Anything Goes at The Theatre Factory
ANYTHING GOES continues through July 24. The Theatre Factory, Cavitt Avenue and Third Street, Trafford. $16-32. 412-374-9200 or thetheatrefactory.com Anytime I see the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes, as I just did at the Theatre Factory, I always wonder what it must have been like sitting at the 46th St. Theatre in Manhattan on Nov.…
A conversation with Shakey Graves
“To imagine that somebody thought of me like that was a little like being in love, I guess — to know somebody cares so much about you.”
Immigrant population providing a boost to Pittsburgh economy, say officials
A new study shows that immigrants in Allegheny County are prospering economically in buying power, entrepreneurship and population growth.
Pittsburgh celebrates bicentennial with parade of history and culture
For Pittsburgh’s 200th birthday, mayors’ descendents and puppet versions of Mr. Rogers and Roberto Clemente marched down Liberty Avenue to Point State Park.
YMCA program teaches value of birds in Pittsburgh’s gardens
Sound Bite takes flight with the YMCA garden program and Neighborhood Nestwatch Pittsburgh to learn about urban bird populations.
Word Cloud: Issue July 8-14, 2010
This week in CP history, we interviewed Mark Mothersborough of DEVO, reviewed Despicable Me, and investigated drilling at Powdermill Reserve. Read the stories from this issue.
MP3 Monday: Come Holy Spirit
This week’s MP3 comes from Pittsburgh’s well-loved mystic-avant-psych three-piece Come Holy Spirit. Stream or download the title track from the band’s cathartic sophomore record, Grand Island, below. To download, right-click here and select “save as.”
Deutschtown Music Festival brings over 180 bands to Pittsburgh’s North Side
Music fans filled the North Side this weekend as the 4th Annual Deutschtown Music Festival brought over 180 bands to 21 stages for the free event.
Exhibits at Wood Street Galleries and SPACE Gallery are a highlight for attendees of Downtown Pittsburgh’s Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District
Attendees to the Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl could find painting, printing, video games, live music and improv comedy — along with food and beer — scattered along Penn and Liberty avenues at 27 different stops, and all for free.
Black Lives Matter supporters gather for second march in Downtown Pittsburgh this weekend
In Pittsburgh and around the country, Black Lives Matter took to the streets this weekend.
Dave Matthews Band’s Boyd Tinsley talks about longevity, playing Pittsburgh and the group’s 25th anniversary
The Dave Mathews Band’s Pittsburgh stop this week could be their last visit here for a while.
Pittsburgh Left: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jung Ho Kang should sit during sexual-assault investigation
Decency demands he remain out of the public eye until an investigation is complete
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto providing help for local undocumented immigrant facing deportation
Undocumented immigrant Martin Esquivel-Hernandez is currently facing deportation, despite his lack of a criminal record and strong ties to Pittsburgh’s Latino community.
New mobile Pokemon game takes you on a tour of Pittsburgh
The newly launched mobile Pokemon application brings the game to the streets of Pittsburgh.
Lynn Cullen Live 07/08/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Dallas police shootings. Still We Rise march in Downtown Pittsburgh today. Suicide rate among female veterans rises. A robot has been created with animal cells in it. Lead levels found to be high around Capitol Hill- senators and congressmen immediatly offered free blood testing. Audio…
Warhol director Eric Shiner heading back to New York
After five years at the helm, Eric Shiner is moving on to a job at Sotheby’s
Live coverage of the Local Progress and the People’s Convention in Pittsburgh
Nearly 1,000 grassroots activists are in Pittsburgh for the Center for Public Democracy’s People’s Convention and Local Progress national meeting.
PWSA addresses water-quality and billing problems
Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority addresses concerns over billing issues and water quality.
Rally scheduled and website started in support for Pittsburgh immigrant in process of being deported
Pittsburgh immigrant Martin Esquivel-Hernandez has no criminal record and has been active in region’s Latino community. Local advocacy groups have started efforts to ensure he avoids deportation.
Review of Beckett one-acts at the New Hazlett Theater
Actors shine in “Not I” and Krapp’s Last Tape.
