FREE EVENT: Fri., Jan. 24
Look who's got a birthday — the Cultural Trust's Gallery Crawl is 10 years old. To mark the occasion, the Trust is introducing a new component, CrawlAfterDark, in which select venues program events after 9 p.m. The late-night activities require admission ($5-15), and include: comedy at the Arcade Comedy Theater; various music events (The Freya String Quartet, Host Skull, DJ Dave "7Up" Sanchez); and at the Toonseum, Kartoon Karaoke, where visitors can sing-along with classic animations. Before that, check out the wide range of free activities such as dance lessons at Arthur Murray, flames at Katz Plaza (courtesy of fire-artists Steel Town Fire) and exhibitions related to the upcoming Black History Month. Attack Theatre offers Traveling, a dance performance featuring a salesman and his sample case of curiosities. From Australia comes I Think I Can, Terrapin Theatre's interactive puppet-based installation, and Polygot Theatre's Paper Planet, a mysterious "natural" world of trees and animals created from paper; both are at August Wilson Center. Art exhibits include: Erwin Redl's light-installations Structures of Time and Space, at Wood Street Galleries; works from CAPA students (who will also be demonstrating bowl-making); and David Aschkena's photo series documenting the demolition of the "Igloo." You might want to pack a few bills for the Night Market, the pop-up art-and-craft venue, and the Bad Art Sale, at Shaw Galleries. Al Hoff 5:30-9:30 p.m. Various venues, Downtown. Free. CrawlAfterDark (9 p.m.; various venues, Downtown; $5-15). 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org
Thu., Jan. 23 — Stage
Perhaps no Stephen Sondheim musical turned Broadway on its head quite like Company. Debuting in 1970, with a book by George Furth, it was among the first Broadway musicals to deal with adult themes, and its vignette structure was fairly radical, too. Pittsburgh Public Theater has a new production of this now-classic musical comedy, directed by F. Wade Russo (who directed the Public's 1776). The lead role of Robert — a Manhattan bachelor who's friends with five married couples and three single women — is played by Pittsburgh native and Broadway veteran Jim Stanek (pictured, if photo used). The cast also includes local luminaries like Daina Michelle Griffith and Daniel Krell. The first performance is tonight. Bill O'Driscoll 8 p.m. Continues through Feb. 23. 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $15.75-60. 412-316-1600 or www.ppt.og
Fri., Jan. 24 — Comedy
What's it like using the opposite gender's bathroom after you've transitioned from female to male? Ian Harvie can tell you, and he'll make you laugh in the process. He's one of the three comedians bringing the LGBT-themed Come Out Laughing Tour to the 'Burgh. Also performing is Jason Dudey, who launched the tour after starting a comedy show of the same name in California, and Dana Goldberg, voted one of the "top five funniest lesbians in America" by Curve magazine. Angela Suico 8 p.m. Cruze Bar, 1600 Smallman St., Strip District. $20-30. 412-471-1400 or www.cruzebar.com
Fri., Jan. 24 — Stage
Two women holding hands in public might not be a big deal today. But in 1969, it was unheard of. Dreams of Hope, the LGBT youth theater ensemble, dramatizes such a moment in Before Pride, a new play about how the Stonewall riot changed our culture. The play, which incorporates original text, music and dance, was developed with help from local professional artists based on the ensemble's interviews with community leaders in Pittsburgh, historical research and group members' own experiences. The first of two performances at The Alloy Studios is tonight. BO 8 p.m. Also 8 p.m. Sat., Jan. 25. 5530 Penn Ave., Friendship. Tickets are pay-what-you-can. www.dreamsofhope.org
Fri., Jan. 24 — Music
The Spanish Harlem Orchestra brings Latin jazz beats to the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. This 13-piece band won a Grammy in 2011 for Best Tropical Latin Album, 2010's Viva La Tradición. Leading the group is founder Oscar Hernandez, whose time as an arranger and musical producer in the '70s found him rubbing shoulders with such legends as Tito Puente, Ray Barretto and Celia Cruz. Tonight, vocals, brass and percussion all mix under Hernendez's direction to produce SHO's award-winning sound. AS 9:30 p.m. 1815 Metropolitan St., North Side. $45. 412-322-0800 or www.mcgjazz.org
Sat., Jan. 25 — Opera
