http://www.post-gazette.com/ Articles from all entertainment categories en-us Copyright 2012, post-gazette.com. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:09:25 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210120-44-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml News from the world of independent book sellers: Awesome Books has opened a new shop Downtown that will stay open until midnight on weekends, while Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont is looking for new owners to take over the local institution. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:57:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210007-325.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Winners were chosen Monday night in the Pittsburgh Public Theater's 18th annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest, which saw nearly 1,000 students, grades 4-12, strutting their stuff during the competition. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:08:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1209964-388-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml The Whitney Houston that most Pittsburghers knew was the Whitney who paraded across the screen -- on MTV, movies and awards shows -- or throughout the tabloids. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210125-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml The Avett Brothers, who played a sold-out show last spring during the premiere season of Stage AE's outdoor concerts, will return to the venue May 20. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1209978-67.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml When it comes to TV news reporters choosing their spots for live remotes, there isn't a handbook of do's and don'ts. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:13:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1209959-67.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml LOS ANGELES -- It's long past time to stop hating "Cougar Town" for the show it began as but no longer is. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210008-60.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml The sole film distributor in the Serb-run part of Bosnia says Serbs have no interest in seeing Angelina Jolie's movie set during the Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1209976-348.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Adele's songs about breakups and heartache have made her a multi-Grammy award winner, but she insists she's done with all that, the Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210006-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml The radio show, "From the Top," takes its name from music rehearsals, as in "Let's take it from the top." Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210011-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml When young Aleksandr Voinov of Franklin Park sits on the piano bench for his "From the Top" performance tonight at Carnegie Music Hall Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209951-100.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Conductor Manfred Honeck has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him on the podium of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra through the 2019-20 season, the orchestra announced today. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209528-129.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml After a bike accident in Virginia, film director and producer Tom Shadyac suffered debilitating concussion symptoms. When he had recovered, he wrote and directed the documentary "I Am" about our consumer-oriented society. It explores two questions: What's wrong with our world, and what can we do about it? Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:35:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209819-120.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Here's what you may (or may not) remember from "Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace," now back in theaters in 3-D. The laughs, what few there are, skew very young. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:33:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209899-388-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Winners in highlighted categories at the 2012 Grammy Awards Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:09:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209926-388-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml From the moment the nominations were announced, the 54th Grammy Awards had an air of predictability. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:24:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209901-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml LOS ANGELES -- Investigators worked Sunday to piece together what killed Whitney Houston as the music industry's biggest names Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:38:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209903-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Whitney Houston's death at 48 on Saturday permeated every moment of the 2012 Grammy Awards, from tears on the red carpet to the prayer that opened the ceremony. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:34:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209847-314.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml The occasional bizarre outfit marched down the red carpet of the Grammy Awards Sunday night, but the glamour girls were out in force on a night when each arrival was asked about Whitney Houston's death as often as "Who are you wearing?" Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:30:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209900-388-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml With only nine actual awards given out during the broadcast, there was ample time for the stars to show their stuff. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:21:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209818-60.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml BOX OFFICE: Estimated ticket sales in millions for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209441-388-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Silence has a special place in music. Rests are just as important as notes whether in complex rhythms, grand pauses or syncopation. John Cage's infamous 4'33" asks for no playing whatsoever and Franz Joseph Haydn's "Farewell Symphony" ends with the performers leaving the stage one by one, slowly muting the orchestra. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:37:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209817-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:23:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209686-122.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow was killed Friday when he lost control of his car on a snowy road after promoting his latest book in northern Michigan. He was 53. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:54:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209442-437.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml In celebration of Black History Month, 10 screen prints and collages by Romare Bearden are being exhibited at The Andy Warhol Museum, 117 Sandusky St., North Side, through Feb. 29. Also being shown are five Warhol works. The late artist lived in New York but frequently visited relatives in Pittsburgh and graduated from Peabody High School in 1929. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:40:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209736-84-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:33:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209706-176-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml So is Mitt Romney going after the angry Toby Keith fan? Is Barack Obama looking for the edgy-yet-mellow independent voter, grooving to Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" or indie band Arcade Fire? What about Rick Santorum, who was just endorsed by Pat Boone? Is "Love Letters in the Sand" about to lead the Santorum campaign playlist? Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:18:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209775-100-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml LOS ANGELES -- Whitney Houston's last days were spent surrounded by family, catching up with old friends and doing a bit of what she was best known for: singing. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209429-109.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml The home at 2266 86th St. is just another three-story home in the Fairfax section of Cleveland. It comes near the end of a long block and is more forlorn than many of the well-tended houses in this struggling neighborhood. Its once wooden frame is wrapped in brown awnings and a dull beige aluminum, which is stained and peeling away. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:56:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209444-325.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml With all the romance in the air this Valentine's season, it's hard not to long for a loved one to be near. For about a dozen dancers with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, that wish is fulfilled year-round because they are partners not only on the dance floor, but also in life. "It's definitely unique to this degree," says artistic director Terrence Orr. "It just kind of happened along the way." Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:02:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209371-148.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml At the end of World War I, the victorious powers carved up the territories formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire. With President Woodrow Wilson committed to self-determination as the guiding principle of their deliberations, while European leaders insisted on establishing colonies in the Middle East (and elsewhere), they recognized, with French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, that "the art of arranging how men are to live is even more complex than that of massacring them." Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1207183-67.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml PASADENA, Calif. -- American history often gets passed on in a too-simple narrative, especially in pop culture. PBS's "Slavery by Another Name" reveals a largely hidden history that belies the popular narrative that the enslavement for African-Americans ended with the Emancipation Proclamation. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209369-148.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml In Josh Bazell's 2009 debut novel, "Beat the Reaper," Pietro Brnwa was an ex-hitman forced to dispatch old Mob demons while creating a new, respectable life for himself as Dr. Peter Brown. It was a sick, funny thrill ride, and Dr. Bazell's sequel, "Wild Thing," is no less so, as this time "Bearclaw" Brnwa sports yet another alias, Lionel Azimuth. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209370-148.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml 'Anyone who tells you America is in decline ... doesn't know what they're talking about," proclaimed President Barack Obama in his 2012 State of the Union address. Robert Kagan, author of "The World America Made" and a foreign policy adviser to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, agrees. Confounding the pundits, Mr. Obama made headlines by endorsing this book. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209413-370.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Mashup artists are invited to show their editing skills to the world in the global Mishmash music video remix competition sponsored by Getty Images. Entrants create a short video, using clips from Getty Images' massive video library, which includes footage from Universal Studios, Warner Bros., iStockFootage and Archive Films. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209414-325.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Karla Boos is the Bedouin of Pittsburgh's live theater scene. As founder and artistic director of the 22-year-old Quantum Theatre, she unpacks her metaphorical tent in nontraditional settings all over town -- basements, museums, abandoned industrial settings, parks, ravines. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209448-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Ralph Stanley has already won three Grammys, and tonight he goes for his fourth. But there are a lot of other great talents bidding for best bluegrass album -- Alison Krauss, Jim Lauderdale, Steve Martin, Del McCoury and Chris Thile. "I guess I don't have a chance," Mr. Stanley says with his customary stoicism, "but I'd really like to win this one. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209453-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Four tales with a touch of evil make up the Pittsburgh Opera's 2012-13 season, announced today. The mainstage season at the Benedum Center is Verdi's "Rigoletto," Mozart's "Don Giovanni," Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" and Rossini's "La cenerentola." From a jealous jester to a despicable Don, from an offensive officer to a snaky stepfather, there's plenty of wicked behavior to go around. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12042/1209727-100-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, died tonight. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:56:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12042/1209482-67-0.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Life was getting pretty busy for Augie Malekovich; he wanted to spend more time with family and was starting a new career. But then he realized participating in History's sharpshooting reality show, "Top Shot," truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. "I got to go there and do things I would never get another chance to do," the Belle Vernon resident said. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:20:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12042/1209481-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml LOS ANGELES -- Chris Brown has been getting attention for all the right reasons lately, but a judge said Thursday that he should continue to remain under the watchful eye of a probation officer as he works to complete the terms of his sentence for beating then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12042/1209527-53.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml Nearly 1,000 students, grades 4-12, strutted their stuff at the Pittsburgh Public Theater's this week in the preliminaries of the 18th annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12042/1209621-388.stm?cmpid=entertainment.xml An orchestra might just be the most scalable of all arts organizations. From a chamber group to a stage packed with musicians, from a dainty Mozart concerto to a mammoth Mahler symphony, ensembles such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra don't relinquish any precision as the numbers grow. That was front and center in a concert Friday night at Heinz Hall. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500