Sights & Sounds – Sept. 25
Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Masterpiece Season begins with “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder and featuring an all-Pittsburgh cast including Tom Atkins of Peters Township and Elliot Pullen, an 11-year-old from Mt. Lebanon. “Our Town” runs Sept. 26-Oct. 27 at the O’Reilly Theater, in Downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.
Tickets are $29-$60. Students and those age 26 and younger are $15.75 with valid ID. For performance times and to purchase tickets, visit ppt.org or call 412-316-1600.
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will launch its Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts with a Rubber Duck Bridge Party, 5:30-10 p.m. Sept. 27 on the Roberto Clemente Bridge (Sixth Street Bridge), Pittsburgh.
Festivities include a Night Market with food and art vendors, special guest appearances (TBA) and disc jockey.
The event will run in tandem with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Fall Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District.
Legendary puppeteer Caroll Spinney, best known for his roles as the Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch of Sesame Street, will sign autographs and sketch at the ToonSeum booth during the Pittsburgh Comic Con at the Monroeville Convention Center Sept. 27-29.
On Sept. 29, Spinney will be on stage with Oscar for a Q & A session.
Tickets are $20 and children under 8 are free. Tickets can be purchased at the door or at www.pittsburghcomicon.com.
Penn Brewery’s annual Oktoberfest will take place Sept. 27-29 at its Troy Hill location, featuring traditional German and American-style food and live entertainment.
Hours are 5 p.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday (over 21 only after 8 p.m.), and 4-10 p.m. Sunday. Oktoberfest events are cash only, except meals in the main dining room.
For more information including parking, visit www.pennbrew.com, or call Linda Nyman at 412-237-9400 ext. 104.
The Wright House Museum of Western Expansion, Venetia, will hold the following events:
• Colonial Tavern and Games of Chance, 2-5 p.m. Sept. 28. Taste beverages, sample food and play a game of dice, tops or darts at the “Bloody Dirk Tavern,” one of the few traveling historical taverns to ever exist. Suggested donation is $5.
• Halloween event: Dinner with the Colonial Dead, 4 p.m. sharp, Oct. 5. Converse with some of the dead heroes of the colonial past. The event will include drinks and food from colonial days. Ghosts and ghouls will visit, offering comments on the past, present and future. Cost is $30/adults by reservation only. Seating is limited.
• Colonial Dinner, 4 p.m. sharp, Nov. 10. Get a taste of the bygone days. Costumed re-enactors and historians will serve food and drinks from colonial days. Cost is $30/adults by reservation only. Limited attendance.
• Annual Soup and Stroll, Dec. 8.
For more information, visit peterscreekhs.org. To make reservations, call Cindy Hart at 724-941-5710.
The 30th annual Penn’s Colony Festival & Folk Art Marketplace will be held Sept. 28-29 on 12 acres of easy walking, tree-lined grounds at Penn’s Colony Village, 365 Saxonburg Blvd., Saxonburg, Butler County. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays, rain or shine.
Tickets for this family-friendly event are $7 for adults (ages 16-59); $6 seniors (age 60 and over); $5 children (ages 8-15); free for children age 7 and younger.
Festival grounds are minutes north of Pittsburgh in South Butler County, off Route 228 East.
For information, visit www.pennscolony.com. For questions, email penns@consolidated.net or call 724-352-9922.
A neighborhood celebration of the arts will be held Sept. 30-Oct. 6, when Plein Air returns to Mt. Lebanon.
During the celebration, 25 professional artists from Western Pennsylvania will paint scenes outdoors for three days beginning Sept. 30 with an opening celebration at 4 p.m. in the Mt. Lebanon Municipal Building rotunda. There will also be a Plein Air open studio at Sandra Ward’s Studio from 7-8 p.m. Sept. 30. A complete schedule may be found on the municipality’s website www.mtlebanon.org.
