Rudiak plays snowball
This might be the legislative equivalent of putting a snowball in the freezer, and then waiting until the spring thaw to take it out and pelt somebody with it. City councilor Natalia Rudiak has been trying to look into the city’s response — or lack it — to the February blizzard that left residents paralyzed…
Lac La Belle brings it back to Morning Glory
A year or two ago, I wrote a Short List entry on a band from Detroit called Lac La Belle. The band is fronted by Jennie Knaggs (it was once known as Jennie and the Sureshots), who is backed up by a couple of heavy-hitting Fantastic Voyagers, Nick Shillace and Joel Peterson. The band plays…
Beautiful Dreamers
Among the two dozen characters in Martin Giles’ world-premiere play inspired by the music of Stephen Foster, perhaps the most intriguing is the lone Native American, a droll and somewhat cryptic fellow with the tongue-in-cheek name of Black Cloud. Black Cloud is the first character encountered in Act II by the play’s three protagonists, then…
More choice tidbits from the campaign trail
Say what you want about the abortion debate — at least it used to be pretty straightforward. But as we saw last week, Democratic gubernatorial candidates Dan Onorato and Jack Wagner have both been qualifying their position on choice matters. Although when the campaign began, both were widely understood to be anti-abortion, both Onorato and…
Award-winning Local Teen Author
These have been a good few months for Rachel Rothenberg. At the end of last year, this CAPA senior appeared on — nay, dominated — the Jeopardy Teen Tournament, walking away with $75,000 in prize money. Not a bad way to end the recession. Of course, 2010 is off to a pretty decent start, too.…
Art All Night 2010
I’d missed the past couple of these grassroots extravaganzas, which volunteers stage in big old underused spaces in Lawrenceville. It’s only gotten bigger: Last year, something like 10,000 people came to see more than 1,000 artworks, and the turnout must have been similar this year. Of course, this year the big night, Saturday night, it…
More on Hlavac, Miles cases
In a post earlier this week, I raised some questions about two cases involving accusations of police misconduct: the (since dismissed) charges of domestic abuse against Pittsburgh police Sergeant Eugene Hlavac, and the investigation into the conduct of officers involved in the Jordan Miles case. I noted that while Mayor Luke Ravenstahl acted speedily in…
Everything you need to understand about modern politics
My alma mater, Allegheny College (beatissima!), has just uncorked this poll about how Americans feel about civility in politics. Guess what? They’re for it: A large majority — 95 percent — of Americans believe civility in politics is important for a healthy democracy says the report, compiled by the school’s Center for Political Participation. And…
Short List: Week of April 22 – 29
Oh, Pittsburgh, you’re so damned green. Such an example to the world. Or so we heard ad infinitum ’round G-20 time last year. And apparently — all those gas wells, coal-fired power plants and suburban-sprawl subdivisions notwithstanding — we’re also green enough to host the U.N.’s World Environmental Day, in June. And this week brings…
Avant-guitar legend Adrian Belew plays solo at Club Café this Friday
On one of guitarist Adrian Belew’s more recent visits to Pittsburgh, City Paper contributor Chris Parker interviewed Belew and wrote a career-spanning profile on him. Belew’s work — both on his own in numerous guises and with the likes of David Bowie, Talking Heads and King Crimson — has long blended pop and experimental elements.…
Hard Knocks
Lauren Fisher’s quest for Olympic gold may be the easiest challenge she’s taken on
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…
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…
Bridges
A hotel restaurant that takes a refined approach to everyday food, with occasional great success
This Just In: April 22 – 29
Highlights from the local TV news: From Cell to Cell?
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.
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.
Richard III
Director Matt Gray’s remarkable conception surges with disturbing vitality.
Shooting Star
Director Tracy Brigden gently tugs at the necessary heartstrings without veering into sentimentality or losing the comic pacing.
Shuffle, Ball Change … and Die!
Hartland is Pittsburgh’s premier gagmeister, blessed with the ability to pull laughs of thin air.
Beautiful Dreamers
It’s a fun trip, with Giles seamlessly weaving comedy, drama and song.
Perk Me Up Coffeehouse
Highly rated scones are just one reason to stop in this Butler Street coffee shop.
Savage Love
I’m a 27-year-old gay man. I had a really great first couple of dates with a guy, so for the third date I cooked a nice dinner, we watched a movie, and we had a lovely time in bed together. At one point, he was rimming me, and unexpectedly, unintentionally, I farted in his mouth…
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.”
Job for a Cowboy’s brutal metal has plenty of popular appeal
This is metal that makes Metallica sound like Wham!
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.”
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.
Geographically scattered, Aloha releases Home Acres
“I can go months at a time without even thinking of myself as my identity as a musician.”
On Further Review
Advocates say Roethlisberger case puts spotlight on larger issues
Down the Test Tubes
City school students testing poorly in science
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.”
