People expect bands to get up and do their thing -- musically. They usually have a label, like heavy metal or classic rock. But the members of Attack Theatre's band in "Games of Steel" defy definition. They're calling it a "dance rock opera," but it is laced with elements that reflect the globe-trotting interests of what may be considered a virtual band.

	Attack Theatre's "Games of Steel" is described as a "dance rock opera." Click photo for larger image.

For the record, they are music director Dave Eggar (piano, vocals, cello), Dina Fanai (vocals), Tom Petrozzi (bass and guitar) and Matt Zebroski (drums). Eggar and Finai have been working with Attack Theatre's Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope for five years, with Petrozzi and Zebroski relative newcomers for a couple of years or so.

All but Zebroski met to discuss "Games of Steel," which makes a return engagement at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater this weekend after a national tour. They sat down in a red vinyl booth at the company's studio on Penn Avenue in Garfield while in town for Kope's 40th birthday bash.

Despite wide-ranging gigs from Sheryl Crow to Josh Groban, from Trans-Siberian Orchestra to the Ominous Seapods, with solo albums from Eggar and Fanai, they always return to Attack.

"I really like to start with musicians who have strong personalities and add layers of complexity to that," Julliard-trained Eggar begins. "That's interesting to me because I feel that people initially respond most to the core of who a musician is." He was intrigued by Petrozzi's "grounding in instrumental rock and jam-based rock" with "a twisted Zappa side."

		Attack Theatre's 'Games of Steel' Where: Kelly Strayhorn Theater, East Liberty. When: Fri., Sat. and Mon. at 8 p.m., with a special late night show on Sat. at 10:30 p.m. Tickets: www.proartstickets.org or 412-394-3353.

He also likes the sound of a trio. "There was something about that starkness that I loved -- maybe because I grew up listening to Nirvana." Likewise, it's basically a band without harmony. With two melodic instruments, drums and a singer, the group can create different kinds of counterpoint.

Pittsburgher Zebroski is a jazz drummer. "No matter how written the music is, there's always the component of improvisation," says Eggar. As for Fanai, a soloist with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, he considers her "one of the best singers I ever met," capable of referencing different styles, whether it be contemporary, Middle Eastern or Balkan. She also worked as a professional ballet dancer, enabling Fanai to connect with the kinesthetic undercurrent of each Attack Theatre piece.

What they like best is that everyone comes from a different place, where everyone speaks different languages that overlap and twist and turn into an interesting musical landscape. "If you put together a band and you know what's going to happen, that's boring," says Eggar. "When you're diverse, the resulting piece is much more than what I could have written. It's a challenge, but everybody learns from everybody in that way."

For "Games of Steel," the musicians met for an artists' summit in Pittsburgh, going to steel-building places like Red Star Ironworks, sampling playgrounds and indulging in the philosophy of game theory for one session.

Since the premiere and two workshops later, "Games" now has a powerful through line for non-dance audiences as well. "They're getting the show," says Eggar.

So are the musicians. Fanai says, "To be given the opportunity to explore yourself is amazing. But Attack Theatre has taught me more -- about life, music and art in general."

Petrozzi joined Attack for their Japanese project, "No-to: memory fades," which he thoroughly enjoyed. But "Games of Steel" has truly broken the barriers between musicians and dancers, where Kope joins the bandstand and the musicians drop to the dance floor. He has had to become an actor, noting that, "whatever you do is part of the show. So if you drop your guitar pick, you want to pick it up in character."

Fanai's role as Mistress of Ceremonies morphs her into "the Vanna White of this game show," where the "Steel" winner is who loses the least. Fanai's job is to help the game go on while understanding, on a deeper level, that it can't. "It's about what you're willing to sacrifice, what you're willing to lose, what you're willing to love, what you're willing to fight for."

Eggar calls it a combination of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and Samuel Beckett's "End Game." To him, it's been an exciting time. "As musicians, we feel an enormous weight of influence in over 600 years of music scores," he says. "But there is a freshness, an excitement about choreography. I love the vitality. From avant-garde to pop, great art exists in all genres."