The Best of 1999/First Night: Going out with a bang

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The Best of 1999/First Night: Going out with a bang

First Night Pittsburgh 2000 lights up the city with the biggest celebration yet

Friday, December 31, 1999

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

First Night Pittsburgh has had five years of practice to work up to this, the big one. Tonight's festivities Downtown will be the most exciting yet, featuring performers and artists at 51 locations, and culminating in a gigantic Zambelli fireworks display.

The celebration, kicking off today at 3 p.m., will offer entertainment ranging from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to the Boilermaker Jazz Band to the Clarks.

In addition to live music, there will be theater performances, dance lessons, interactive art projects, a People's Procession, children's activities and more.

At 10:30 p.m., the Clarks will rock the crowd on the Roberto Clemente Bridge, leading up to a Zambelli fireworks display at midnight.

To get into all the events, First Nighters will need to purchase a First Night Pittsburgh 2000 button. They are $15 for adults and $5 for children 6 to 12. Kids under 5 are free. They can be purchased Downtown at Kaufmann's, Heinz Hall, the Benedum, the Hilton lobby, USX Tower lobby, Fifth Avenue Place and PPG Food Court, and a booth at Liberty and Sixth avenues. Family packs of four buttons are available for $20.

Parking for First Night will be available in all Downtown garages and lots, with the following lots offering a $1 rate for those who have a First Night button: Fifth Avenue Place lot, Seventh Street lot, Convention Center garage, Fort Duquesne & Sixth Street garage, Sixth Street lot, Ninth & Penn garage, Smithfield & Liberty garage, Oliver Garage at Lazarus, Mellon Square garage and Third & Fourth Avenue garage.

The Port Authority will be running bus and trolley service throughout the night, with free rides for children 12 and younger after 4 p.m.

Here is the schedule (numbers correspond to map):

1 -- Hilton Pittsburgh Towers
Ballroom Swing Dance Lessons -- 4 & 6:30 p.m. Learn how to swing the night away with the Arthur Murray Dance Studio.

The 21st Century All-Star Swing Band -- 5, 7:15, 9 and 10:30 p.m. First Night's own band performs with singer Kim Nazarian of The New York Voices.

2 -- Gateway "T" Station
The Boilermaker Jazz Band -- 4 p.m. New Orleans-style jazz.

Picture Yourself -- 6-11 p.m. Artists M.C. Sturman and Manuela Bernardez provide free caricatures.

3 -- PPG Wintergarden
Emanations -- 4:30, 5:30 & 7 p.m. Modern dance troupe combines African-American, Latin-American and Euro-American influences.

Bob Gore -- 5 & 6:30 p.m. Storyteller will delight children of all ages.

The Magic of Elvis -- 8:30 & 10 p.m. Don Obusek does the King.

4 -- PPG Plaza (Outdoors)
"A Journey Through Time" Maze -- 3-11:30 p.m. Artist: Bill Godfrey. Enter this colorful maze and travel through time.

Faces of Pittsburgh -- 5-11:30 p.m. Artists: Alexi Morrissey & Rob Long. Portraits of Pittsburgh-area residents will be projected onto large screens in this exhibit, which inserts "ordinary" identities into the public realm.

Wall of Noise -- 3-11:30 p.m. Artist: Jerome D'Angelo. This "sound sculpture" allows you to create music on pans, rhythm sticks and more.

5 -- PPG Food Court (stage)
Pambazuko -- 4 & 5 p.m. This band creates its own brand of "African funk."

Safarace -- 7 & 8:30 p.m. African theater and dance company.

O'Connell Street Buskers -- 9:30 & 10:30 p.m. Traditional Irish folk music.

6 -- PPG Food Court
Hat Making & Facepainting -- 4-11 p.m. Presented by the Pittsburgh Children's Museum.

Air Brush Facepainting -- 3-11 p.m. Designs will have a tattoo-like appearance.

7 -- County Courthouse East End Kids -- 5 p.m. 30-plus member youth chorus.

Sounds of Pittsburgh/Sweet Adelines -- 7, 8:15 & 9:30 p.m. 60-woman ensemble sings a cappella.

8 -- City-County Building
Miguel Sague & Guaracha -- 3 and 5 p.m. Exciting locally based salsa band.

Kevin Locke -- 4, 7, 8:30 & 9:30 p.m. Indigenous Northern Plains flute player.

2000 THINGS: 2000 Paperclips, Artist: Janine Fiorina -- A 5 feet-by-3 feet sculpture uses copper tubing to create a garden of flowering paperclips.

