Review: Judas Priest at the Petersen Events Center, Saturday, Oct. 18
When you have the chance to see a truly iconic band play live, there’s a lot of wiggle room, enjoyment-wise. If the performance is great, it’s an unmatched thrill. If it’s so-so, just seeing the band members in person can cover a multitude of sins. Even if the show is downright SAD — well —…
Congratulations Brian Sims, you have won the Internet
We failed to mention this piece from Buzzfeed.com last week about a group photo of Gov. Tom Corbett mingling with a bunch of voters from his website footer was actually a Photoshop composite. The report in particular noted that the African American woman standing next to Corbett was from a stock photo of a senior…
Tig Notaro early show canceled; late show still on
Tig Notaro will perform one show Sat., Oct. 25, at 9:30 p.m.
The Seventh Stop of October 2014: An account of one night of King Diamond’s North American Tour
The crowd shouted: “King! King! King!” as an illuminated red pentagram ascended from behind the high-mounted balcony. His Bat-Signal.
Macbeth at PICT Classic Theatre
Three performances remain through tomorrow
Lynn Cullen Live 10/24/14
Video Archive Helen Boyd, author of “My Husband Betty” and gender studies lecturer extraordinaire for Lawrence University joins Lynn to discuss gender and trans issues. What began as a search for community has lend her to a path as a trans ally. Hopefully the world will follow her example. Audio Only Archive Listen to the…
Tom Corbett Illustrated: A history of Cartoon Corbett on the cover of City Paper
Cover Illustration by Rhonda Libbey This week’s City Paper cover features our fourth illustrated cover of Gov. Tom Corbett since his 2010 election, the second by artist Rhonda Libbey. As election day nears, we thought it would be worth looking back at Corbett’s history with our cover (Spoiler alert: he’s shirtless a lot). Cover Illustration…
Final Performances of The Book of Ezra at Pittsburgh Playwrights
Leslie “Ezra” Smith’s one-man autobiographical stage show is notable for several reasons. It’s the first solo theatrical show for this longtime stage actor and stalwart of the local spoken-word scene. It’s also a chance to hear a story rare on local stages, the coming-of-age of a young black man. Photo courtesy of Tene Croom Leslie…
Lynn Cullen Live 10/23/14
Video Archive Tom and Lynn sally forth with news, arguing and current events. Rwanda closes it’s borders to Americans who have not been screened for ebola. The Neanderthal gene is found in all of us. November election and republicans. Crowd sourcing websites like Kickstarter; taking advantage of a sucker born every minute or doing something…
VP Joe Biden endorses long shot Democrat McClelland over Rothfus
The Erin McClelland campaign, which is trying to mount a challenge to incumbent tea-party Congressman Keith Rothfus, announced this afternoon an endorsement from Vice President Joe Biden. “Erin McClelland will bring new leadership to Washington, work to create jobs, ensure equal pay for women, and expand access to affordable education,” a press release quotes Biden…
Sen. Daylin Leach asks District Attorneys not to prosecute legitimate medical marijuana users
Since the Pennsylvania House failed to pass medical marijuana legislation this session, state Sen. Daylin Leach is taking another approach. Leach sent a letter Wednesday to D. Peter Johnson, the president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and the state’s 66 other district attorneys asking them not to prosecute anyone in the state who can…
Day Room Window at the New Hazlett Theater
The new play looks at life inside a girls’ juvenile-detention facility. Danielle Fox has a review in Program Notes.
