C3PO at the big toy show

The Steel City Con (aka Pittsburgh Toy, Comic and Childhood Collectibles Show) will take over the Pittsburgh Indoor Sports Arena, 220 Rich Hill Road in Cheswick for the weekend, with guests including "Star Wars" C3PO, Anthony Daniels.

Catherine Bach, the original Daisy Duke from the "Dukes of Hazzard," along with a replica of the General Lee car, and pro wrestler Mick Foley (Saturday only) are among the celebs scheduled for the show. Steel City Con remains true to its roots with a predominance of toys, both vintage and up-to-date, with more than 500 tables for vendors and a large display by Masquerade costumes of Robinson Town Centre.

Single day admissions $10 or three-day pass for $20. Friday, 2-7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Children under 12: $5, or $10 for three days. The first 1,000 attendees who purchase a three-day pass will receive a goodie bag with toys and comics. A fee is charged for autographs and pics with the celebrity guests. For details, visit steelcitycon.com.

-- Sharon Eberson

Kelly's heroes

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will be singin' in the rain inside Heinz Hall for the Pops tribute to Gene Kelly. Guest conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos, music director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra, leads the PSO in Gershwin's "An American in Paris" plus music from "Singin' in the Rain," "Madame Bovary" and "Brigadoon," plus, just for fun "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Kelly's movies will be projected onto a large screen. Concerts are 7:30 tonight; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20 to $79. Call 412-392-4900 or visit pittsburghsymphony.org.

Day by day

Pittsburgh Musical Theater continues "Godspell," based on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, at the Byham. Written in 1970 by John-Michael Tebelak while at Carnegie Mellon University and set to a score by Stephen Schwartz, it became a Broadway smash. PMT founder and "Godspell's" director Ken Gargaro has added some modern touches to the setting and the costumes for this adaptation. Remaining performances are Friday and Saturday 7:30 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m. Tickets: $10-$36.50; 412-456-6666 or pgharts.org.

Guy's blues

This list of blues legends grows shorter every year, but still holding steady near the top is Buddy Guy, who started playing in his native Louisiana back in the early '50s.

Now 72, he brings his band and a lifetime of experience to the Palace Theater in Greensburg Friday night. There is new material to be played, as last year Guy released "Skin Deep," which featured such guests as Robert Randolph, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. In a recent interview with the Day in Connecticut, he expressed mixed feelings on the state of the blues. "These are strange, different times. There's a lot going on that I don't understand. It's always been hard to hear the blues. Years ago, you might find Muddy or B.B. King or Tampa Red on some AM radio station. Now, I don't know. But there will always be blues artists."

The show is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37 to $47. Call 724-836-8000.

-- Scott Mervis

'Gianni Schicchi'

Looking to get to know opera a little at a time? No better opportunity exists than Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi." On top of that, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh stages the short comic masterpiece, with its signature aria "O mio babbino caro," not in an opera house, but in the relaxed environs of Artifacts Gallery in the West End.

Did we also mention wine and appetizers? They are included with the $75 ticket, but you have to come earlier, at 6:30 p.m. both Friday and Saturday, to partake before the performances at 7:30 p.m. The Opera's head Jonathan Eaton directs, with Thomas Beard in the title role, Jacqueline Bezek as his daughter Lauretta and Richard Furman as her lover, Rinuccio. Bernard McDonald conducts; 412-456-6666.

-- Andrew Druckenbrod

Art all weekend

Three throw-out-the-stops events, all of them free, and projected good weather make for a fun weekend for art fans:

Friday night the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust lights up Downtown with "One Night Stand," including improvisational performance, world premieres, art exhibition openings and music from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. throughout the Cultural District (sort of like a gallery crawl but billed as a "marquee event").

The evening's headliner is the world premiere of "12_Series," a new generative multichannel installation by the Dutch art collective Telcosystems at Wood Street Galleries. The collective will perform "Mortals Electric" live at 10 p.m. Other Dutch audiovisual artists performing are: 8:30 p.m., "Point Line Cube Cloud" by Martijn van Boven; 9:15 p.m., "PV868" by Tez; and 10:45 p.m., "Synchronator," by Gert-Jan Prins & Bas van Koolwijk. Screenings of works by additional Dutch artists will be held at 8, 9, 9:45 and 10:30 p.m. (watch on a live Webcam at woodstreetgalleries.org).

Other events include DJ Mary Mack at SPACE; spoken word artist Brian Francis and Dr. Strange K (of The People in the Red Balloon) at Future Tenant; and art openings at 707 and 709 Penn galleries and ArtUp.

