Weekend Hotlist
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Opera on the Red Carpet
Donizetti's "The Elixir of Love" gets the Hollywood treatment when Undercroft Opera updates the comic opera in a creative production. The new company that has had success mixing amateurs and budding professionals from the area will set Donizetti's masterpiece around the gala premiere of an imaginary film (about "Tristan and Isolde," of all things!). On the red carpet, Adina causes a scandal by getting involved with her young limo driver, Nemorino.
The Adinas in the double-cast production at Synod Hall in Oakland will have some star power of their own, as soprano Katy Williams just sang with Pittsburgh Symphony in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 and soprano Lara Lynn Cottrill will sing Barbarina in the Pittsburgh Opera production of "Figaro" this season (and just won a Pittsburgh Concert Society 2009 Majors Audition). The cast also includes Richard Teaster and Sean Donaldson as Dulcamara, Enrique Bernardo and Andrew Boag as Nemorino and Josh Mulkey and Amitabha Chakrabararti as Belcore.
With full orchestra conducted by Woody Brown, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $12-$27; www.undercroftopera.org.
-- Andrew Druckenbrod
Foghat as is
The free South Park concert Friday at 7:30 p.m. is Foghat. Sort of. There's only one member of the original Foghat and that's 63-year-old drummer Roger Earl, whom you might say did not put the stamp on the band's sound.
Frontman Lonesome Dave Peverett and guitarist Rod Price both died this decade, and bassist Tony Stevens plays in Slow Ride, named for the band's signature song.
Earl, back this year after a 2008 fall from the stage that crushed his vertebrae and broke his clavicle, has three replacement players: singer-guitarist Charlie Huhn, a veteran of Ted Nugent's band and a Humble Pie reunion act, Pittsburgh native and former Wild Cherry guitarist Bryan Bassett and bassist Craig MacGregor.
They'll handle hits, which also include "Fool for the City" and "Drivin' Wheel."
Souls on the lawn
The Frick Art & Historical Center presents one of Jamaica's finest -- The Wailing Souls -- on the Great Lawn as part of the First Fridays at the Frick this weekend.
The group, which emerged in 1968 from the same Trenchtown yards as Bob Marley, fuses reggae with Motown harmonies, and is best known for the songs "War," "Bredda Gravalicious" and "Firehouse Rock." The current lineup features longtime members Winston "Pipe" Matthews and Lloyd "Bread" McDonald. It begins at 7 p.m. Donation is $5.
Story time
Four nationally known storytellers will be featured this weekend at the Three Rivers Storytelling Festival on the grounds of Northland Public Library, 300 Cumberland Road, McCandless.
There will be special programs for kids on Friday from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. in an outdoor tent, and performances Saturday (inside and in the outdoor tent) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The story concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday features Michael Parent (a bilingual storyteller from Maine), Lyn Ford (sharing "Home-Fried Tales" rooted in her family's multicultural African-American traditions), Charles Kiernan (Americana tales) and Kim Weitkamp (humor and original songs). It will be followed by ghost stories at 10 p.m.
All events are free except Friday workshops and a lunch and stories for seniors. Details are available at www.3rstf.org.
Post-game jam
The Pirates aren't paying much for players these days, but the team is forking over for some legitimate music talent. The post-game concert series continues Saturday with O.A.R., who played the All-Star game there in 2006.
The mainstream rock band from Rockville, Md., -- best known for the songs "Love and Memories," "Heard the World" and "Lay Down" -- is touring on the new album "This Town," which produced the Adult Contemporary hit "Shattered."
The band plays after the 7:05 p.m. game against the St. Louis Cardinals. For tickets, go to www.pirates.com.
African Arts
Umoja and Citiparks team up for the fifth annual UMOJA African Arts in the Park, a free two-day festival in West Park, North Side.
The music will consist of African rhythms, jazz, R&B, gospel, reggae, neo-soul, hip-hop, Latin and calypso, plus West African Drumming and Caribbean SteelPan demonstrations. There also will be a vendor marketplace, food ranging from American to Caribbean, and a children's hut with African storytelling, African birds, mask making, magicians, clowns, caricature artists, face painting, moon-bounce and crafts.
The Empowerment Village will spotlight community organizations with educational sessions, health screenings, drum-making demonstrations, language lessons and more.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more info, call 412-471-1121 or go to www.africanartsinthepark.org.
Casino is ready
Wanna bet?
Pittsburgh becomes a gambling town Sunday with the grand opening of Rivers Casino on the North Side.
It's set to open at noon, with 3,000 slot machines, five restaurants and four bars ready to go. As part of the celebration, classic rock band Rare Earth, whose song "Get Ready" is featured in the casino marketing, will perform outside in the amphitheater at 8:30 p.m., followed by a 12-minute fireworks display from Pyrotecnico.
For more information, go to www. theriverscasino.com.
Son Volt returns
The third in the county's trilogy of big-league alt-country acts (in the wake of the Old 97's and Steve Earle) comes Sunday with the appearance of Son Volt at Hartwood Acres.
