Pittsburgh Artists’ Show in Wheeling Opens Tomorrow
Show celebrates a generation of artists working on and near the Penn Avenue arts corridor
Everyone knows about the Steelers vs.Browns rivalry, but Pittsburgh is way better than Cleveland in other ways, too
It started with too much pride and too much booze. This summer, in Washington, D.C., reporters from Pittsburgh City Paper and Cleveland Scene bickered about whose town was better. The conversation was friendly, but combative, as any good rivalry should be, and focused on which city had better food, infrastructure, people, education, etc. Both papers…
Critics’ Pick: Karen and the Sorrows at Howlers
[COUNTRY] + THU., SEPT. 7 I’m always on the prowl for country music that doesn’t conform to the traditional restrictions of the genre. Karen and the Sorrows are part of a Brooklyn queer country scene that has the same melancholy, heartbreak and slide guitar as its conventional counterparts, but from a queer perspective. Fresh off…
Pittsburgh-area artist starting crowdfunding campaign for “Captain Freedom: Combat Hate” comic
Local comic artist D.J. Coffman wants to bring a Nazi-punching superhero back into the comic-book world to combat recent hate-filled events.
Community College of Allegheny County to build new workforce-training facility to address region’s employment needs
In partnership with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, the Community College of Allegheny County will build a new workforce training facility.
Pittsburgh joins Fight for $15 Labor Day protests
Photos from the 2017 Labor Day Fight for $15 march and rally in Oakland
Lynn Cullen Live – 9/5/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
John Cena versus Roman Reigns: MetaGear Solid
How Lifting The Veil May Be the BestMove to Suspend Disbelief
What happens when you use Trumpisms as search terms for stock art?
Can you match the Trumpism to the stock-art photo?
Where Southwestern Pennsylvania’s U.S. congressmen stand on DACA
Three Republican reps show past opposition to DACA, while one Democrat supports the program that provides work visas to undocumented immigrants brought to U.S. as children.
Lynn Cullen Live – 8/31/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
2017 Pittsburgh New Works Festival starts tomorrow
Long-running festival features new one-acts by playwrights from around the U.S.
After decades without one, Pittsburgh sees second flush-and-boil water advisory in seven months
PWSA says the advisory was issued after an inspection of one of the water system’s reservoir raised red flags.
Lynn Cullen Live – 8/30/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
Steelers Preview 2017
From a story on new fan favorite James Conner to Mike Wysocki’s week-by-week predictions from the Cheap Seats, our Steelers Preview takes a look at Pittsburgh’s upcoming football season. Here we go! • From Panther to Steeler: James Conner may be one of the most popular backups in NFL history • At 39, Pittsburgh’s James…
CorningWorks’ latest uses humor to explore the expectations placed on women
CORNINGWORKS presents SIX A BREAST Wed., Sept. 6-Sun., Sept. 10. (Lobby event The Bare Arms Series — woman talking about woman, 7:15 p.m. before Sept 7-9 shows.) New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $25-30; Sept. 10 show is pay-what-you-can. 412-320-4610 or corningworks.org As countless dance works over the years have noted, our…
Critics’ Pick: Weather Permitting
[GARDEN TUNES] + SUN., SEPT. 3 It’s the last Weather Permitting show of the season at Shadyside Nursery. This week, get a double dose of cumbia from opposite sides of the country — Chicago’s funky jam-band Dos Santos Anti-Beat Orquesta and the psychedelic Latin rock of Austin’s Money Chicha. Plus, catch local sounds from the…
Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty at the Frick
IRVING PENN: BEYOND BEAUTY continues through Sept. 10. Frick Art Museum, 7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze. 412-371-0600 or thefrickpittsburgh.org Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty gives us plenty of what we expect from Penn: those luminous black-and-white photographs from the 1950s, many from Vogue, apotheosizing mid-century haute couture. Images like 1952’s “Woman in Dior Hat with Martini…
At 39, Pittsburgh’s James Harrison may see less time on the field, but then again, we’ve heard that before
On paper, James Harrison shouldn’t still be playing football. In fact, early in his career, it didn’t look like he’d ever play at all. He’s a 39-year-old outside linebacker who started his career as an undrafted free agent who was released three times by the Steelers between 2002 and 2004, and once by the Baltimore…
Red Hills at Quantum Theatre
RED HILLS continues through Sept. 10. Quantum Theatre at the Recycling Building, 32nd and Smallman streets. $38-58. 412-362-1713 or quantumtheatre.com Big meals are not always filling, especially when they’re pumped full of empty calories. I came away from Quantum Theatre and En Garde Arts’ world premiere of Red Hills feeling like I had eaten an…
Critics’ Pick: Erin McKeown at Club Cafe
[FOLK/ROCK] + TUE., SEPT. 5 To say that folk-rock singer Erin McKeown has an eclectic portfolio would be an understatement; her work ranges from a capella harmonies to moody piano ballads to bluesy guitar riffs. She released “The Queer Gospel” as an anthem against discriminatory laws. She wrote “Baghdad to the Bayou” with MSNBC’s Rachel…