“Listen Locally,” a series of chamber music concerts, returns to the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall for its second season. The series premiere, featuring Arabesque Winds, an award-winning woodwind quintet, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 30.
A special reception will follow with desserts.
Tickets for the series are $15. Purchase in advance at the ACFL&MH during library hours or at the box office that evening. Contact Lynne Cochran, Music Hall director, at 412-276-3456 ext. 7 for more information.
DogtoberFEST 2013 will take place 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 5 at the SouthSide Works (in the parking lot next to McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant).
Hosted by CARMAA (Coalition to Adopt, Rehome and Match Abandoned Animals) and sponsored by Robinson Animal Hospital, this one-day event to promote dog adoptions and raise awareness about rescues and shelters in Western Pennsylvania will feature dozens of animal shelters, breed-specific rescues, specialty vendors, live music, homemade food, Ask-A-Trainer and Ask-A-Vet booths and training demonstrations.
This Celebration of Adoption begins at 11 a.m. with a Pooch Pride Parade Costume Contest with over $500 in prizes available for Most Creative, Best Homemade and Dog-Owner Lookalike Costume ($5 entry fee).
Attendees are welcome to bring their dogs that are current on vaccinations, people and dog friendly and on a non-retractable leash. Admission is free.
For more information, call 412-841-5073 or visit www.carmaa-petadoption.com/dogtoberfest.html
The Carnegie Arts Initiative presents The Art of Acting with Cindy Jackson, 2-5 p.m. beginning Oct. 6 at the 3rd Street Gallery, located on Third Street in Carnegie.
The three-hour weekly classes, running through early November, Jackson will teach from the Meisner Technique and Stanislavski Method mostly, but will utilize the basics of all acting before branching out to different methods in class.
The class will culminate in a performance on Nov. 17 with an actor’s showcase, where students are encouraged to perform pieces for an audience composed of family and friends.
To join, send a check or money order for $200, payable to The Carnegie Arts Initiative, 220 Third Avenue, Carnegie PA 15106.
Jackson studied Shakespeare at the former American Youth Shakespeare Academy. Trained as a serious actor, she is also adept at comedy, having performed in sketch comedy and as a stand-up comedian.
The Mattress Factory will celebrate its 35th anniversary on Oct. 10 with an art auction.
For more information, visit www.mattress.org.
The Heritage Players will perform the musical “Oliver!” at 8 p.m. Oct. 11, 12, 18 and 19 and 2 p.m. Oct. 13 and 20 at the Seton Center, located on Pioneer Avenue in Brookline.
Tickets are $10 at the door or online at www.heritageplayers.org. For information, call 412-254-4633.
Washington Symphony Orchestra announced receipt of a $7,000 grant from The Heinz Endowments’ Small Arts Initiative to assist with the production of its Oct. 12 concert, “Space – The Final Frontier” which will take place at 8 p.m. at Trinity High School.
For tickets, call 724-223-9796 or visit www.washsym.org.
Producers Jude and Shirley Pohl their next show at the Crowne Plaza Cabaret Dinner Theatre in Bethel Park.
Opening Oct. 12 and running on selected dates thru Nov. 10 is the interactive murder mystery “Who Killed James Bond?” will run Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 12, 25 and 26 as well as Nov. 1, 2, 8 and 9. There will also be a special matinee on Nov. 10.
Price of the dinner theatre package is $40 and includes both tax and tip.
The theatre is located on Fort Couch Road, directly across the street from South Hills Village Mall.
For more information or to make reservations (required for both shows), call Pohl Productions at 724-746-1178.
Register by Oct. 15 for Mt. Lebanon Recreation Department’s day trip on Dec. 1 to see “Elf the Musical” followed by dinner in Pittsburgh. Ages 6 years and older (youth 17 years and under must be with a paid adult) are welcome.
Cost of $139 per person includes dinner, show, transportation and tour of Pittsburgh holiday lights.
Register at 412-343-3409.