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EVENTS 4.1 – 10am-12pm HALF-PINT PRINTS The Factory Families work with The Warhol’s artist educators to create silkscreen prints during this drop-in silkscreen printing activity for children ages 1 to 4 years old. Free with museum admission
4.11 – 8pm SOUND SERIES: PETER EVANS SEPTET The Warhol theater Tickets $15/$12 members & students
4.13 – 8pm SOUND SERIES: MARK EITZEL AND HOWE GELB The Warhol theater Co-presented with WYEP 91.3FM Free parking in The Warhol lot. Tickets $15/$12 members and students
4.20 – 6pm-10pm SENSORY-FRIENDLY AUTISM ACCEPTANCE DISCO The Warhol entrance space and underground Open to teens and their families from 6-8pm and 21+ after 8pm. Free parking in The Warhol lot. Tickets $15/$10 students & seniors, $5 Access/EBT card holder
4.21 – 8pm GAB BONESSO WITH SPECIAL GUEST GENE COLLIER The Warhol theater Tickets $10/$8 members & students
2-17 — 5-21 Inspired by lineages of black resistance in works primarily of female subjects, Báez’s Bloodlines utilizes the history of social movements in the United States and the Caribbean to address contemporary issues with race and identity politics.
412.237.8300 www.warhol.org
Firelei Báez: Bloodlines is organized by Pérez Art Museum Miami Assistant Curator María Elena Ortiz. The Pittsburgh presentation is coordinated by Jessica Beck, The Warhol’s associate curator of art. Support for the Pittsburgh presentation is generously provided by Karen and Jim Johnson, Vivian and Bill Benter, Michele Fabrizi, and Kiya Tomlin. Firelei Báez: Bloodlines and its presentation at the Pérez Art Museum Miami was made possible by BNY Mellon with additional support from Chloé. Image: Firelei Báez, Sans-Souci (This threshold between a dematerialized and a historicized body), 2015, collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum, purchase with funds WYV]PKLK I` 3LZSPL HUK .YLN -LYYLYV HUK 9VZL ,SSLU 4L`LYOVɈ .YLLUL
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The Andy Warhol Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency and The Heinz Endowments. Further support is provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District.
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APRIL IS FAIR HOUSING MONTH
DISCRIMINATION IS RARELY THIS OBVIOUS, BUT IT’S JUST AS REAL. AND JUST AS ILLEGAL.
IF A LANDLORD GIVES YOU THE RUNAROUND OR SAYS: We don’t take kids. The apartment you asked about on the phone has been rented. We only rent to people who speak English g clearly. y We don’t take teenagers. The ad was wrong the rent is really $50 more. I can’t assign you a handicap parking space.
YOU COULD BE EXPERIENCING HOUSING DISCRIMINATION. The only way to STOP housing discrimination IS TO REPORT IT, SO WE CAN INVESTIGATE IT. PITTSBURGH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RELATIONS 908 City-County Building, 414 Grant St, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
www.pittsburghpa.gov/chr/
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The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. The Pittsburgh City Code includes the bases under the Fair Housing Act and also prohibits discrimination because of sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, and status as a survivor of domestic violence.
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03.29/04.05.2017 VOLUME 27 + ISSUE 13
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“IF I COULD TALK TO THE JUDGE, THERE’S A LOT OF THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO HIM.”
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Batter up! Check out our Pirates and baseball coverage in this issue. Then head over to www.pghcitypaper.com for a photo slideshow from Pirates spring training.
CROSSING THE BENCH Judge Lester Nauhaus has a history of making questionable comments in the courtroom, but has he gone too far? {BY CELINE ROBERTS}
Our daily talk show, Lynn Cullen Live, recently moved to the Point Park Center for Media Innovation. Listen at www.pghcitypaper.com.
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N FEB. 17, a Lawrenceville business-owner waited as each case ahead of her own was marked off the docket in the courtroom of Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Lester Nauhaus. That morning, Nauhaus had heard cases with charges ranging from reckless driving to unpaid fines. After hearing several cases on underage drinking, he quipped, “If it weren’t for stupid, I’d be unemployed.” As the business-owner’s case was called, she rose briskly from her seat, her face stony, as though preparing for a battle. The male defendant in the case, a former vendor who had been charged with harassment and trespassing at her business, sat just a few rows away. He had already been convicted on the charges and was now representing himself in this appeal hearing. After the woman took the stand, she told the court about her experience with the defendant that led to the charges of harassment and trespassing. At one point, she said, the defendant told her she could compensate him for the sale of a refrigerator with “a blow job.” “Alright, listen to me, I have a president who talks worse than that,” Nauhaus said in response, addressing the courtroom. “That’s not guilty,” he said, overturning the harassment charge. While women’s-rights advocates say Nauhaus’ handling of this case crossed the line, this kind of comment is not rare for him. His behavior in high-profile cases over the past two decades has drawn attention. And lawyers on Grant Street have often criticized him. “Lawyers have called me,” says Sam Stretton, an attorney from the Philadelphia area with 45 years of experience, who has come to know of Nauhaus by reputation over the years. “Sometimes his demeanor and his comments are less than desirable for a judicial officer.” Voters have the chance to oust judges they disagree with in retention elections every 10 years. Nauhaus’ last retention vote occurred in 2007. According to a 2007 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, he was strongly opposed by the Fraternal Order of Police on the grounds that he was “too soft on criminals and anti-police.” However, he remained on the bench. Now, at age 73, Nauhaus is officially retired. However,
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
{CP ILLUSTRATION BY TERESA ROBERTS LOGAN}
In this month’s episodes of Soundbite, food-and-drink writer Celine Roberts has talked food extinction, goat cheese and seed swaps. Listen to them all at www.pghcitypaper.com.