John Riegert, by Eric Lidji, and Paradigm Shift Knuckle Sandwich, by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE
Reviews of the first 50 pages of works by local authors. JOHN RIEGERT. The 2016 SPACE gallery exhibit John Riegert was a Pittsburgh first: some 250 portraits of the same person, by 250 different artists. So why not commemorate it with a 700-page book? Most of this gorgeous, coffee-table-sized hardcover is a long essay by…
Ingrid Goes West
It’s madness under the sunny skies of Southern California in Matt Spicer’s debut, the dark comedy Ingrid Goes West. Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) already got in trouble for cyber-stalking a young woman from her hometown. Now released from the psychiatric hospital, she’s right back on her drug: Instagram. There she discovers Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen), who documents…
‘French comfort food’ is on the menu at Le Lyonnais in Downtown Pittsburgh
Twelve years is a long time in the restaurant industry. Some local restaurants that last that long are destined to become institutions, places everyone, whether citizen or visitor, must dine to earn their Pittsburgh cred. Others grow tired and fade away. A fixture of the Cultural District since 2005, Sonoma Grille took a different path:…
The Girl Without Hands
This new hand-painted animation from Sébastien Laudenbach adapts a Brothers Grimm fairy tale with lots of visual flair. The tale itself is a classic cautionary one. A miller sells his daughter to the devil in exchange for gold. The devil requests that the young woman come to him dirty and smelly, but her tears cleanse…
A surprisingly satisfying substitution for pasta
Summertime is intolerable, save for locally grown zucchini. But the beach! The sunshine!, you might say. And sure, those things are fine if you’re into being hot and sweaty while sitting around in your underwear. But I don’t have a small shrine devoted to Willis Carrier, inventor of the air conditioner — may that beautiful,…
Mike Wysocki’s annual Pittsburgh Steelers predictions from the Cheap Seats
Even the most cynical Steelers fans are optimistic about the upcoming season. Loaded with offensive firepower, a good mix of young and old players, and a schedule where five of the final seven games are at home, the Steelers are one of 31 teams looking to prevent the Patriots from smugly holding up another Lombardi…
New Mexican take-out eatery Mesa sets up shop in Oakland’s Schenley Plaza
Intrepid travelers to New Mexico know that the state has its own cuisine worth seeking out— a mélange of Mexican, American and indigenous influences that is both familiar (tacos, tamales) and unique. Chiles dominate, and orders for breakfast, lunch and dinner ask “red, green or Christmas?” That is, do you want your food topped with…
Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt taking to the pro game quickly
When defensive end J.J. Watt was drafted by the Houston Texans out of the University of Wisconsin, in 2011, there was a lot of excitement and speculation about how good the first-rounder would be. The answer, we now know, was extremely good. Flash forward six years and his little brother, T.J. Watt, makes a splash…
East Liberty’s The Pines pursues a broad appeal
The space that opened in late July as The Pines has seen many iterations over the past decade. Most notably, it’s the former home of the pioneering and much-beloved bar and performance space Shadow Lounge. When it joined the family of spaces co-owned by Justin Steel and Kevin Cox (who also own Bar Marco and…
Five storylines to monitor during the Steelers’ 2017 campaign
The first season following Dan Rooney’s death It’s hard to find someone who will say a cross word about Dan Rooney, the long-time Steelers owner, and ambassador to Ireland under President Barack Obama. Rooney had worked for the Steelers in some capacity since he was a little kid going to work with his dad, Art…
Despite anti-immigration sentiments among conservatives, some say there are benefits to embracing a new Roma community in California, Pa.
Late this past winter, a new group of residents began moving into the small, former coal community of California, Pa. The Mon Valley town, home to about 6,000, gained dozens of new inhabitants, made up mostly of traditional families — father working a blue-collar job; mother cleaning, cooking and caring for young children. These new…
Young Pitt Panthers looking for more than just another average season
It’s 10 a.m., and it’s already Alabama-hot on the soggy turf of the Beano Cook Fields at South Side’s Rooney Sports Complex. The morning downpour has recently abated, saving players, coaches and the five attending media members from weathering practice in a late-summer storm. Even so, it is positively terrarium-like, and the paunchy clouds are…
Savage Love
My brother just broke up with his girlfriend for the second time in eight months. They had been together for two-and-a-half years, and she became pretty discontented when she finished college and my brother entered law school, because all his time and attention weren’t revolving around her. In January, she staged this bizarre, soap-opera-esque situation…
A new program in Pennsylvania could be key to keeping non-violent drug offenders from re-offending
According to a 2014 report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, an economic-policy think tank, non-violent drug offenders account for approximately one-fourth of all offenders in jail or prison. In 1980, by comparison, they accounted for just one-tenth of that population. And according to a 2014 report released by the Bureau of Justice…