9 -- Fifth Avenue Place
Kid's Face 3-10 p.m. Facepainting.

Harry Shapiro and Swing Fever -- 4-6 p.m. Five-piece swing combo.

The National Aviary -- 4-9 p.m. Stories about feathered friends.

Handshake Casting -- 3-10 p.m. Making free casts of handshakes, the traditional sign of peace.

Dancin' Demons -- 3:30, 6:15 & 7:30 p.m. Tap-dancing duo of Henry (84) and Nazeeh (78) keep the tradition alive.

Healthy New Year, New You -- 6-10 p.m. Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield presents family activities.

Hot Matzohs -- 8:30 & 9:30 p.m. Contemporary klezmer music.

10 -- Liberty Avenue at Sixth Street (Outdoors)
2000 Musical Chairs with the Boilermaker Jazz Band -- 7 p.m. Artists: Michelle de la Reza & Peter Kope. It's the largest game of musical chairs in the history of Pittsburgh.

11 -- Market Square (Outdoors)
Crisis Car -- 5, 6 & 7 p.m. A Pittsburgh-based jam band.

Fyah Wyah -- 8, 9 & 10 p.m. Jamaican singer combines reggae, R&B and hip hop.

12 -- Byham TheaterAdvance free tickets required.

Avner The Eccentric, "Exceptions to Gravity" -- 6:45, 8, 9:15 & 10:30 p.m. The slightly rumpled Avner combines clowning, vaudeville and sleight of hand.

13 -- Arthur Murray Dance Studio
Dance Instruction -- Cha Cha: 7:45 p.m. Tango: 8:30 p.m. Swing: 9:15 & 10:45 p.m. Hustle: 10 p.m. 45-minute classes.

14 -- O'Reilly Theatre
Open 4-7 p.m. Tour the Cultural District's newest center.

15 -- Heinz Hall
Advance free tickets required.

River City Brass Band -- 6:30 & 7:45 p.m.

Kirk Muspratt & The First Night Orchestra -- 9 & 10:15 p.m. Program features works by Richard Rogers, Stephen Foster, John Williams and Aaron Copland.

16 -- Heinz Hall Garden (Outdoors)
Light Display -- 5-11 p.m.

17 -- Two Mellon Bank Center

Masking the Millennium/Carnegie Museum of Art -- 3-10 p.m. Create a 21st-century mask inspired by works of art from the Carnegie Museum of Art collection. (Also, help build an enormous puppet for the People's Procession.)

Swing Revival Quartet -- 4 & 5 p.m. A female barbershop quartet.

Note for Note -- 7-9 p.m. Traditional barbershop quartet.

18 -- One Mellon Bank Center
Howard Mincone, "Mime to Amaze" -- 3-6 p.m. Pied Piper of silent silliness for the kids.

Center for Creative Play Activities -- 3-10 p.m. A site for children with disabilities and their families to make artwork, including wheelchair decorations for the Procession.

2000 THINGS: 2000 Fortunes & 2000 Count-Up -- Artist: Janine Fiorina. An actor will count the years beginning at 1 as his cohorts pass out 2000 fortune cookies. Outdoors.

19 -- CNG Tower
Y2K Bug Race/Carnegie Museum of Natural History -- 3:30, 5, 7:30 & 8 p.m. A real, live Y2K Bug Race with cockroach pitted against cockroach.

Pittsburgh Millennium Maze -- 3-11 p.m. Artist: Joe Wos. Cartoonist/storyteller offers the chance to solve a large, intricate maze illustration, featuring Pittsburgh landmarks and legends.

The Bullseal Collective -- 4-5 & 5:30-6:30 p.m. Song, poetry, humor and nonsense.

Miguel Sague and Guaracha -- 6:30 & 7:30 p.m. Miguel and several members of his acclaimed band will be on site.

Once Upon a Toon -- 7, 8:30 & 9:30 p.m. Joe Wos combines the performing, literary and visual arts.

20 -- CNG Plaza (Outdoors)
Light and Glass Sculpture: "Riverwalk" -- 5-11 p.m. Commission by visual artists Steven Eisenhauer and Tim Pisano.

City of Pittsburgh Puppet Corral -- 3-5 & 7-11 p.m. Nine larger-than-life puppets that represent the city's most famous landmarks.

2000 THINGS: 2000 Years of Life -- Artist: Janine Fiorina. Sculpture will display the 100 names of men and women more than 100 years old who are still vibrant today.

21 -- Liberty Avenue at Seventh Street (Outdoors)
Oldies Dance Party -- 3-11:30 p.m. With 3WS and The Beat.