when he turned 70, he was approved for senior status by the state court administrator. Senior status allows retired judges to continue to serve the Commonwealth if there is a need. According to David Blaner, executive director of the Allegheny County Bar Association, senior judges can be assigned to any court in Allegheny County and give up their full commission to work part
time in sectors where there are a backlog of cases or conflicts of interest. But approved senior status doesn’t exempt a judge from criticism from within the legal system. “Nauhaus is no longer a part of the retention cycle, but senior judges are subject to the same codes of conduct as any other judge,” says Blaner. THE CASE that put the Lawrenceville busi-
ness-owner in Nauhaus’ courtroom in February began on Sept. 20, 2016, when she filed a criminal complaint with Pittsburgh police against the defendant. According to the police report, the defendant had offered to sell her a refrigerator after they met at her business. When she asked the defendant how much he wanted for the refrigerator, he replied, “A blow job should cover it.” This exchange was witnessed by two other people. The victim, though feeling “demoralized,” settled on a monetary sum. Upon delivery, the refrigerator was broken. After she attempted to contact the defendant repeatedly, he responded that the witness “could do as she wished with it.” The woman returned the refrigerator to his storage space. The next day, the woman testified in court, the defendant was waiting at her shop as she arrived. He wanted to talk and the victim said she “informed him I didn’t want to have a conversation.” Walking into her business, she told him “he wasn’t welcome” and he “forced his way in.” She told the court that the man sat at the counter and stared at her; she threatened to call the police and he left before officers arrived. She says she cut all ties with the man and asked him not to contact her. The next day she says he emailed her and she filed a complaint with police. Nauhaus’ colleague Judge James Hanley, who had presided over the initial hearing, found the defendant guilty on charges of both harassment and trespass. On appeal, Nauhaus found the defendant not guilty on the charge of harassment and guilty of trespass. With the dismissal of the harassment charge, the victim lost any protections the conviction would have provided her. At February’s appeal hearing, Nauhaus told the victim that if she didn’t want to experience further harassment from the defendant, she should have severed the business relationship. In finalizing his judgment, he said, “If I found people guilty of harassment for inappropriate conversations, I would be here all day. This is silly.” But Emily May, executive director of Hollaback!, an organization that seeks
to end harassment and promote gender justice, disagrees. “I can’t imagine there being a more textbook example of harassment,” May asks. “Where is this coming from and what’s ultimately perpetuating this? “At the end of the day I feel like it’s toxic masculinity combined with this culture that we live in where sexism is dominant. Here’s this woman just trying to get a refrigerator. It’s the most simple thing.” May also takes issue with the reasons Nauhaus gave for dismissing the harassment charge. “I think [the comment about President Trump is] a great example where we see standards shifting. Here’s a world in [which] we have a president who’s been accused of rape multiple times, who’s talked about grabbing women by the pussy. ... [B]ecause it’s coming from our highest office, [it] starts normalizing itself, in ways that people are literally pointing to in their decisionmaking,” she says. “That’s really terrifying,” CP reached out by phone to Nauhaus for comment. Regarding his remark during his judgment on the harassment charge, he said, “It was an off-handed remark” and that as to the actual ruling, “We live in a society that is sometimes not how we would like it to be. It’s not criminal.” But Stretton, the Philadelphia-based attorney, feels differently. “In my mind, that would be totally inappropriate for a judge to reference, so casually, comments by the president of the United States that had nothing to do with this particular case. Demeanor is a critical part of being a judge. You don’t have the right to just shoot off your mouth and say the first thing that comes into your brain,” says Stretton, who has represented attorneys and judges in ethics matters. Stretton echoed May’s criticism of Nauhaus’ claim that the harassment charge was “silly.” “From the perspective of the victim, things that are minor which maybe to this judge don’t seem important can really affect one’s quality of life,” Stretton says. “I think this clearly gets to the point of interfering or being overly critical of victims or discouraging them from coming forward.” According to her victim-impact statement, sent to CP, the woman in this case says her experience with the defendant has negatively affected her day-to-day life. She lost 20 pounds and has had trouble sleeping. She also feels compelled to avoid any business gatherings at which the defendant might be present. Given the small subset of
“YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO JUST SHOOT OFF YOUR MOUTH AND SAY THE FIRST THING THAT COMES INTO YOUR BRAIN.”
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CROSSING THE BENCH, CONTINUED FROM PG. 07
The Animal Rescue League/Western PA Humane Society is partnering with Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania to host a
Donation Drive Fundraiser!
DONATION DRIVE
You can help the Animal Rescue League/ Western PA Humane Society raise money by simply donating your gently used:
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FRIDAY, APRIL 7 NOON - 3PM NORTHSIDE SHELTER: 1101 Western Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15233
SUNDAY, APRIL 9 10AM - 1PM EAST END SHELTER: 6926 Hamilton Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15208
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the community in which she and the defendant work, the witness has lost opportunities to advance her business as a result. She has also begun trauma-focused therapy through the Center for Victims, and self-defense classes. And she says her courtroom experience has damaged her further. “I now understand that the secondary trauma of the verdict, is actually worse because I discovered that my society doesn’t protect me and doesn’t care about me and I’m not valued,” she says, “If I could talk to the judge, there’s a lot of things I would like to say to him; ‘You abused your power. ... Your being a judge makes our city less safe.’” Starting in the 1970s, Nauhaus worked as a public defender in Allegheny County, and later came to head that office. He was elected judge in 1997. His career has been marked by incidents in which his judgment and conduct have been called into question, most notably in the criminal cases of former State Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, in 2013, and former Allegheny County Councilman Chuck McCullough, in 2015. According to a 2014 Pittsburgh TribuneReview article, Nauhaus sentenced Melvin to three years’ house arrest and ordered the former judge to write letters of apology on
photographs of herself in handcuffs as a part of her sentence for corruption. The photos would be sent to every judge in the state. The condition was overturned on appeal. In the case of McCullough, who was charged with theft, the District Attorney’s office investigated claims that Nauhaus told McCullough’s first attorney to opt for a bench trial (with Nauhaus presiding) instead of a jury trial. In addition, McCullough’s attorney alleged that Judge Nauhaus made “flippant” and “peculiar comments,” and said that the judge was biased against McCullough. For Stretton, who has been hearing these kinds of claims for years, Nauhaus’ demeanor on the bench is clearly unacceptable. “You should never make a victim feel bad, if you can avoid it. That kind of comment is just not appropriate. If you don’t want to be a judge, don’t be a judge. If you don’t want to be there all day, you don’t have to be. Resign your commission.” C E L I N E @ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
Editor’s Note: Because this story focuses on public comments made by Judge Lester Nauhaus and not the case per se, City Paper has chosen not name to the victim or the defendant in this case.
