Category Archives: Arts & Culture

Clue: The Musical at Palisades Playhouse

Last week, I had the pleasure of being one of the attendees for opening night of the community theater production of Clue: The Musical at the Palisades Playhouse in Greenfield. If you are looking for something to do this weekend, I would like to suggest that you make time to go see one of the final performances. This performance is definitely kid friendly and a good way to entertain the family on a holiday weekend.

One of the things I learned when I would give a weekly event listing on WDVE is that there are often no event happening on holiday weekends. The lack of events for holidays is problematic, because if your family is like my family, we can only exist in peace when we are doing something together. I was just thinking about the easter when I was little and my grandparents came to visit, in an effort to keep everyone entertained we went to visit a chicken farm somewhere in Westmoreland County, I think (I assure you my father will read this post and fact check the location).

I will admit that I am quite biased in my support of this particular production, 1/4 of the cast are good friends of mine from high school, but my friends aside, here are 5 reasons I think you should check out Clue: The Musical this weekend.

Five Reasons to see Clue: The Musical at Palisades Playhouse

Clue: The Musical. I loved and still love Clue: The Movie. I remember first watching this at my friend Mandy’s sleepover birthday party and as seven year-olds, we thought the scene where the signing telegram woman collapses was the funniest thing ever. I had no idea there was a musical version of what I consider to be a cinematic classic. Clue: The Musical is still a mystery and still the same clever plot line but with some snappy songs for a stage production. Sadly the singing telegram is not included in the musical version.
A musical & a mystery you try to solve. I’ll get back to the snappy songs in a second. I thought that I was going to see a series of musical performances, what I did not expect and really loved about the production is that is also a mystery. Your program comes with a score card and you can keep track of the clues that are presented by the characters as the show unfolds.
The cast & crew. I have tremendous respect for anyone who gets on stage and performs. The entire cast is performing for fun, rehearsing after their full-time jobs.
The set. I thought that the Palisades Playhouse did an incredible job creating a backdrop for the performance. Minimal, but well constructed and supported the overall plot of the musical performance.
The theater building. I was particularly excited to see this production and check out how the Palisades Playhouse was re-purposing the former Greenfield Presbyterian Church building. Last month, Partners for Sacred Spaces, a national nonprofit with the mission of helping churches and communities reuse religious structures spoke here in Pittsburgh. One of the many examples of church reuse that they shared was for community theater spaces. It was great to see how Palisades Playhouse is using the sanctuary as a theater and hear more about how the other areas of the building are being used as community spaces. You can read more about Palisades Playhouse and their future plans from this Post-Gazette article.

Clue: The Musical at Palisades Playhouse

Tickets are available at the door or online here.

Friday April 14 at 7pm
Saturday, April 15 at 1pm

Chicano Batman is bringing Los Angeles Sound to Pittsburgh on April 2

Last month, on a cold, Monday morning I was driving to work and heard a catchy tune on 90.5 WYEP. The song “Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)” by Chicano Batman has been stuck in my head and even earned a spot on my everyday Spotify playlist. WYEP featured this song as part of new music Monday, timely as Chicano Batman released a new album, Freedom isn’t Free, at the beginning of March. The Los Angeles based band is now on tour with a stop in Pittsburgh on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at James Street Gastropub.

The song “Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)” is the kind of catchy tune that you want to hear on a Monday morning or an afternoon of running errands. Both the name of the song and the word Batman stuck with me. I think I associate Batman with Pittsburgh and thanks to @WYEPplayed it was easy for me to find the name of the song later that afternoon.

The quartet have been getting a lot of press since the release of their new album:

LA Weekly – Chicano Batman Bring the Sounds of Latino L.A. to the Rest of America
LA Times – Chicano Batman takes on the 800-pound gorilla with ‘Freedom Is Free’
NPR: All Things Considered – Chicano Batman: A Sound And Vision That Could Only Come From Los Angeles

While I do love Pittsburgh, I will admit that I have quite a crush on the city of Los Angeles. I’ve had the good fortune of making a few visits there of the past decade or so and I am always eager to go back. Los Angeles has a bit of reputation from its Hollywood side, but if you look past the movie stars facade, the city has a grit and authenticity that reminds me a little bit of Pittsburgh.