Bricolage plans a special show at 10 p.m. preceded by a 9:30 Happy Half Hour with beer and bands ($5 cover for this one). An after party with DJs Broccofeather, Slinky and CBEAU closes the night at Remedy, 5121 Butler St., third floor, Lawrenceville (free).

From dusk until midnight Friday and Saturday,"Braddock Light: 2009 Exhibition of Artists Utilizing Light as a Medium" illuminates the UnSmoke Systems Artspace, 1137 Braddock Ave., Braddock. More than 35 light and video artists from the Pittsburgh area, Pratt MWP and The University of Wisconsin, Madison, will shine in this event that travels beyond Madison for the first time in its 20-year history.

"Art All Night Lawrenceville" returns for its 12th annual no-holds barred event, from 6 p.m. Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday at the brand new Red Warehouse, 3510 Smallman St. Professional and amateur artists may exhibit and sell any work of art, or sign up to perform, at artallnight.org. No fee, no jury, no censorship; but, this year, the art must not be wet and cannot leave a mark on the freshly rehabbed building.

-- Mary Thomas

Mozart on the couch

Mozart's mind will be the subject of this year's Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center look at mental health themes in art works. The training organization invites Richard Kogan, psychiatrist and classically trained pianist, to give insights into the mind of the enigmatic musical genius. Dr. Kogan is one of the few who left music to enter medicine, but he later found a way to combine both of his interests with lecture recitals (others include Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Bernstein and Gershwin). His presentation at 8 p.m. Saturday at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Oakland benefits the Center; $15-$1,000; 412-661-4224.

-- Druckenbrod

Connie in concert

Her first hit, "Who's Sorry Now," was a top hit and a classic, and there were many more to come after that. Connie Francis, born 70 years ago in Newark, N.J., as Concetta Franconero, hit the Top 10 no less than 16 times and charted 35 top 40 hits, including "Lipstick on Your Collar" and "Where The Boys Are." She also starred in four films and was a guest star on numerous TV shows. Francis, whose career has been beset by nasal surgery and personal tragedies, arrives at the State Theatre in Uniontown on Saturday.

At a recent concert in New Jersey, she was backed by an orchestra for her hits, along with covers by The Pointer Sisters and Ray Charles, plus an Italian medley and tributes to Al Jolson and Frank Sinatra. The concert is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $56 and $46. Call 724-439-1360.

-- Mervis

Peter Guroff memorial

More than two years after his death, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra violist Peter Guroff remains heavily and heartily in the minds of his former colleagues. Some of them will gather on the stage of Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church at 7 p.m. Sunday for a free concert of chamber music designed as a memorial to the violist and as a benefit for his children.

The featured piece is a beauty that Guroff admired, Dvorak's Viola Quintet, with Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello and Dahl's "Concerto a Tre" for Clarinet, Violin, and Cello rounding out the program.

Performing are violinists Louis Lev and Yuko Uchiyama, violists Erina Laraby-Goldwasser and Paul Silver, cellist Michael Lipman and clarinetist Ron Samuels.

-- Druckenbrod

• Pittsburgh's Weave Magazine -- showcasing poetry and prose -- celebrates its second issue with a Release Party at Your Inner Vagabond Coffeehouse, 4130 Butler St., Lawrenceville, Sunday at 6 p.m. There will be readings by Michelle Stoner, Damian Dressick, Alayna Frankenberry, Frank DePoole, Davka, and Andrew Mulvania. Cover is $5. Call 412-683-1623.

• The We Remember Elvis Fan Club holds its 28th annual Spring Festival Friday (11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) at the Ramada Inn, Green Tree, with a dinner party, charity memorabilia auction, Tribute to the King Show and Dance, and appearance by Joe Moscheo (member of the Imperials and author of "The Gospel Side of Elvis"). For details, call 412-561-7522.

• Zombo Gallery in Lawrenceville presents a closing party Friday for the show of paintings by Tim Kerr (guitarist for such bands as the Big Boys and Poison 13). Kerr's work focuses on musical, social and political figures like John Coltrane, Rosa Parks, Howard Finster, Bobby Seale, Leonard Peltier, Pete Seeger, Gil Scott Heron and Thelonious Monk. The closing reception begins at 6 p.m. at 4900 Hatfield St. Go to zomboworld.com.

• Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania is sponsoring a GYT (Get Yourself Tested) Dance Party for youth 18 and younger Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Grey Box Theatre, 3595 Butler St., Lawrenceville. Admission is free, but space is limited to the first 150 youth through the door. Performers will include The Good Dharmas, The Code Orange Kids and local hip-hop artists.