JENSORENSEN
MIND-BOGGLING Mental-health advocates question U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy’s support for now-scrapped AHCA {BY RYAN DETO} BEFORE THE eventual scrapping of the
American Health Care Act, dozens of health-care-related organizations came out in opposition to the bill, including prominent mental-health organizations like the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association. The latter sent a letter to Congressional leaders on March 22 saying the AHCA’s proposed rollback of Medicaid expansion “will threaten the 1.3 million Americans with serious mental illness and the 2.8 million Americans with substance-use disorders who gained coverage for the first time under the expansion.” But curiously, U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy (RUpper St. Clair), a licensed psychologist and mental-health-care advocate, approved of the bill, which was meant to replace the Affordable Care Act. On March 16, Murphy penned an op-ed in the political newspaper The Hill defending the AHCA, writing that it will “further mental health and addiction treatment”; the same day, Murphy said on KDKA radio that “I am going to vote yes on this.” These views have led to confusion among Murphy’s constituents. Along with the many mental-health experts who have weighed in on the AHCA, constituents maintain it will be harmful to those facing mental-health and substance-abuse issues. On March 22, Susan Pardus and a dozen other constituents protested outside Murphy’s Greensburg office, calling on him to oppose the AHCA. “Given that 24 million people are going
U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy
to lose coverage, and 29 percent of these people suffer from mental-health and substance-abuse issues,” wrote Pardus in an email to City Paper, “there is simply no way [Murphy can] claim this law was crafted to further mental health and addiction treatment.” Throughout his tenure in Congress, Murphy has been most passionate about the issue of mental-health-care reform. On March 22, he received the Mental Health Champion Award from the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems for his ongoing work to pass mental-healthcare laws, including the Helping Families in Mental Health Crises Act of 2016. (Ironically, NAPHS co-signed a letter to Congress on March 9 saying it couldn’t support the AHCA.) Murphy didn’t respond to CP’s questions asking how the AHCA would improve mental-health and addiction care. But throughout the markup process of the AHCA, Murphy positioned himself as a defender of mental-health care. He introduced an amendment to the AHCA to ensure mental-health parity (a rule
requiring health-care providers to cover as much mental-health care as physical health care), but Murphy withdrew this amendment upon discovering parity wouldn’t be affected. In interviews, Murphy has repeatedly pointed out that suicides and opioid addiction have increased during the tenure of the ACA. He believes states should take on the challenges of mental-health problems, believing they can offer a more flexible approach. “I say states know how to do this,” said Murphy on KDKA radio. “The mental-health services are a mess. I don’t know how it can be worse than how it is now.” But even those who know Murphy well are confused by his positions. Richard Frank is a health-care policy expert and professor at Harvard Medical School. In the past, Frank has worked with Murphy on mental-health-care bills, but he’s perplexed by Murphy’s moves regarding the AHCA. “I have a ton a respect for him, and I don’t get it,” says Frank. “Except that maybe he wants to be a team player.” He says Murphy’s focus on ensuring parity wouldn’t mean much, since all health care would likely be worse under the AHCA. “Even though they have parity, you have parity over really crummy coverage,” says Frank. “If you are a low-income person who has mental-health issues, I think it actually disadvantages them currently.” Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) questioned Murphy’s motives in a House committee meeting on March 8. He shares Murphy’s passion for mental-health care and agrees the system is “terribly broken.” But he differs from Murphy, who supports cutting federal funds and putting the burden on states to raise money on their own. And while Murphy did secure an additional $15 billion for mental-health
care and addiction treatment for the AHCA, Kennedy says this grossly underfunds the problem. Currently the ACA funds essential health benefits, including coverage for mental health, substance abuse, maternity, rehab, and ambulatory care, with $880 billion over 10 years. With Murphy’s amendment, proposed funding of essential health benefits under AHCA would decrease to $115 billion over 10 years. “Giving the states the ability to do this, and not funding them, doesn’t solve that problem,” Kennedy tells City Paper. Kennedy believes it’s essential for Congress to fund mental-health and addiction services, since suicide and opioid addiction are sharply increasing in rural areas, where health-care services are often limited. “This is a particular problem in rural America,” says Kennedy. “In 55 percent of the counties in our country, there is not a single practicing psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker.” All of the counties in Murphy’s district, which is mostly rural, have had opioid-overdose deaths well above the state average of 27.4 per 100,000, according to 2015 data. And some of his constituents aren’t happy about their representative’s position. Mykie Raidy, of Greensburg, believes Murphy, who opposes the ACA and yet supports mental-health care, has “painted himself into a corner.” “All [Murphy] can do is repeat the tired (and inaccurate) lines about how everything wrong with our mentalhealth system is Obama’s and the ACA’s fault,” wrote Raidy in an email to CP. “Otherwise, he’d have to admit that he and the GOP leadership have been wrong about the ACA and are even more wrong about their current bill.”
“I HAVE A TON A RESPECT FOR HIM, AND I DON’T GET IT.”
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PYRAMID
News of the Weird
TATTOO & Body Piercing
{BY CHUCK SHEPHERD}
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A highlight of the recent upmarket surge in Brooklyn, N.Y., was the asking price for an ordinary parking space in the garage at 845 Union Street in the Park Slope neighborhood: $300,000 (also carrying a $240-a-month condominium fee and $50 monthly taxes). That’s similar to the price of actual one-bedroom apartments in less ritzy Brooklyn neighborhoods like Gravesend (a few miles away).
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PYRAMIDTATTOO.COM Bridgeville, Pa
Saginaw, Mich., defense lawyer Ed Czuprynski had beaten a felony DUI arrest in December, but was sentenced to probation on a lesser charge in the incident. Among his restrictions was a prohibition on drinking alcohol — which Czuprynski acknowledged in March that he has since violated at least twice. However, at that hearing, Czuprynski used the opportunity to beg the judge to remove the restriction altogether, arguing that he can’t be “effective” as a lawyer unless he is able to have a drink now and then. (At press time, the judge was still undecided.)
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Open M ic Stan d up co med Hosted y by Elliott burns
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Residents in southern Humboldt County, Calif., will vote in May on a proposed property-tax increase to fund a community hospital in Garberville to serve a web of small towns in the scenic, sparsely populated region, and thanks to a county judge’s March ruling, the issue will be explained more colorfully. Tax-increase opponent Scotty McClure was initially rebuffed by the registrar when he tried to distribute taxpayerfunded “special elections material” that showed contempt for “Measure W” by including the phrase “(insert fart smell here)” in the measure’s description. The registrar decried the damage to election “integrity” by such “vulgarity,” but Judge Timothy Cissna said state law gives him jurisdiction only over “false” or “misleading” electioneering language.
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A chain reaction of fireworks in Tultepec, Mexico, in December had made the San Pablito pyro marketplace a scorched ruin, with more than three dozen dead and scores injured, leaving the town to grieve and, in March, to solemnly honor the victims — with even more fireworks. Tultepec is the center of Mexico’s fireworks industry, with 30,000 people dependent on explosives for a living. Wrote The Guardian, “Gunpowder” is in “their blood.”
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Miscellaneous Economic Indicators: (1) Bentley the cat went missing in Marina Del Rey, Calif., on Feb. 26 and, as of press time, had not been located — despite a posted reward of $20,000. (A “wanted” photo is online, if you’re interested.) (2) British snack-food manufacturer Walkers advertised in February for a part-time professional chip-taster, at the equivalent of $10.55 an hour. (3) An Australian state administrative tribunal awarded a $90,000 settlement after a cold-calling telemarketer sold a farm couple 2,000 ink cartridges (for their one printer) by repeated pitches.
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American chef Dan Barber staged a temporary “pop-up” restaurant in London in March at which he and other renowned chefs prepared the fanciest meals they could imag-
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ine using only food scraps donated from local eateries. A primary purpose was to chastise First World eaters (especially Americans) for wasting food, not only in the kitchen and on the plate, but also to satisfy our craving for meat (for example, diverting 80 percent of the world’s corn and soy just to feed edible animals). Among Barber’s “WastED” dishes for March were a chargrilled meatless beetburger and pork braised in leftover fruit solids.
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Undignified Deaths: (1) Smoking Kills: A 78-year-old man in Easton, Pa., died in February from injuries caused when he lit his cigarette but accidentally set afire his hooded sweatshirt. (2) Pornography Kills: A Mexico City man fell to his death recently in the city’s San Antonio neighborhood when he climbed up to turn off a highway video sign on the Periferico Sur highway that was showing a pornographic clip apparently placed by a hacker.
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Oops! An officer in Harrington, Del., approaching an illegally parked driver at
Liberty Plaza Shopping Center in March, became suspicious when the driver gave him a name other than “Keyonna Waters” (which was the name on the employee name-tag she was wearing). Properly ID’ed, she was arrested for driving with a suspended license.
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The Passing Parade: (1) In his third try of the year, in January, Li Longlong of China surpassed his own Guinness Book record by climbing 36 stairs while headstanding (beating his previous 34). (Among the Guinness regulations: no touching walls and no pausing more than five seconds per step.) (2) The online live-stream of the extremely pregnant giraffe “April” (at New York’s Animal Adventure Park) has created such a frenzy, and exposed the tiny attention spans of viewers, that, as of March 3, they had spent a cumulative 1,036 years just watching. (Erin Dietrich of Myrtle Beach, S.C., 39 weeks pregnant herself, mocked the lunacy by livestreaming her own belly while wearing a giraffe mask.) (By press time, Erin had delivered; April, not.)