Free Concerts, Family Activities and Beer Garden at The Waterfront and a chance to win a shopping spree
The Waterfront shopping center will transform into an outdoor concert and summer fair, suitable for families and all ages on Saturday, July 16. And best of all, the music and activities are free. Also, you can win a shopping spree — when you enter the Summer Vibes Shopping Spree Sweepstakes. One winner will win a…
Lynn Cullen Live 07/07/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. A Facebook live video of the aftermath of the police shooting a black driver pulled over for a taillight. The difference in coverage of Trump and Clinton’s speeches. Clinton proposed a change in university tuition. Roger Ailes accused of sexual harassment. Audio Only Archive Listen…
Cocothé in Sewickley expands with a full dinner menu
Cocothé 541 Beaver Ave., Sewickley. 412-259-8847 Hours: Tue.-Sat. 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. dinner 5-10 p.m. Prices: Starters $9-15; entrees $26-37 Liquor: BYOB Despite the name, Cocothé is not especially French. The name derives from the restaurant’s first incarnation as a purveyor of chocolates and teas. It always had a sit-down lunch menu, but lately this…
Pittsburgh to host progressive activists, leaders at National People’s Convention
In Seattle’s 2013 election, Nick Licata broke the city’s record for the most votes received citywide for a city councilor in a contested race. That same year he was named the country’s Most Valuable Local Official on The Nation’s list of most valuable progressives. During his time on council, Licata sponsored and passed legislation like…
412FoodRescue launches an “Ugly CSA” for misshapen produces
For a reduced price, you can now get a weekly box of spotted and misshapen produce. That’s because 412FoodRescue is spearheading a community-supported-agriculture program offering the fruits and veggies that are rejected by farmers and consumers because of appearance. “We all see the typical picture of the perfect tomato, apple, the cartoon-perfect carrots,” says Leah…
The Bad Plus takes the traditional piano trio configuration in adventurous directions
THE BAD PLUS with DAVID THROCKMORTON 7:30 p.m. Fri., July 8. South Park Amphitheater, South Hills. Free. 800-581-9145 or alleghenycounty.us The Bad Plus landed in the spotlight when Columbia released These Are the Vistas, in 2003. Between compositions by each member of the piano trio, the band reworked Blondie, Aphex Twin and Nirvana. The jazz…
Weird Pittsburgh
A photographer snapping shots on the banks of the Stonycreek River in Somerset County came across a discarded T-shirt, pack of cigarettes and pair of shoes and socks. Police found an empty whisky bottle and mysterious pills nearby. This kicked off a frantic search for a drowned person. More than 50 members of local police,…
Community initiative should help Pittsburgh’s struggling East End neighborhoods, but some say they’ve been left out of the mix
Since June 2015, when hundreds of evictions were announced at the below-market-rate apartments of Penn Plaza, in East Liberty, Pittsburgh officials, local nonprofit developers and community groups have been scrambling to create more affordable housing, particularly in East End neighborhoods. Pittsburgh City Councilor Ricky Burgess, of North Point Breeze, is taking extra steps to ensure…
Short List: July 6 – 14
Fri., July 8 – Opera Opera Theater of Pittsburgh’s SummerFest keeps getting bigger. Now it’s outgrown its home of three years, Oakland’s 20th Century Club; the fifth annual SummerFest is housed in Shadyside’s Winchester Thurston School, which artistic and managing director Jonathan Eaton says can accommodate all the fest’s rehearsals and performances. Well, almost all:…
Almost Holy
This 2015 documentary is the second feature from the Pittsburgh-based team behind 2013’s award-winning Blood Brother; it premiered locally at the Three Rivers Film Festival under the name Crocodile Gennadiy. The film, directed by Steve Hoover and shot over three years, profiles a Ukrainian pastor, Gennadiy “Crocodile” Mohnkenko. The charismatic “Crocodile” — he derives his…
Celebrate the Solstice with Chilled Blueberry Soup
For every season, there is a reason — or so the saying goes. Summer is my favorite time of year; I’m one of those rare people who actually loves heat and humidity. When questioned about my preference, I will confess that I was a plant in one of my former lives, perhaps a fern. I…
In its fourth year, the Deutschtown Music Festival continues to grow exponentially
DEUTSCHTOWN MUSIC FESTIVAL. 4 p.m.-midnight Fri, July 8, and 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Sat., July 9. Various locations in the North Side. Free. Visit deutschtownmusicfestival.org for the full schedule. The first Deutschtown Music festival, in 2013, featured roughly 50 bands performing on 12 stages. This year, the lineup has grown to more than 180 bands playing…
