuality and online life among kids and adults.

If the premise for Stephen Karam's comedic drama Speech & Debate sounds ripped from the headlines, it kind of is.

• by Bill O'Driscoll

Short List: Week of April 22 - 29