Byrrh Grand Quinquina
“It’s a fortified and red-wine-based [vermouth]. It’s very complex with tons of flavors and has quinine in it, which adds a distinctive bitterness. It’s a little sweet and makes a good replacement for sweet vermouth.” Recommended by Evan Mason, front-of-house manager and bartender, Le Lyonnais Byrrh Grand Quinquina is available at Le Lyonnais, Morcilla, Allegheny…
Short List: Aug 31 – Sept. 7
FREE EVENT: Fri., Sept. 1 – Art Ellen Chisdes Neuberg has run Gallerie Chiz for 22 years, almost all of it in the gutted former laundromat she bought and renovated two decades ago on Ellsworth Avenue. While art sales rise and fall, Neuberg (pictured) says the past two years were the first when she was…
Pittsburgh Citiparks employee Chuck Senft was a public servant in every sense of the word
I first met Charles “Chuck” Senft in 1989, at the Brookline Recreational Center. I’d always had an interest in boxing, and Chuck ran the Brookline Boxing Club, better known as “Charlie’s Angels.” Chuck’s years of coaching in Brookline convinced me that the athletes’ well-being was a priority, and that his gym was the place to…
Pittsburgh City Paper Booze Battles: Smallman Galley vs. Butcher and the Rye
Each week, we order the same cocktail at two different bars for a friendly head-to-head battle. Go to the bars, taste both drinks and tell us what you like about each by tagging @pghcitypaper on Twitter or Instagram and using #CPBoozeBattles. If you want to be a part of Booze Battles, send an email to…
I Do … Until I Don’t
The institution of marriage gets a kicking around in Lake Bell’s ensemble comedy. A documentarian (Dolly Wells) has decided marriage should be a seven-year contract only (with an option to renew), and she hits a Florida town looking for unhappy couples to take part in her project. She finds: Alice (Bell) and Noah (Ed Helms),…
Emma Witmer’s gobbinjr churns out the ‘mean pop’
gobbinjr, Human People, SOFT GIRL, The Childlike Empress, Rue 7 p.m. Sat., Sept. 2. Mr. Roboto Project, 5106 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $5-8. therobotoproject.com Emma Witmer, the Brooklyn artist who operates under the name gobbinjr, makes music that sounds like the sonic manifestation of a Rube Goldberg machine. As childlike and sweet as her songs are…
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana’s documentary poses a new question in the already well-documented history of rock ’n’ roll — what were the contributions of Native Americans? — and comes up with some fascinating material. The film begins near the middle, with Link Wray, who grew up poor and Shawnee in North Carolina. His 1958…
New Local Releases: Slim Forsythe
Slim Forsythe This Is Slim Forsythe Get Hip Records gethiprecordings.bandcamp.com The best country-western songs are all about the lyrics, which tug at the heartstrings or plead for empathy. It might be easy to play songs by Hank Williams, but there’s no guarantee the performer can channel the same passion that made the originals so sincere. …
Laetitia Sadier, of Stereolab, embraces a full-band dynamic on Find Me Finding You
LAETITIA SADIER SOURCE ENSEMBLE with Morgan Erina LAETITIA SADIER SOURCE ENSEMBLE with Morgan Erina 9 p.m. Sat., Sept. 2. Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $12. 412-431-4950 In a conversation with Laetitia Sadier, the subject matter can easily veer from music to the current socio-political climate. The husky-voiced native of France — who…
From Panther to Steeler: James Conner may be one of the most popular backups in NFL history
A crowd of reporters and photographers gathered on the sidelines of Chuck Noll Field on Aug. 16 as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense and defense squared off for 11-on-11 training-camp drills. Head coach Mike Tomlin shouted instructions. Only it wasn’t to the players, as it had been all afternoon; this time, it was to the two…
This week in Pittsburgh Sports History
Aug. 31, 1929 Pitcher and off-season speakeasy owner Heine Meine throws a three-hitter while Pie Traynor gets five of the Pirates’ 21 hits to beat the Chicago Cubs 15-0. Aug. 31, 1952 Former Pirates shortstop Arky Vaughan, two years into retirement, drowns when the fishing boat he and a friend are operating overturns on Lost…
Critics’ Pick: R.A.N.T. (Rock All Night Tour)
[FESTIVAL] + FRI., SEPT. 1 There’s still time to squeeze in one more music festival before the end of summer. Or squeeze in your first one, if you’re a lazy bum like me. Starting tonight, the sixth annual R.A.N.T. (Rock All Night Tour) festival will spread throughout Lawrenceville, at venues including Cattivo, Nied’s Hotel and…
Protomartyr brings its new album, Relatives in Descent, to Pittsburgh’s Cattivo on Sept. 6
Protomartyr, The Gotobeds, Melkbelly 8 p.m. Wed., Sept. 6. Cattivo, 146 44th St., Lawrenceville. 21 and older. $12-14. 412-687-2157 or cattivopgh.com The nervous momentum that has propelled Protomartyr since its 2012 debut, No Passion All Technique, owes much to the disconnect between the band’s rousing, jagged instrumental choices and the unassuming vocal delivery of singer…
Patti Cake$
Patti Cake$ Directed by Geremy Jasper Starring Danielle Macdonald, Bridget Everett, Siddharth Dhananjay Twentysomething Patricia Dombrowski — a.k.a. Killa P, Patti Cake$ — lives in a grubby house in Bayonne, N.J., with her boozy mom and sick grandma, and tends bar in a dive. But she has goals: Get out, and do it using her…