22 -- One Oliver Plaza Lobby
Make & Take Your Own Raku Millennium Vase -- 5-11 p.m. Artist: Gerry Dinnen. Make and glaze your own First Night Pittsburgh Raku-process vase.

23 -- First Presbyterian Church
Frank Cappelli -- 3 & 5 p.m. Songs for kids and parents.

24 -- First Presbyterian Church (Downstairs)
KUNTU Repertory Theatre -- 9 & 10 p.m. A "Motown Christmas Review."

25 -- Trinity Cathedral
Coal Train -- 5 & 7 p.m. A self-proclaimed "string band with a clarinet fetish."

Ernie Hawkins -- 8 & 9 p.m. Fine Pittsburgh blues guitarist.

26 -- Oliver Building Lobby
Share the Light! Lantern Making -- 3-10 p.m. Create a paper lantern at the Oliver Building, then walk it across the street to the Mellon Square Park lantern installation.

27 -- Dollar Bank Windows
Pace (Presented by Attack Theatre) -- 7-9:30 p.m. Choreographer Gillian Beauchamp has created this site-specific performance/commentary. Six dancers from Slippery Rock University perform with skin painted silver and dressed in immaculate business wear.

Kevin Maloney -- 7-9:30 p.m. Pittsburgh-based dancer will alternate with Pace.

28 -- Mellon Square Park (Outdoors)
Share the Light! -- 3-11 p.m. Artist: Joann Kielar. Archways and columns form a gateway made of paper lanterns handmade by thousands of Pittsburgh-area children and adults.

Global Resolutions -- 3-11 p.m. Write your own personal resolution, then affix the ribbon to a giant, 12-foot-diameter globe.

Glass Blowing Demonstration -- 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 & 10 p.m. By New Stanton's Mark Haller.

29 -- Seventh Street Grille
Seventh Street Grille Performers -- 7, 8, 9, 10. & 11 p.m. Local amateur actors and entertainers.

Louis Lowenstein -- 7:30, 8:30 & 9:30 p.m. Six-string cellist.

30 -- Benedum Center
Advance free tickets required.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre -- 6:30 & 7:45 p.m. Performances of "Journey," choreographed by Salvatore Aiello, and a premiere by Ann Marie DeAngelo.

Duquesne University Tamburitzans -- 9 & 10:30 p.m. Song and dance of Eastern Europe.

31 -- Wood Street Galleries, Third Floor
Lisa Miles -- 7:30, 9 & 10:30 p.m. Avant-garde music for violin, bass and cello.

32 -- Wood Street Galleries, Second Floor
op.eklekt has been moved to the Benedum Center Rehearsal Room No. 1.

32A -- Benedum Center Rehearsal Room No. 1, 2nd Floor
op.eklekt -- 7, 8:30 & 10 p.m. Japanese performers combine dance and mime with images taken from comics and animation. Presented with the Pittsburgh Dance Council.

33 -- Wood Street "T" Station (Indoors)
O'Connell Street Buskers -- 5:30 & 6:30 p.m. Lively Irish group.

Juggling Unicyclist Joe Wagner -- 3-5:45 p.m.

Chippo The Clown -- 4 p.m. Wacky magic act and balloon sculptures.

34 -- The Regional Enterprise Tower Lobby (Former Alcoa Building)
Bag Attack Boogaloo -- 3-9 p.m. Artists: Michelle de la Reza & Peter Kope. Create inventive shapes and images of First Night -- from the inside out. Both children and adults can kick off their shoes, then hop into large, colorful, stretchable bags.

FREEZE -- 5-11 p.m. See the shattering effects of liquid nitrogen on everything from balloons and rubber balls to batteries and bells. (Presented by the Carnegie Science Center.)

High Voltage! -- 5-11 p.m. Experience a charge of half-a-million volts and learn the difference between static and current electricity. (With Carnegie Science Center.)

35 -- Reed Smith Shaw & McClay Lobby
Outlook: Look Out -- 4:15 & 5:15 p.m. Artist/Dance Instructor: Melanie Miller. Poetry, song and dance by Wilkinsburg-area elementary schoolchildren.

Billy Jonas -- 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 & 10:30 p.m. Original songs and stories with voice and inventive instruments.

36 -- Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery
MAMA Y3K: Countdown to Control -- 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 p.m. In vintage cabaret form, Mama is back.

37 -- Harris Theater
Pop Up Pittsburgh -- 5-11 p.m. Pittsburgh Filmmakers has uncovered a 1950s-era documentary film recording of the Pittsburgh industrial complex. New text and music have replaced the original narrative on this 26-minute videotaped version. (A 20-minute version of "Attack of The Killer Shorts," a video collage of movie trailers, follows the feature.)