The outrageous historical situations that inspired classic operas certainly have modern counterparts. Consider Dark Sisters, the 2011 chamber opera by Nico Muhly (music) and Stephen Karam (libretto). It revolves around the media frenzy that ensues when the children from a polygamous cult in the American Southwest are taken by government authorities, and one of the patriarchal Prophet's five sister-wives flees the compound. Pittsburgh Opera offers the area premiere of this unusual work, with four performances at the CAPA Theater. Tonight's opening night is sold out. BO 8 p.m. Also 7 p.m. Tue., Jan. 28, Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. 111 Ninth St., Downtown. $50.75. 412-456-6666 or www.pittsburghopera.org
Sun., Jan. 26 — Music
A cappella choral group the Pittsburgh Camerata has been part of the city's fabric since 1974. It solidified its popularity in 1995, when it released its album A Christmas Mosaic, under art director Gayle Kirkwood. The Fields of Praise concert will honor Kirkwood with performances of work from artists such as Sergei Rachmaninov and Johannes Brahms. A second performance takes place on Feb. 1, at Sixth Presbyterian Church, in Squirrel Hill. AS 3 p.m. Jan 26. Calvary United Methodist Church, 971 Beech Ave., North Side. $15 ($5 students; $20 at the door). 412-421-5884 or www.pittsburghcamerata.org
Mon., Jan. 27 — Words
Tonight, author Ayelet Waldman takes audiences behind the scenes of her upcoming novel Love and Treasure. The book's events are based on the historic Hungarian Gold Train, which was "found abandoned and filled with treasure" near Salzburg in the 1940s. Waldman's 2009 essay collection Bad Mother was a New York Times best-seller, and her personal essays have appeared in the Times and The Wall Street Journal. (She's also married to novelist and one-time Pittsburgher Michael Chabon.) Come see her at the latest installment of the Monday Night Lecture Series, presented by Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures. AS 7:30 p.m. Carnegie Music Hall, 4440 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $15-35. 412-622-8866 or www.pittsburghlectures.org
Mon., Jan. 27 — Words
Hilton Als is among our most original and provocative writers on culture. In his new essay collection White Girls (McSweeney's), his first book in 15 years, the New Yorker's brilliant theater critic discusses, among other things, the authenticity of Eminem and the inauthenticity of Malcolm X, and posits that, culturally, Truman Capote and Michael Jackson count as women. Other subjects include Flannery O'Connor, Louise Brooks and Richard Pryor. Als makes a rare local appearance tonight at the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series. BO 8:30 p.m. Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, 650 Schenley Plaza, Oakland. Free. 412-624-6506 or www.pghwritersseries.wordpress.com
Tue., Jan. 28 — Plants
There's not much blooming outside, but inside the Phipps Conservatory is a plant show guaranteed to make visitors ooh and ahh and feel more tropical. The annual Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show combines two of the most-fussed-over and exquisite "hobby plants." The exuberance of the colorful, showy orchid will be matched with the formality of bonsai, the Japanese art of training trees to achieve their mature shape in miniature form. If you're inspired, check the Phipps' schedule of classes on starting your own orchid or bonsai collection. Al Hoff 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, through March 9. One Schenley Park, Oakland. $11-15. 412- 622-6914 or www.phipps.conservatory.org
Wed., Jan. 29 — Music
One part "South African musical tradition," one part gospel, Ladysmith Black Mambazo will perform tonight at the Byham Theater. The long-running group has performed at Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies, as well as concerts for Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth. Ladysmith Black Mambazo has collaborated with other musical performers such as Josh Groban, Dolly Parton and, most famously, with Paul Simon on his Graceland LP. AS 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29. 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $24-44 ($19 children). 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org
Wed., Jan. 29 — Screen
Akira Kurosawa is best known for classic samurai films like The Seven Samurai and Ran. But some of his finest work told stories of contemporary Japan, and the director perhaps never did that better than with 1952's Ikiru (To Live). Takashi Shimura, who played the leader in Seven Samurai, here portrays an aging civil servant forced by illness to confront his past and seek meaning in his life. The wrenching, cinematically brilliant film shows at the Melwood Screening Room as part of Pittsburgh Filmmakers' bargain-priced Essential Cinema series. BO 8 p.m. 477 Melwood Ave., Oakland. $2. 412-681-5449 or www.pittsburgharts.org