Day Room Window at the New Hazlett Theater
A CP review of the premiere production
A reunion, a release and a departure for Pittsburgh punks
REMAINDERS/BARONS SPLIT RELEASE SHOW with TEDDY DUCHAMP’S ARMY reunion show, WORLD’S SCARIEST POLICE CHASES 9 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24. Howlers 4509 Liberty Ave. Bloomfield. $8 412-682-0320 or howlerscoyotecafe.com Friday night at Howlers will mark an arrival, a reunion and a departure for the bands taking the stage at the Bloomfield bar. “It’s gonna be a…
A group show at SPACE explores what brings us all together
PUBLIC RECORD continues through Nov. 9. SPACE 812 Liberty Ave. and 707 Penn Gallery 707 Penn Ave. Downtown. 412-325-7723 spacepittsburgh.org The Pittsburgh Biennial at SPACE is a multimedia presentation by artists whose intelligent concepts add to each other’s power and resonance. Today’s art delves deep into socio-political relations, both those that bind us and those…
Critics’ Picks Oct. 23-29
[BRASS BAND] + SAT., OCT. 25 “Brass band” can mean a lot of things, from a traditional outfit playing marches to a raucous gypsy-music group or a New Orleans-style jazz combo. In the case of PitchBlak Brass Band, it’s something different still: The Brooklyn-based 10-piece ensemble has as much in common with contemporary hip hop…
Comedian and cancer survivor Tig Notaro returns to Pittsburgh
TIG NOTARO 9:30 p.m. Kelly-Strayhorn Theater 5941 Penn Ave. East Liberty $25 412-363-3000 or kelly-strayhorn.org There’s making light of a dark situation — then there’s turning your life-threatening disease into a comedy set. Comedian Tig Notaro has mastered the latter. In 2012, she revealed at Los Angeles comedy club Largo that she had just been…
New Releases
The Feel-Good Revolution Home (Self-released) New 10-track full-length from the guy-girl duo named, presumably, for a Bright Eyes song. Sweet stuff — Cody Kraski and Claire Secen trade off vocals, then much of the time create beautiful harmonies between the two of them. Some of the content is happy, some sad, but most of the…
21 at the Conservatory Theatre Company
21 continues through Sun., Oct. 26. Pittsburgh Playhouse 222 Craft St. Oakland. $18-20. 412-392-8000 or pittsburghplayhouse.com To Pittsburghers of a particular if broad age range, the number “21” connotes not the (long-ago) beginning of adulthood but a baseball player whose untimely death sealed a legend that will never die. Alki Steriopoulos’ hagiographic new musical works…
Monster Upset? Tom Wolf has Tom Corbett and the GOP’s gubernatorial legacy on the run
In the summer of 2005, Ed Rendell was in real trouble. His job-approval ratings were low and only four out of 10 voters thought he deserved a second term as governor. G. Terry Madonna, the well-known Franklin & Marshall pollster, wrote on his blog at the time: “The approaching 2006 election cycle may break the…
City Theatre’s Outside Mullingar
OUTSIDE MULLINGAR continues through Nov. 2. City Theatre 1300 Bingham St. South Side. $15-56 412-431-2489 or citytheatrecompany.org The Irish can be irritating or endearing — often simultaneously — as John Patrick Shanley demonstrates in his recent Broadway hit Outside Mullingar, now at City Theatre. The one-act moseys through five years of life, death and love…
Pennsylvania Governor
Compiled by Charlie Deitch
The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs at Off the Wall Productions
THE SMALL ROOM AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS continues through Nov. 1. 25 W. Main St. Carnegie. $5-35 888-718-4253 or insideoffthewall.com Just in time for Halloween, Off the Wall Productions presents the Pittsburgh premiere of Canadian playwright Carole Fréchette’s deceptive ghost story The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs. The tale is…
U.S. House District 12
Compiled by Alex Zimmerman
Pittsburgh Ballet launches its 45th season with The Sleeping Beauty
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre performs THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24; 2 and 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25, and 2 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. Benedum Center 719 Liberty Ave. Downtown $27-112. 412-456-6666 or pbt.org In a great story ballet, the principal roles provide the emotional adrenaline and the corps de ballet the pulse. The…
State House District 20
Compiled by Rebecca Nuttall
St. Vincent
St. Vincent Starring: Bill Murray, Jaeden Lieberher, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts Directed by: Theodore Melfi Starts: Fri., Oct. 24 Newly single mom Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) works long hours and needs somebody to keep an eye on her son Oliver after school. Turns out her cranky neighbor Vincent (Bill Murray) could use the cash, and a…
Savage Love
I’m a twentysomething married trans guy in an openish marriage. In the online hunt for a guy to have some aboveboard, under-the-sheets fun with, I run into snags because I’m trans (I disclose on my profile) and because I’m married. I’m baby-stepping my way toward an offline search for guys, going to events hosted by…