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LECTURE: ECONOMIC CHANGE IN PITTSBURGH SINCE THE 1980S CHRISTOPHER BRIEM • Regional Economist, University of Pittsburgh
MEDICAL CANNABIS
An overview of economic and demographic change that has taken place across the Pittsburgh region since the 1980s focusing on the impact of the decline in heavy industry, resulting population and workforce trends and the evolution of economic development strategies at the state and local level.
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ABOUT THE PRESENTER: Christopher Briem is a regional economist at the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR). His work at the center’s Program in Urban and Regional Analysis focuses on economic and demographic forecasting, industry analysis and competitiveness of the Pittsburgh region. His ongoing work includes economic forecasts for Allegheny County and the Pittsburgh region, analysis of migration trends in the Pittsburgh region, analysis of local government finances and fragmentation and the impact of demographic changes on the regional economy.
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Fresh Start
Coming off a down year, the Pirates are relying on an infusion of young blood to turn things around {BY CHARLIE DEITCH}
Adam Frazier, seen here in a March 23 preseason game in Bradenton, Fla., says the Pirates are in a good place heading into the 2017 season. {CP PHOTOS BY CHARLIE DEITCH}
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FIVE BOLD PREDICTIONS FOR THE 2017 PITTSBURGH PIRATES {BY CHARLIE DEITCH}
The Pirates will win the NL Central Sure, the Chicago Cubs were unstoppable last year, but winning the World Series in 2016 will be their downfall this season. Of course, winning a world title is impressive, but the Cubs have acted like they’re the first team to ever do it. It seems like they have a victory parade every two hours, and they’ve had alternate jerseys made with gold numbers to remind you that they are the champs. But they’re still very young, and they’ll find that the pressures of repeating as champion are worse than those of actually winning it. That leaves the door open for the Pirates to swoop in to win the elusive division title and get into the playoffs without going through the wild card.
Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle chats with his infield during a pitching change March 17.
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SPRING-TRAINING clubhouse is usually a pretty energetic place. There’s music on, sports on the TVs, and always a good bit of laughter and chatter. But there was a different feeling in Bradenton this year. Everyone noticed. “I feel like this team’s vibe this year is a lot better than last year,” said Adam Frazier, the team’s newest multi-position threat, following in the footsteps of Sean Rodriquez and Josh Harrison. “Last year was my first taste of major-league spring training, but there’s a lot of camaraderie in this clubhouse. We keep the mood light and everyone comes in here every day with great energy. I think that energy comes from having so many young guys who got their feet wet last year and come into this season ready to take on a bigger role. “With a week-and-a-half left in spring training, I like where we are.” That youth movement can be seen across the roster, but it’s most evident in the Pirates’ pitching game. Right-hander Gerrit Cole had a down year in 2016; he won just seven games and missed a lot of time due to injury. But on March 19 during a spring-training game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Cole looked unstoppable, allowing one run on five hits over five innings. At times his fastball looked unhittable. “He maintained velocity,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of Cole’s fastball after that game. “I thought it was executed very well, located very well, there was good finish to it. All of his pitches, I thought he had good stuff. He threw the changeup
when he wanted to, curveball played, threw a few sliders. It was an effective outing. “Gerrit did some things today that were just fun to watch. It was good.” Pitcher Ivan Nova, who was traded to the Pirates last season from the Yankees and re-signed in the off-season, is another veteran and will hold down the third rotation spot. But after that, the staff gets really young, really fast. Jameson Taillon, the No. 2 starter, and Chad Kuhl, who will likely hold the fourth spot, are joined by four pitchers battling for the last spot in the rotation: Tyler Glasnow, Drew Hutchison, Trevor Williams and Steven Brault. Combined, those six young pitchers have just 43 career starts.
“I think sometimes youth can be misconstrued as inexperience.” Most of these pitchers, however, had big moments in 2016, and none was bigger than Taillon’s major-league debut last June. He was drafted as the second overall pick in 2010, but his trek to the majors has been covered in landmines. In 2014, he underwent Tommy John surgery on his elbow and missed the entire year. He then suffered a sports hernia in 2015 and
didn’t play a single game until last season. He went 5-4 in 18 games and struck out 85. This will be his first full season in the majors, and the one-two punch of Cole and Taillon could be one of the best in the game. The choice for fifth starter isn’t as clear. Hutchison, a former top prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays system, seemed to be the favorite entering spring, but he hasn’t been able to lock down the spot. He struggled in each of his last two starts before press time, on March 17 and March 23. Glasnow is one of the top prospects in the majors and he’s also struggled this spring. By contrast, Williams has pitched well recently, and Brault has had a pretty consistent spring. “It’s been a good time having this healthy competition this spring, and since nothing’s been decided on the fifth spot, we’ve gotta keep going after it,” Brault told CP. “It sounds lame, but all we can do is keep playing hard and whatever the Pirates decide to do, the Pirates decide to do. And we have to take it in stride.” While the fifth rotation spot remains up for grabs simply because no one’s grabbed it, Pirates hitters on the cusp of making the opening-day roster have been in a dogfight. One reason is the World Baseball Classic: While the tournament gave some Pirates veterans a unique opportunity to play on an international stage (see story page 18), it also proved a big break for younger players who stayed behind. Stars like Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte were replaced on the spring stat sheet by Frazier,
.Jung Jung Ho Kang will never wear a Pirates uniform again The city’s love affair with the South Korean third baseman CONTINUES ON PG. 16
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Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder/first baseman Jose Osuna fires the ball to the infield after making a catch during a March 23 preseason game.
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Jose Osuna, Phill Gosselin, Austin Meadows in the WBC has the Pirates wondering whether this is the year he completely and Gift Ngoepe. Osuna has been one of the biggest sur- breaks out offensively. “We mentioned the fact that everybody prises, hitting .417 with five homers and 15 RBI. Osuna said that he’s gained a lot might want to find out what kind of bat he of confidence at the plate after spending was using or shake his hand or rub his arm half of last season in Double-A in Altoona, because he was hot,” Hurdle said March 21. The infield will feature Jordy Mercer and half with the Bucs’ Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. He also played winter ball in at short and Josh Harrison at second, but the offseason. While he’s a first baseman there will be some changes on the corners. by trade, the Pirates have moved Osuna Josh Bell is likely to assume the regular around this spring to give him positional first-base job after having shoulder surgery flexibility should he make the roster. He’s in the offseason; Hurdle said Bell should be still struggling defensively, but if years of ready opening day. David Freese will start at third after starter Jung Ho Kang was Pedro Alvarez taught us nothing else, arrested and convicted on his third it’s that if you can hit, they’ll find a MORES DUI offense in South Korea. Kang place for you to play. PHOTOE has been denied a visa to enter the “Playing this winter really IN L N Ot www. a U.S., and also remains the subject helped me, I think,” Osuna said. per a p ty ci h pg .com of an open sexual-assault inves“I’m really trying to be more selectigation in Chicago. Freese, a fortive at the plate; I try not to do too mer World Series MVP, played well for much and just wait for the right pitch. “Right now, I think I have a good chance the Pirates last year and has had a strong to make this team. But if I don’t, then I’ll spring, hitting .353. Francisco Cervelli will go back to Triple-A, continue to work hard hold his place behind the plate after strugand wait for my opportunity. Every year gling offensively in 2016. After that, the Pirates will be counting you work so hard toward your goal [making the major-league roster]. And now I feel on young hitters to perform when called off the bench. Guys like Frazier, Osuna and so close to making it.” Beyond the battle for the remaining Meadows will be as crucial to the team’s bench spots, the rest of the Pirates line- success as are the young pitchers. Brault up seems pretty solid. The big offseason says the team’s youth shouldn’t be looked news, of course, were the trade rumors at as a negative. “I think sometimes youth can be misswirling around McCutchen. The team decided to keep him but made a big change construed as inexperience,” says Brault. when Marte supplanted McCutchen in “We’re ready to go; we’re not these starcenter field. Polanco shifted to left and struck young guys who haven’t been McCutchen to right. Polanco’s big effort there before.” C D E I T C H @ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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ended for a lot of people this offseason when Kang was arrested in South Korea for DUI, his third offense. It’s not the charge necessarily, but the fact it’s the second in the past year alone — the first being sexual-assault allegations — and the patience of Pirates management has to be wearing thin. On top of that, his felony conviction in South Korea means that he’s currently unable to even get a work visa to come here. Last season, Kang was on the front cover of this issue. This year we should have put him on the back cover, because he’s probably never coming back.