Pittsburgh City Paper Booze Battles: Club Café vs. Independent Brewing Company
Each week, we order the same cocktail at two different bars for a friendly head-to-head battle. Go to the bars, taste them both 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…
Father and Daughters
Gabriele Muccino’s domestic drama looks at the troubled relationship between a talented but mentally ill writer (Russell Crowe) and his adoring young daughter, Katie (Kylie Rogers). The tale shifts in time between Katie’s childhood and 27 years later, when Katie (Amanda Seyfried) is in graduate school. She’s studying psychology and understands enough about herself that…
Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum
Retail Price: $27.99 / 750 ml Lately I’ve been grooving on deeply funky Jamaican rum. Smith & Cross is one of the best. It bursts with molasses and overripe fruit, and packs a wallop at 114 proof. Float a spoonful on nearly any stirred cocktail to add a world of intrigue. — By Drew Cranisky…
Pittsburgh’s Bicentennial celebration will showcase the city’s past, present and future
What better way to celebrate our city’s bicentennial than with a parade full of puppets — giant puppets. On July 9, the city will host a Bicentennial Day Parade that runs Downtown, from 11th Street to Point State Park. To make the event special, the organizers recruited Pittsburgh artist and puppetmaker Cheryl Capezzuti. The parade…
Church Basement Ladies at South Park Theatre
CHURCH BASEMENT LADIES continues through July 16. South Park Theatre, Brownsville Road and Corrigan Drive, South Park. $15. 412-831-8552 or southparktheatre.com South Park Theatre presents the local premiere of Church Basement Ladies. Pittsburgh, say hello to an entertainment juggernaut. In 2005, a musical called Church Basement Ladies opened at a Minnesota theater and became an…
Critics’ Picks, July 7-13
[SKA] + SAT., JULY 9 Cattivo will host a blast from the ska-punk past, so grab your checkered shoes and witness Culture Shock live in action. Culture Shock released three records between 1986 and 1989 and, after a long break, reformed in 2012. The U.K.-based band was part of the Third Wave of ska and…
We go inside the escape-room phenomenon
We nearly escaped. My friend and I were trying to decipher the final riddle of an ancient Egyptian tomb before our oxygen supply ran out. We had discovered secrets, solved brain-teasers and connected clues regarding an intrepid explorer’s lasting mystery, surrounded by artifacts and hieroglyphics. But time had expired. Then the co-founder of Escape Room…
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Someday, scholars will compile the definitive canon of Comedies About Weddings That Go Very Wrong, and this film, from Jake Szymanski, will warrant inclusion. If you’re a fan of the genre — especially in its more ribald and R-rated forms — this should deliver some laughs this summer. That’s not to say that it’s especially…
Resident artist collects stories in the Strip
PRACTICES OF LISTENING Noon-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. 2100 Smallman St., Strip District. Free. 412-261-7003 or contemporarycraft.org Creative placemaking is a trendy term among arts organizations. What makes a neighborhood or street distinct? How can art honor the history of a location? How best should a community tell its story? At the Society for Contemporary…
This week in City Paper History
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act on June 28, 2013, it was obvious that City Paper’s cover should somehow mark the occasion. Staff writer Lauren Daley wrote a story about the challenges still facing the LGBT community’s fight for equality, but the cover needed to…
Patricia Bellan-Gillen’s hypnotic solo show at the Miller Gallery
WILLFUL WONDERING: PATRICIA BELLAN-GILLEN DRAWINGS 2010-2016 continues through July 17. Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland. 412-268-2900 or millergallery.cfa.cmu.edu Artist Patricia Bellan-Gillen recently retired from Carnegie Mellon University, after 29 years, as a professor in the School of Art. The Western Pennsylvania native’s work, displayed in more than 45 solo exhibitions across the…
New Releases
MACE BALLARD RELEASE SHOW 6 p.m. Fri., July 15. The Smiling Moose, 1306 E. Carson St., South Side. $15. 412-431-4668 or smiling-moose.com Mace Ballard Lanterns (A-F Records) www.wearemaceballard.com Mace Ballard’s main objective is interlacing riffy guitars with catchy pop-punk vocals. Up to this point, the pop elements of its music have dominated the punk, but…
The Legend of Tarzan