38 -- La Prima Espresso
Tracy Drach -- 7, 8, 9 & 10 p.m. Acoustic singer-songwriter.

Brad Yoder -- 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 & 10:30 p.m. Acoustic singer-songwriter.

39 -- Associated Artists Gallery
Clepsydra -- 7-11 p.m. A visual arts installation with an operatic component that explores Sergei Einstein's notion of image and sound through synchronization. Includes a symphony conductor, eight musicians and several vocalists.

40 -- Barnes & Noble Booksellers
Charlotte Blake Alston -- 3 & 4:30 p.m. Stories and songs from African and African-American experience.

41 -- Smithfield United Church
Letter to a Future You -- 3-10 p.m. Artist: Lowell Brown. Jot down your personal feelings and emotions of New Year's Eve. One year later, your letter will be mailed to you.

Jazz in Pittsburgh -- Al Dowe & Etta Cox, 6:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Don Aliquo, 8:15 & 10:15 p.m.; Rodney McCoy, 9:15 p.m.

Romeos and Juliets -- 6:45-11:30 p.m. Presented by Attack Theatre On the outdoor balcony, the age-old Shakespearean story of the young lovers will play out in classical and contemporary incarnations.

42 -- Smithfield United Church (Downstairs)
Calliope Folk Music -- 6-11 p.m. A "coffee house" atmosphere.

43 -- Bell Atlantic Building (Straw-berry Way Alley) (Outdoors)
Shadow Catcher -- 5-11 p.m. Presented by Attack Theatre Performance piece features artist T.K. Mundock making exciting and outrageous forms through the use of light and shadow.

44 -- First Lutheran Church
Joe Negri -- 3:15 & 4:15 p.m. Everyone's favorite "handyman" performs live.

Daphne Alderson -- 7, 8 & 9 p.m. Opera and cabaret entertainer.

45 -- First Lutheran Church (Downstairs)
Boxes -- 3-10 p.m. Artist: Bill Godfrey. Create a fortress with huge (but lightweight) building blocks.

Alan Irvine -- 4:30 & 7 p.m. Stories of extraordinary characters from faraway places.

Music Time Productions -- 5-6 p.m. Songs and musical games especially constructed for toddlers.

46 -- USX Tower 600 Grant Street Lower Lobby
Hat Making & Facepainting -- 3-10 p.m. Presented by the Pittsburgh Children's Museum.

Umbrella Decorating (for use in the People's Procession) -- 3-10 p.m. Presented by the Citiparks Art Cart.

Outdoors: People's Procession -- 6 p.m. First Night revelers are encouraged to join in for a fun, frolicking march starting at USX Plaza and going down Sixth Avenue. Don't forget to wear your paper hat, hold your umbrella and play your kazoo! (Led by the Boilermaker Jazz Band and Grand Marshal T.J. Murphy.)

47 -- USX Tower 600 Grant Street Upper Lobby
Orquesta Tropical -- 5, 7, 8 & 9 p.m. Authentic Afro-Cuban music.

48 -- USX Tower 600 Grant Street Auditorium
The CLO Presents "STEEL" -- 3 & 4 p.m. The Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and the Heinz History Center trace the cultural impact of steel making.

Into the Fire -- 7, 8 & 9 p.m. One-act play, presented by On the Wing Theatre, relates the stories of people who worked the mines, mills and shops of Western Pennsylvania.

49 -- Steel Plaza "T" Station
Line Dancing Lessons -- 4, 5:30, 7 & 8:30 p.m. Lessons provided by Pistols 'n Petticoats.

Gashouse Annie -- 4:30, 7:30 & 9 p.m. Apply your line dancing lessons to these country tunes.

2000 THINGS: 2000 Hands -- Artist: Janine Fiorina. A sculptural mural of 1,000 linked photographs of Taylor Allderdice High School and Clayton Elementary.

50 -- Steel Plaza "T" Station Lobby
Somna M. Bulist -- 7:30 & 9 p.m. "44 minutes or more on the flat line: A Cry for the Millennium" is a solo instrumental work by Somna M. Bulist. She combines original material, improvisation and ambient acoustics.

51 -- Roberto Clemente
(Sixth Street) Bridge

The Clarks -- 10:30 p.m. Rock the century away with The Clarks and guests.

First Night Fireworks Spectacular -- Midnight. A Zambelli Fireworks Internationale Show unlike any ever produced.