Led by Jay Farrar, the band, which sprung from Uncle Tupelo in the early '90s, is drawing positive press for its sixth studio album, "American Central Dust." Relix said it "brings Farrar back to simpler, sturdy and ultimately more powerful ground."
This time out, Farrar deals with such subjects as cocaine, maritime tragedies, gas prices and Keith Richards.
"I was writing the way I normally write which is more throwing-things-at-the-wall-and-seeing-what-sticks," he told Country Standard time. "It's probably something that was inspired by Jack Kerouac's style of writing; more of a stream-of-consciousness style and then trying to make a structure out of raw ideas, so it was like working backwards that way. But in a couple of instances on this record, I came up with a central theme and then tried to write a song around that. 'Cocaine and Ashes' and 'Sultana' are probably the best examples of that."
The free show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Woodstock tribute
Hair Peace Charities, a local nonprofit that supports breast cancer patients, commemorates the 40th anniversary of Woodstock with a fundraising Concert in the Park Sunday in Sewickley Heights Park with the North Star Kids and jazz singer Jessica Lee.
OK, it's not exactly Joe Cocker and Santana -- and they realize that -- but it's for a good cause.
"Rather than three days of peace and music, this will be three hours of peace and music," Bonny Diver Hall, founder of Hair Peace Charities, said in a statement. "This will also be much tamer and more family-friendly."
Each act will perform its own version of a song played at the original concert.
Along with Lee and the North Star Kids (ages 8-14), the concert will feature singer-songwriter Mark Muertisch, the Ingomar United Methodist Church Praise Team, Cellofourte (blending classical and rock) and Tara Charles with ShelTar.
It takes place at 2 p.m. on Fern Hollow Road. Admission is $10 per car, $5 per two-wheeler. Hair Peace Charities provides grants to enable women undergoing chemotherapy to purchase a wig.
-- Scott Mervis
• Kids get a free train or carousel ride at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium's Summer Kids Zoofari, running Saturday through Aug. 21. Saturday is also an Animal Activity Day, so visitors will see, among other things, orangutans taking a bubble bath, penguins playing with a bubble machine, and a special zebra shark feeding demonstration. Sunday is a Kids Activity Day with hands-on activities and entertainment for the whole family. Go to www.pittsburghzoo.org.
• The Fayette County Fair comes to a close this weekend with former "American Idol" contestant Bucky Covington at 7 tonight and the Chris Higbee Project at 7 p.m. Saturday. As for motor sports, there's the monster truck races and the two-wheel drive quad mud races 7 tonight, the mud mania 4-by-4 trucks, open vehicles and 4-by-4 quads 7 p.m. Friday, and a demo derby at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the final day. Admission is $11; advance admission $8 at local retailers; $9 early bird. Call 724-628-3360 or go to www.fayettefair.com.
• It's a mini blues festival at Greensburg's Palace Theatre Friday with bad boy George Thorogood teamed with relative youngster Jonny Lang. It starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $46 to $60.
• Harmony Museum presents the fifth annual antique firearms show and sale on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The theme is guns and accoutrements made in the Western Pennsylvania-Eastern Ohio region during the 18th and 19th centuries, and among the items displayed will be a Harmony-made black powder rifle, a mysterious unfinished muzzle loader and a rare rifle made in Beaver County about 170 years ago. Admission is $5. Harmony is at I-79 exits 87-88, about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and 30 miles south of I-80. Go to www. harmonymuseum.org.
• The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington celebrates 150 years of Pittsburgh transit today through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will feature the only preserved Pittsburgh horse car in existence, along with tours of the Trolley Display Building and a peek inside of Port Authority's newest and most energy-efficient hybrid buses. Admission -- $9 for adults, $8 for seniors ages 62+, $5 for children 3-15 -- includes a scenic four-mile trolley ride. For details, call 724-228-9256 or go to www.pa-trolley.org.
• Experimental indie-pop darlings The Fiery Furnaces trek down from Brooklyn to heat up the Brillobox tonight, touring in support of the new album "I'm Going Away." The twist on this tour is that Matt Friedberger, who fronts the band with sister Eleanor, is roughing up the sound by replacing the keyboard parts with guitar. The rhythm section is Jason Loewenstein (of Sebadoh) and Robert D'Amico. It starts at 10 p.m. Admission is $15. Go to www.ticketweb.com.
• The American Cancer Society's Western Pennsylvania Region will hold its third annual Bike-a-thon Sunday at SouthSide Works, with three courses to choose from. There's a 65-mile ride beginning at 7:30 a.m., a 35-mile at 8:30 a.m. and a four-mile Family Fun Ride at 11 a.m. There will be food and beverages served after the rides at the Works. Donation is $40, or, for the family ride, $15 for adults and $10 for children under the age of 18. Bikers can register now at www.pittsburghbike.org.
First Published August 6, 2009 12:00 am