Not only am I a fan of the Chicano Batman sound, I am also a huge fan of the style. Who doesn’t love a ruffled tuxedo shirt? The band commented on this fashion choice last week in Rolling Stone (Chicano Batman is on the RS list of “10 Artists You Need to Know” for March 2017):

They Say: What about those tuxes? “The Temptations, Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions, Los Freddy’s and all these bands from Venezuela and Latin America were rocking them on the covers of their records in the Sixties and Seventies, so that’s definitely an inspiration,” says frontman Bardo Martinez. “Our bassist, Eduardo [Arenas], was the one who actually suggested, ‘Hey, let’s get suited and booted!’ He threw it down. We’re all aesthetically on that boat, but he’s the one who actually stepped into the vintage shop – and it was a stroke of luck that what he bought fit everybody in the band. Off the rack, man! It’s been 10 years, brother, and we’ve gone through a few of them. We try to keep it classic, man; we try to keep it polyester.”

On April 2, for the very affordable Pittsburgh price of $15 you can listen to Chicano Batman live at the James Street Gastropub.

Chicano Batman w/ 79.5 & SadGirl
Sunday, April 2, 2017
7pm
James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy
Tickets $12-$15
Facebook Event

March Monster Madness: Will Godzilla be the beast that beats them all?

If basketball isn’t your thing, there are some other interesting ways to join in on the March Madness craze this year. Pittsburgh artists and author, Matthew Buchholz, has been sharing monsters through his creative cards and prints which you may have spotted around town. Buchholz is bringing the big monsters to the bracket with March Monster Madness, a daily match-up of famous monsters and zombies face off each day to see who will move to the next round. Each weekday you can vote for the winner of each battle on the Alternate Histories website. Share your thoughts on your pick for the day and you could win a prize. Follow the March Monster Madness via Alternate Histories on Facebook and Twitter @AltHistories for updates on each battle.

Here are the current standings in Monster March Madness:

Round 1: Godzilla vs The Giant Octopus: GODZILLA
Round 2: Nosferatu vs The Deadites: NOSFERATU
Round 3: Flying Saucers vs The Blob: FLYING SAUCERS
Round 4: Ro-Man vs Lobo: RO-MAN
Round 5: Gamera vs Graboids: GAMERA

Interested in more monster history? Before Kellyanne Conaway introduced us to the concept of “alternative facts,” Buchholtz published a fictional history book Alternate Histories. You can order a signed copy of Buchholz’s book from the Alternate Histories website. The book is also available at Wildcard in Lawrenceville and Amazon.

More ways to celebrate March Madness in Pittsburgh:

Vote for your favorite fish fry in The Incline’s Fish Fry Bracket.
Stop by Everyday Cafe in Homewood to submit your bracket before Thursday and you could win $25 gift card to the cafe.

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Book ‘Em Needs Your Books & Paper Bags

Letter to Book ‘Em. Photo Credit: Book ‘Em Facebook Page. Click here to read the text of the letter.

Attention book lovers! Book ‘Em is a Pittsburgh non-profit that needs your help to send books to prisoners in Pennsylvania.

I spent a few hours yesterday in the basement of a building on Penn Avenue yesterday with a group of volunteers who were picking out books and packing them up to be sent to prisoners across the state. I had no idea that the basement below the Thomas Merton Center was set up as a little book-shop by mail. If you love browsing book stores and picking out books then this is the volunteer opportunity for you! Prisoners from across the state can write in and request books. Some requests are specific, most are for general categories of books. I love browsing bookstores, but I have promised myself I will not buy any new books until I’ve read the ever growing pile of books in my house. Fulfilling each request was a challenge of browsing the Book ‘Em bookshelves and make a best guess at what each person might like to read.

Here are a few things that I learned about Book ‘Em this weekend:

Many of the requests that I filled yesterday were for educational books. If you have books to donate please check the list of requested books here.
Book’Em’s biggest need is money to cover the cost of shipping books. If you want to help with the cause, please consider sending a few dollars to Book ‘Em via the donation page here.
Paper Bags! Book ‘Em wants your empty paper bags. Instead of throwing out paper grocery bags, please donate them to Book ‘Em to be used for wrapping up books to be mailed.
Volunteer! Volunteers are needed to help pick out books and pack them for shipping. You can see a calendar of volunteer days here.

Books and paper bags can be dropped off at the Thomas Merton Center, 5129 Penn Ave, Monday through Friday from 10 to 4 and during our Sunday work sessions.

If you would like to learn more, follow Book ‘Em on Facebook here or in this 2013 Post-Gazette article about Book ‘Em: “Book ‘Em shipments brighten Pennsylvania inmates’ lives.“

2016 Three Rivers Arts Festival Main Stage Schedule

It’s June! It’s raining in Pittsburgh. Which means it is time for the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Last year I was so looking forward to seeing Benjamin Booker perform and he was on stage for all of 5 minutes before a torrential downpour that lasted the rest of the evening.

Here is the line up for the main stage for the 2016 Three Rivers Arts festival (this is the big stage in Point State Park aka the Dollar Bank Main Stage).

All of these performances are FREE!