Jameson Taillon will win 20 games There’s a chance I’m a year off on this one, but Taillon will likely supplant Cole as this team’s ace in the near future. I think a dominating 2017 is the first step on that road. He’s overcome injury to secure the Pirates’ second rotation spot, and he’s been training for this moment. Don’t expect a sophomore slump from Taillon; expect to see the return of the focused, unflappable rookie we got last year, only more experienced, which is a very good thing.
‘Chasing Stars’
Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole is looking for a bounce-back year in 2017 {BY CHARLIE DEITCH} ON MARCH 19, Gerrit Cole had his best spring-training outing to date. The Pirates pitcher struck out five and gave up only one run, and the control on his fastball was pretty masterful. But when he met with reporters after the game, it was his other performance that started the conversation. Cole went 1-2 at the plate with a tworun single, and almost a stolen base. He took second on a pitch in the dirt; the official scorer didn’t award him the steal, but he wasn’t discouraged. “That’s all right. I’m not chasing stolen bags, I’m chasing stars,” Cole said referring to the “Stargell Stars” that coaches hand out for standout performances. He was looking for one from Kimera Bartee, the Bucs’ first-base and base-running coach. “And what we say in here is the fastest way to get a star is to get 90 feet. KB’s real generous with those stars, so I’m hoping I get my first one.” Cole even impressed his manager, Clint Hurdle. “It’s called a dirtball read,” Hurdle said with a smile. “He loves to compete, you’ve all seen him. He loves to play. It was a Little League effort out there today: He drove in a couple of runs, pitched five innings and only gave up one run. It was good stuff.” Pirates fans should be as excited about Cole’s performance on that day as Hurdle — not by the numbers necessarily, but by the exuberance he displayed. He showed his
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{CP PHOTO BY CHARLIE DEITCH}
Gerrit Cole is as active at the plate as he is on the mound.
love and passion for the game. In the third inning, for example, Pirate Alen Hanson made two fantastic throws from left field to catch runners at the plate. When the out was called, Cole jumped and pointed approvingly at Hanson. “Yeah, so that was the game plan in the third,” Cole joked. After an extremely disappointing 2016 season where Cole was besieged by injury and subpar performance, to see him excited and pumped up in the preseason is a good sign. He spent most of spring training last year battling a rib injury, and that was just the start of a very rough year. As the Pirates enter the 2017 season, Cole will be expected to be a rock for the
“He loves to compete, you’ve all seen him.”
starting rotation, as three young arms join him and fellow veteran Ivan Nova. As young pitchers go through growing pains early in the season, the Pirates will need a consistent, solid performance from Cole every five days. Leading by example might be the most important attribute Cole brings to the table this year. That’s why it’s so important for him to show passion in every facet of his game, be it on the mound or at the plate. He’s also working hard off the field, keeping a schedule so strict that he wasn’t able to watch his Pirates teammates play in the World Baseball Classic. But he still managed to stay up-to-date in the most efficient way possible. “It’s pretty early days around here, so I keep my bedtime pretty regimented,” Cole explained. “But I do catch the highlights in the morning on the john, so that’s good.” C D E I T C H @ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
It seems strange to have a Pirates issue without our favorite Pirates super-fan, Demitrius “Fake Pedro” Thorn. But fear not! At www.pghcitypaper.com, we catch up with Thorn and talk to him about his upcoming nuptials taking place — where else? — at PNC Park. Demitrius Thorn and his fiancee, Dana Gilbert outside PNC Park {CP PHOTO BY JOHN HAMILTON}
C H A U TA U Q U A I N S T I T U T I O N • J U N E 2 4 – A U G . 2 7
Make Baseball Hate Again
ON STAGE 2017
Five Pirates opponents worthy of your rage {BY MIKE WYSOCKI}
CHAUTAUQUA AMPHITHEATER JUNE
AUGUST
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BASEBALL DOESN’T stir up the enthusi-
astic hostility toward visiting teams like hockey and football do. The deafening, and often times profane, shouts at the Philadelphia Flyers on the ice, or the Baltimore Ravens on the gridiron, have no equal in baseball. Pirates fans have teams they don’t like, but it’s mostly because they are divisional rivals. As the 2017 season approaches, five major-league teams will be coming to PNC Park in the first five weeks. These five teams think they are better than us, and that should make you hate them so much. So, as part of this Pirates Season Preview, we will hand-deliver a few valid reasons to compel you to get out there and boo.
1.
First up, the Atlanta Braves and, let’s be honest, we shouldn’t need any help hating them. Sure, it’s been 25 years since they crushed the Pirates’ most recent chance at a World Series, but don’t ever forget it. The tomahawk chop is the second reason to despise these Southern scoundrels. The stupid, and arguably offensive, hand gesture isn’t even their idea: They stole it from Florida State University. What’s inarguably offensive is that until 1986 the Braves mascot was Chief Noc-a-Homa. He dressed like a Native American and sat in a tepee in the outfield till a Brave hit a home run. Then he would do a stereotypical and horribly racist “Indian” dance to the delight of yokels in attendance. Another reason to make fun of the Braves is that they are old. Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey are 40 percent of the Braves’ rotation, and are a combined 85 years old. Matt Kemp is also easy to boo because of his idiotic nickname, “Bison.” The rest of the team is filled with losers with first names like Dansby and Jace. The Braves are in town April 7-9.
2.
The Cincinnati Reds are a natural enemy filled with guys you’ve never heard of, with the exception of Joey Votto and Billy Hamilton, who always kill the Pirates, so we hate them enough already. Reds fans are a bunch of Skyline Chili-eating slackjaws. Wow! Chili with cinnamon on top of spaghetti? Really? The Reds were also once owned by Marge Schott, a legendary racist who once said she thought Adolf Hitler was initially good for Germany. Boo the Reds mercilessly April 10-12.
3.