Pride
Can you combine the following downbeat aspects of 1984 Britain — the bleak days of the miners’ strike, the darkening clouds of AIDS and pervasive homophobia — into a feel-good film sure to make audiences cheerfully blubber and tap their toes to a forgotten Bronski Beat song? Logic says no, but Pride says yes! Matthew…
Short List: October 22 – 28
SPOTLIGHT: Thu., Oct. 23 — Stage Don’t confuse Bricolage Productions’ SCarrie: The Musical with 1988’s infamous Broadway-flop musical adapting Carrie, Stephen King’s best-selling horror novel about a bullied, telekinetic teenager and her uniquely disastrous senior prom. Rather, it’s descended from Carrie White The Musical, a 2002 comedy by Atlanta troupe Dad’s Garage. (Neither show is…
Stuff We Like
Voter’s Self-Defense Manual. This guide, published by the non-partisan Project Vote Smart is available free to all voters online and in a pocket-sized print copy (call 888-VoteSmart). The guide not only culls data on your representatives, it even rates their level of political courage. Enon Valley Garlic. It’s garlic-planting time! Choose between nine varieties of…
27
Last night drunk off Pabst, my go to metal show drink I multiplied until you’d have to help me to the car. In Keith’s bed, the past year played out in my head, every little thing like the way you looked in a Type O Negative tee and black jeans and the way your voice…
Dear White People
Writer-director Justin Simien makes a splashy debut with this buzzed-about ensemble comedy that’s a provocative and entertaining mash-up of satire, campus comedy and truth-telling about race in contemporary America. Set on a prestigious, and mostly white, campus, the film takes its title from one student’s radio show, a biting primer for white people interacting with…
Sirena Taco Joint and Bar
Sirena Taco Joint and Bar 3909 Washington Road McMurray. 724-260-0329 Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Prices: Starters, soups and tacos $5-12; salads and taco combo platters $12-24 Liquor: Full bar Like the enchanting sirena — mermaid — of legend, Sirena Taco Joint and Bar lured us to the shoals of suburban…
Last Days in Vietnam
It’s no secret that the U.S. departed hastily and awkwardly from Vietnam in the spring of 1975, but Rory Kennedy’s documentary fills in plenty of fascinating and troubling detail about the final hours before Saigon’s fall. Through contemporary first-person interviews and extensive archival footage, those on the ground — American military and diplomatic personnel, as…
American-made Syrah pioneer Gary Eberle comes to town
A wine novice could be forgiven for finding Gary Eberle a little intimidating. The Pittsburgh native (and former Penn State defensive tackle) is a pioneer: He was the first winemaker in the United States to produce 100 percent syrah, a wine made with dark-skinned grapes originally from the Rhone Valley. However, speaking with Eberle, of…
Men, Women and Children
In Jason Reitman’s ensemble drama, high school kids and their parents generally make a mess of their lives using social media. None of it will come as a surprise to anybody living in the year 2014: Teenage boys consume epic amounts of online porn; teenage girls pose for provocative photos; adults use the Internet to…
Quince is a lesser-known fall fruit that is worth seeking out
Fall has much to recommend it food-wise, but I’m always excited about the arrival of quince. Martha Stewart calls it “fall’s forgotten fruit,” but it needn’t be. Quince looks like a pear-apple hybrid — especially when ripe and pale yellow — but it’s actually a member of the rose family. (In fact, the fruit gives…
Talking Poetry With Cass McCombs
CASS MCCOMBS with MEAT PUPPETS 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25. Club Café 56 S. 12th St. South Side $20 412-431-4950 or clubcafelive.com Cass McCombs thinks we should all be reading more poetry. “The poetry section in any bookstore is always the most neglected,” he says. This is probably sage advice coming from a man who…
Neon Hitch leaves Warner Brothers, wants her fans to be her label
NIGHTMARE ON HELLSWORTH featuring NEON HITCH, STEVE GRAND, ERIKA JAYNE 7 p.m. Fri., Oct 24. Ellsworth Ave. Shadyside $25 18 and over. deltafoundation.us/tickets Neon Hitch grew up in a circus family in England, became a singer in her early 20s, and once lived with Amy Winehouse. She spent four years signed to Warner Brothers, and…
Best Of Pittsburgh 2014: 7 Photos for City Paper
A video by WQED’s Rick Sebak
Lynn Cullen Live 10/22/14
Video Archive Jared Day, author of Daylee News Nuggets blog, joins Lynn today after a short absence. Modern parenting and the media’s role in creating anxiety. The changes occurring in the Catholic Church and how it affects our modern world. Burn’s documentary on FDR and the coming Vietnam documentary. Audio Only Archive Listen to the…