The Legend of Tarzan Directed by David Yates Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Christoph Walz, Samuel L. Jackson In English, and some Lingala, with subtitles There have been hundreds of Tarzan films, so I’m not sure why we need the generically titled The Legend of Tarzan. I suspect the agent for Alexander Skarsgard’s abs pushed…
The Secret Life of Pets
From the people who brought you the Minions — Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney — comes this digitally animated comedy about what a collection of New York City dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and so on get up to when their owners are gone during the day. This would seem to open up so many fanciful…
Reviews of new chapbooks by Lori Jakiela and Judith Robinson
The entirety of “Tired,” the first poem in Lori Jakiela’s new chapbook Big Fish (Stranded Oak Press), reads: “I’m barely afraid of spiders anymore.” Brevity notwithstanding, it’s revealing in ways that the Trafford native and acclaimed memoirist develops more fully over 36 extremely readable pages, many concerning her speaker turning 50. The title poem riffs…
Distillery in Washington, Pa., looks to history
Ellen and Jim Hough, owners of the new Mingo Creek Craft Distillery, have set up shop in the ideal place to honor their passions for distilling and history. The distillery is designed in the style of an 18th-century meetinghouse, complete with antiques and a portrait (albeit displayed upside down) of Alexander Hamilton. Hung in the…
Amy Cicconi and Christy Repep reflect on their book ‘Pittsburgh Pennsylvania: A Photographic Portrait’
Editor’s Note: Responses were edited for length and clarity. When photographer Amy Cicconi set out on her mission to photograph Pittsburgh, her publisher, Twin Atlantic, sent her a list of about 200 locations. She visited every one of them, dedicating every free evening and weekend to taking photographs of the Steel City. The year-long venture…
Savage Love
My wife and I have been married for 14 years and in a committed (I assumed) relationship for 17 years. Sex between us (often kinky) has always been great. We have a wonderful life together and two perfect children. I thought we were good; turns out things were too good to be true. I learned…
For James McMurtry, making music is a Complicated Game
JAMES MCMURTRY with MAX GOMEZ 8 p.m. Wed., July 13. Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. Sold out. 412-431-4950 or clubcafelive.com Many of the songs on James McMurtry’s albums feel like vignettes. The listener can sense that he or she is coming in on the middle of the story. If he wanted to,…
Wysocki: Pirates minor-league talent is ready to make major contributions
As recently as four years ago, the Pirates never had major-league-caliber players at the highest level of the minors. Not only were Bucs brass seemingly allergic to drafting good players, those who were exceptional were quickly carted off to the majors. They simply weren’t ready for that. Now the Pirates have capable players at all…
Tickled
The events chronicled in the new documentary Tickled begin ordinarily enough. David Farrier, a New Zealand journalist whose beat is covering “the weird and bizarre side of life,” wrote an article about a video he found online that featured “competitive endurance tickling,” promoted by Jane O’Brien Media, of Los Angeles. In the video, a clean-cut,…
Stuff We Like
Kids Bringing a Glove to the Ballpark. It looks kind of silly when adults do it. But seeing a kid stand up and track a ball heading into the stands has a cool, old-school baseball feel to it. A Shedding Snake. The first full-length from the Baltimore indie-rock band Outer Spaces is packed with Fleetwood Mac-style…
Lynn Cullen Live 07/06/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Clinton called “extremely careless” by the head of the FBI. Alton Sterling shot by police in Baton Rouge. Lynn sits next to a panicked woman on a plane. Kang accused of drugging and raping a woman. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on…
Lynn Cullen Live 07/05/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Are fireworks really a good way to celebrate? Donald Trump’s anti-semitic tweet. 4 people shot in Downtown Pittsburgh on the 4th. No student debt forgiveness for a murdered student. 50 Islamic clerics issue a fatwa that trans people can marry. Audio Only Archive Listen to…
City Paper Podcast – Episode 24
This week on the City Paper Podcast, host Alex Gordon speaks with crossword-puzzle builder Brendan Emmett Quigley, who’s created puzzles for outlets ranging from ESPN to McSweeney’s. Like Alex, Brendan’s love of crosswords was born out of excessive free time, and grew into something of an obsession. You can solve his puzzles every week in…