The Evil Empire invades PNC April 21-23. This team is so easy to hate; rooting for the New York Yankees against another team is like rooting for Walmart over your neighborhood grocery store. They have everything, including unlimited revenue and 27 World Series titles. This team could spend its dough a little smarter, though. Aside from their ace, Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees’ rotation was 19-34 last year. So they paid Aroldis Chapman $21 million to close out games for pitchers that stunk. You won’t see future Hall of Famers like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, who were here the last time the Yankees were in town. Instead, they have a bunch of washed-up vets like Matt Holliday, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Niese. If you see a Yankees fan, point him toward the Mazeroski statue. That one World Series is equal to at least 15 or 16 of theirs.
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4.
The defending-champ Chicago Cubs come to Pittsburgh April 24-26. It’s been 118 years since they were last called champs. Cubs fans have always been obnoxious, but will now be downright insufferable. In the past 100 years, they have won only half as many championships as the Miami Marlins. And the Marlins weren’t even a team for 77 of those years. So the Cubs are still losers. Today, we can just hate the Cubs because they are good. They have an extremely talented nucleus of players who are all young and have somehow panned out. But we can still hate pitcher Jake Arietta for other reasons. He’s as likable as a coke-dealer who parks in a handicapped spot. Arrogance drips off the guy, and it’s just matter of time before his 15 minutes of fame are up. Cubs fans are invading soon, and they will all be wearing World Series shirts.
5.
Finally, the Milwaukee Brewers kick off the month of May at PNC. We hate the Brewers already, but they are so sad that it’s not as much fun to boo them as it used to be. Sure, the Brewers have been torturing the Pirates ever since Randall Simon ruined their sausage party (Google it). This team is just Ryan Braun and a bunch of people you and I have never heard of. Except for Neftali Feliz, the new closer, who will be making his non-triumphant return to Pittsburgh. This untalented roster of has-beens and never-will-bes are in town May 5-7. So get out there and yell at the Pirates opponents: Make baseball hate again. I N F O @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
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Classic Advantage
Despite criticisms of the tournament, the World Baseball Classic was good for Pirates hitters
Andrew McCutchen will be in the MVP discussion Yes, he stunk last year. He was so horrible that the Pirates considered trading him in the offseason. It’s a good thing they didn’t, because he’ll come back this year in a big way. As bad as he was last year, he still managed to crank 24 home runs — the third highest total in his career. McCutchen will find his stroke at the plate and return to Gold Glove levels of defense after the move to right field.
Tony Watson will not be the Pirates closer by May 15 Watson struggled mightily this spring, and I expect those struggles to continue in his role as the team’s ninth-inning guy. Watson has been the best set-up man in baseball for the past several seasons, and he’ll dominate in that role again when he’s returned to that task, probably in favor of Felipe Rivero or Daniel Hudson. CDEITCH@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
{BY CHARLIE DEITCH} STANDING IN front of his locker, Pitts-
burgh Pirates left fielder Gregory Polanco could barely contain his excitement as he met with reporters on March 21 in Bradenton, Fla. It was his first day back at spring training since leaving the team in early March to represent the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. He was laughing, smiling; occasionally, his speech would speed up like a kid telling his friends about the really cool parts of his first trip to Disney World. “It was an incredible experience,” Polanco said. “It was great just to be there; it was something I’ll never forget.” For those who don’t spend their lives from March to October watching the MLB Network (shame on you, if you don’t!), the WBC is an international tournament featuring the best players from around the world that happens every three years. It’s sponsored by Major League Baseball, so the event is filled with great players. Polanco was joined on the D.R. squad by Pirates center fielder Starling Marte and pitcher Ivan Nova. In addition, right fielder Andrew McCutchen and second baseman Josh Harrison joined Team USA (skippered by Jim Leyland, the 72-year-old former Pirates manager); catcher Francisco Cervelli played for Italy; and minor-leaguers Eric Wood, Luis Escobar and Jared LaKind were selected to play for the teams representing Canada, Colombia and Israel, respectively. In fact, this year marked Israel’s first entry into the tournament. On March 22, Team USA brought home the championship when it blanked Team Puerto Rico. McCutchen even had an RBI single. But the WBC isn’t loved by everyone. Fans and the teams themselves worry about the possibility of player injuries. In fact, the 2013 WBC is often credited for leading to serious midseason injuries to then-Pirates Jason Grilli and Wandy Rodriquez.
{CP VIDEO STILL BY CHARLIE DEITCH}
Gregory Polanco speaks to reporters about his time in the World Baseball Classic.
In January, Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage told MLB Radio that he’s “not one of the guys that is in favor of the WBC, and the reason being — I’ve seen it over the years before — guys cutting short their rest periods for the winter and their workout routines and speeding it up.” Searage said he would advise his pitchers against playing in the tournament because, while it’s “good for baseball,” it’s not necessarily good for the players. As he told the network: “Instead of April, where you’re firing off, now you’re firing off in March, which is a couple of weeks before you should be.” Injuries are a risk. The New York Yankees have lost shortstop Didi Gregorius until at least May with a shoulder injury. But the WBC is the ultimate sports example of risk versus reward. Injuries can happen anytime, anywhere. Remember when former Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy suffered a broken hand when his wife accidentally dropped a suitcase on it? And former Pirate and current Atlanta Brave Sean Rodriquez is out for likely the whole season after a February car crash in which his SUV was hit by a man driving a stolen police car. But if you listen to guys like Polanco and Marte, the experience of the WBC in spring is far more beneficial than regular spring training. Initially, Polanco
“Each game was important.”
wasn’t likely to see much playing time. But he ended the tournament as the Dominican Republic’s best offensive player, hitting .842. These players are entering the season not with a dozen springtraining games under their belts, but with experience hitting off top pitchers throwing their best stuff in highly competitive games. It’s tough to see that as a disadvantage. “I learned a lot seeing how [veteran teammates] prepare. I really learned a lot from that,” Polanco said. “And all of those games are just like World Series games. Each game was important. I really feel like I’m ready for the season.” Marte also performed well in the classic, getting key hits in big games, and although he suffered a minor ankle injury it didn’t seem to impede his game. In his first game back with the Pirates, Marte hit a grand slam and had five RBI. There’ll be a lot of pressure on Marte this year as he replaces McCutchen in center field. And while the Pirates outfield will have the same personnel, it will have a different feel, as McCutchen moves to right and Polanco shifts to left. The three haven’t had a lot of time to play together because of the WBC. But that doesn’t concern Marte. “I believe we have great chemistry already, I don’t think there’s anything to be concerned about,” Marte said through an interpreter. “I’m excited and I believe it’s going to be a really good season for all of us.” C D E I T C H @ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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Historical Slide {BY JODY DIPERNA}
IF YOU ARE a Pirates fan of a certain age,
the most tragic image of the last 25 years is Atlanta Brave Sid Bream sliding across home plate to win Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series. Bream would send his new team to the World Series and his old team, the Pirates, home. Immediately thereafter, the Pirates fell into a 20-year slump of losing and irrelevance. If you want to torture yourself reliving the heartbreak of this moment, and the many that followed, University of Pittsburgh Press will release The Slide: Leyland, Bonds & the Star-Crossed Pittsburgh Pirates, written by the father-son team of Richard and Stephen Peterson, on March 31. “There are two great baseball stories. One is the team that goes on to win the championship. The other is the team that glimpses paradise but never quite gets there. One’s comic and the other is tragic,” Richard Peterson told City Paper recently via telephone from his home in Makanda, Ill. Richard Peterson grew up in Pittsburgh, taking in games at Forbes Field in the 1950s; he remains connected to the city, in no small part through his love for the Pirates.
RICHARD PETERSON speaks at the Mount Lebanon Library at 7:30 p.m. Thu., May 4, about the history of African-American baseball players in Pittsburgh. At 6 p.m. Fri., May 5, Peterson will sign copies of The Slide at the Barnes & Noble at the Waterfront in Homestead.
The Slide starts in the aftermath of the 1979 “We Are Family” World Series championship, chronicling the dark years that followed as the team slid from champion to the worst team in baseball in just two short years. It covers not just the Pirates, but civic life and economic life in Pittsburgh in the 1980s, NEWS
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{PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA PETERSON}
Richard and Stephen Peterson hold a bobble-head version of the famous slide play referenced in The Slide.
some of the toughest years Pittsburghers have endured. The team would have left the city in 1985 without the extraordinary efforts of then-Mayor Richard Caliguiri, who put together an ownership group called the Pittsburgh Associates, keeping the Buccos in town. In addition to all the losing and the possible moving, the franchise was reeling from the Pittsburgh Drug Trials. Several current and former members of the Pirates, including Dave Parker, Dale Berra and John Milner, were called before a grand jury in September 1985 to offer testimony on the purchase of cocaine at Three Rivers Stadium. Even the person portraying the Pirate Parrot was implicated. It was a serious black eye on the franchise, and the city. The Slide also covers the 20-year losing streak from 1993 to 2012, some of the toughest years that any baseball fans have ever endured. But the meat of the book deals with the ball club drafting and acquiring talent such as Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Doug Drabek and advancing to three consecutive League Championships Series in 1990, 1991 and 1992. It moves along briskly because personalities like Bonds and skipper Jim Leyland make for compelling prose. Then, of course, there’s “The Slide.” Sid Bream’s slide, sure, but also the franchise’s slide into absolute futility after being unable (or unwilling) to retain talent like Drabek, Bonds and Bonilla. Bonds does not come off well in this story, which will be no surprise
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for baseball fans. However, Kevin McClatchy, who purchased the team in 1995 (saving major-league baseball in Pittsburgh for the second time in just over a decade) and who is responsible for pushing through the construction of PNC Park, is one of this story’s heroes. As Peterson says, “Without PNC Park, there would be no Pirates; without Kevin McClatchy, there would be no PNC Park.” That should resonate for fans gearing up for the 2017 campaign. Even with the most beautiful ballpark in MLB, and even with a talented team (albeit one coming off a deeply disappointing 2016 season), fans worry that the Pirates will never spend enough money to compete with the likes of the Cubs and the Cardinals. And that’s a legitimate fear. Even with like players Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte under contract for some time, the Pirates have a history of developing, but not retaining, talent. Says Peterson: “As soon as free agency comes into play, it becomes a part of Pirates history and it continues today. Developing teams and watching these great players reach the point where the Pirates either can no longer afford them. Or think they can’t.”
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LOCAL
“THE MUSIC LENDS ITSELF AS A TOOL TO TALK ABOUT REAL ISSUES.”
BEAT
{BY MEG FAIR}
She may only have 18 years of life under her belt, but Daya already has her own double-platinum certified single, “Hide Away,” several other Hot 100 charting tracks and a Grammy for her performance on The Chainsmokers’ “Don’t Let Me Down.” At this point in her life, she travels so much that she barely has a permanent address. But this week Daya returns to Pittsburgh for a hometown show, performing at Stage AE on her first headlining tour. The Pittsburgh native, born Grace Martine Tandon, has been a songwriting multi-instrumentalist since a young age. Her music career took off in 2015, with a trip to Los Angeles to work with songwriter and producer Gino Barletta. Barletta wrote JoJo’s 2011 hit, “Disaster,” but his own career was boosted by his work on Daya’s successful debut album, Sit Still, Look Pretty. A songwriter and a performing artist, Daya travels nonstop. The jetsetter lifestyle began in 2016, just before she graduated, through online schoolwork, from Mount Lebanon High School. Now she’s invested in her career full time, with no homework to keep her from a busy schedule of writing, performing and engaging with fans. Daya’s Sit Still, Look Pretty received critical praise; her charm shines through, with honest youthfulness set over alarmingly catchy hooks. She pens poppy electronicdance music that tackles everything from young love, like the annoyingly desperate suitors detailed in “Thirsty,” to the search for where the heck all the genuinely good guys have gone (“Hide Away”). But Daya isn’t only concerned with romance. Her unique timbre and standout voice comes alive on the album’s titular “Sit Still, Look Pretty,” as she defiantly puts her career, personal happiness and autonomy before anyone else, asserting she’ll never be someone’s quiet little prize. This feminist proclamation is a refreshing step forward from the more typical co-dependent themes found in pop songwriting. It has the “girl power” vibe of the Spice Girls, encouraging young ladies to be unapologetically noisy, fun and successful. And now that Daya is a successful pop star, just after becoming old enough to vote, teens and young women have someone to look up to. MEGFAIR@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
7p.m. Thu., March 30. Stage AE, 400 North Shore Drive, North Shore. $20. www.promowestlive.com
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Daya {PHOTO COURTESY OF CINDY HINES}
AT HOME
{PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSUE RIVAS}
Holy influences: Chicano Batman
OLD-SCHOOL HERO {BY BILL KOPP}
T
HE STYLE OF MUSIC known as “psychedelic soul” enjoyed an alltoo-brief heyday in the late 1960s. Deftly fusing elements of African-American soul and the dreamier end of psychedelic rock, the genre was exemplified by artists like Sly & the Family Stone and The Chambers Brothers. But the incredibly rich and varied musical landscape of the era meant that any given style didn’t enjoy prominence for very long; something new always came along to supplant it. In the 21st century, a Southern California group called Chicano Batman has developed its own distinctive, modern and original musical personality, based in large part on the influence of psychedelic soul. Bassist Eduardo Arenas explains that Chicano Batman’s sound borrows timeless elements from music’s past. Songs like “Friendship (Is a Small Boat in a Storm)” — a standout track on the new album Freedom Is Free — draw upon “genres that our aunts and uncles and grandparents were listening to,” says Arenas. “Just like a soul band
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
now will borrow from Otis Redding.” Yet Arenas and his bandmates aren’t trying to duplicate the music of days gone by. “We’ve never really seen ourselves as part of that image,” he says, “but only time can tell.” Instead, the music of Chicano Batman evocatively taps into the positive vibes of psychedelic soul.
CHICANO BATMAN 8 p.m. Sun., April 2. James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy, 422 Foreland St., North Side. $12-$15. 412-904-3335 or www.jamesstreetgastropub.com
Chicano Batman, a quintessential Los Angeles four-piece, formed nearly a decade ago. The group released its self-titled debut in 2010; after following up that disc with two EPs, the band returned in 2014 with Cycles of Existential Rhyme. After a third EP — 2015’s Black Lipstick — and a single, Chicano Batman released Freedom Is Free in March. And in yet another nod to the past, Freedom
Is Free was recorded the old-fashioned way: using analog tape. “We’ve recorded our previous albums digitally,” Arenas says. “There’s nothing wrong with digital; it has its advantages, definitely. But all of the records we have in our collections — Earth Wind and Fire, James Brown, Janis Joplin and anything that we have — all that stuff was recorded in analog.” And there’s something about the warmth and directness of recording onto tape. Part of that has to do with the manner in which Chicano Batman creates music in the studio. Arenas says that the group’s recording method is designed to leverage the band’s strengths. “Our live act is our strongest thing,” he says. “So, we don’t go into the studio and multi-track; we play it live, and then we do over-dubs, extra vocals and harmonies and that kind of thing.” It helps to have a producer who’s experienced at making records that old-school way. “Leon Michels has been recording to tape for several years, so his team at the CONTINUES ON PG. 22
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diesel C LU B | LO U N G E
UPCOMING CONCERTS
4/ 11 | 7:00 PM | AA
4/ 12 | 7:00 PM | AA
OF THE MISFITS 4/ 14 | 7:00 PM | AA
4/ 18 | 7:00 PM | AA
4/20 | 7:00 PM | AA
C D R EL E ASE SHOW 4/22 | 7:00 PM | AA
4/26 | 7:00 PM | AA
5/2 | 7:00 PM | AA
5/6 | 7:00 PM | AA
5/ 14 | 7:00 PM | AA
FEATURING
CHRIS JERICHO 5/ 16 | 7:00 PM | AA
5/ 17 | 7:00 PM | AA
6/ 10 | 7:00 PM | AA
for tickets visit LIVEATDIESEL.COM or Dave’s Music Mine (southside) 1801 e. carson st | pittsburgh |412.481.8800
OLD-SCHOOL HERO, CONTINUED FROM PG. 21
Diamond Mine has the swing of things,” Arenas says. Describing the producer’s working methods as “minimalist,” Arenas explains that getting the right sound sometimes means “using old mics — not the fanciest things, but the most appropriate for the job that we have to do.” While Arenas insists that Chicano Batman is not a politically focused group, there’s no mistaking some of the lyrical messages on Freedom Is Free. The original motivation for putting the band together was simple and straightforward, say Arenas. “Get a name on the band, get a project going and then just play. You know, just jam on some songs.” But creativity never exists in a vacuum, and the group was aware of larger issues in American society. “We’ve tried to bring a lot of harmony to every city that we play, and in all of the music that we bring, but I think we kind of came to a breaking point,” Arenas admits. And that led to the group’s music taking on a more topical nature. “The band has been together for nine years; we’ve seen three presidents already,” Arenas notes. “We saw the tail end of Bush, Obama and now we have Trump. And so, a lot has happened over the years. A lot of perspectives.” Those perspectives inform the group’s upbeat, positive and socially conscious lyrics. “I think the band has become relevant in our changing times,” says Arenas. “The music lends itself as a tool to talk about real issues.” Chicano Batman focuses on the values that connect people, not the ones that encourage division. In February, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced, “The earth is a very dangerous place these days.” Arenas seeks to put that kind of broad-brush statement into perspective. “Volcanoes are dangerous when they erupt,” he says. “Carbon monoxide is dangerous in the long term. There are a lot of systematic dangers, but there’s no enemy out there.” “I think we create the enemy,” Arenas observes, “and I think we integrate it into our everyday existence. And that’s where it becomes really dangerous, when it becomes a dangerous world. I think greed is dangerous. Greed is so embedded into the system all over the world, and it drives fear.” Eduardo Arenas and his Chicano Batman bandmates seek to drive away that fear. The solution, he believes, is found in “people coming together and hearing each other out. Once we can start unraveling that fear, I think we can have clear minds to think more freely about how we relate as humans.” And with the inviting grooves of Chicano Batman, we’ll have a great soundtrack to that experience. I NF O @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
{PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLIE LOWE}
Slang Gang: Beach Slang
LIFE’S A BEACH {BY TROY MICHAEL} LAST YEAR Beach Slang released its
debut album The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us to rave reviews for the band’s no-frills, indie-punk sound and attitude. Striking while the iron is hot, Beach Slang’s primary member — James Alex (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) — has returned in pretty short order to release a follow-up, A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings. “A record a year is pretty necessary business for me. I’m far too restless when I’m idle. To me, it’s a pretty weirdo thing how uncommon it is,” Alex says. “If you’re a writer, you write, you know?” “I remember how jaw-dropped the label was when I pitched that timeline,” he continues. “I suppose I’m not much of a strategic thinker. Nothing on A Loud Bash … is leftover material. I don’t know. That feels cheater-y to me.” The quick turnaround between records and tours is even more impressive if you consider what Alex went through in 2016. Beach Slang’s drummer JP Flexner exited the band last April. Six months later, hours before the band was set to leave on tour, guitarist Ruben Gallego was dismissed from the band in the wake of sexual-assault allegations. Alex, along with bassist Ed McNulty, soldiered on with a patchwork version of Beach Slang and delivered the music. Behind the fuzz and fury of these 10 new tracks is Alex’s poignant and honest songwriting. While touring last year, Alex noticed that a lot of the kids who liked the band’s music could also relate to his lyrics. He listened to their stories and understood where they were coming from.
“I wanted to be a writer long before I picked up a guitar,” Alex says. “Words are gigantic, necessary things to me. So, yeah, it means everything to me to see the ones I write, connect.” Alex’s perspective also shifted when he became a father. His son also became the inspiration for the new record. “Writing, for me, is a very isolating process. I write alone. It’s the only way I know how. I suppose, I have a need to chase ideas without interruption,” he says. “However, with this record, I had to adapt, to develop the skill set of publicly creating. So, I tried to tap into that Jack Kerouac poet-troubadour thing. I hope it worked.
MINUS THE BEAR, BEACH SLANG, BAYONNE Sun. April 1, 7 p.m. Mr. Smalls, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millville. $23.50. 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com
“That less-isolated approach brought something to the thing, something isolation misses. I think there’s a soft evolution. I mean, I’m not quite done with the sound and narrative I’ve been making and telling. When that feels like boredom, I’ll shift.” As Beach Slang prepares to set off on tour, Alex says the band is excited to once again hit the road to meet the fans and swap stories. “In October/November, we are doing a full U.S. tour with Bleached; we are calling the thing ‘Bleached Slang’ and man, I dig that,” Alex says. “I mean, we never really stop touring. We visit home. We live on the road.” I N F O@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
NEW RELEASES
CRITICS’ PICKS
{BY MEG FAIR}
LLORE FICTIONAL CREATURE
Soul Sucker
SELF-RELEASED WWW.LLOREMUSIC.COM
Llore’s debut EP, Fictional Creature, is a folk endeavor that transports the listener to a quiet fireside in the woods, listening to stories, passed down through generations, that seek to captivate, fascinate and frighten. These four tracks, the work of songwriter Amanda Collins, could haunt the ruins of ancient castles and mansions, long abandoned and now covered in moss. Fictional Creature opens with “Nowhere,” a brief, gentle introduction that offers heartbreak and longing as the root of a new myth. The next song, “Stay,” is a warmer venture, with a driving plucked banjo. The closer, “Vasilisa the Wise,” recounts the Russian fairy tale of Vasilisa, a beautiful young woman who is sent into the dark night to find fire by her wicked stepmother. Collins picks up the story as Vasilisa encounters Baba Yaga, a famous, frightful witch who requires her to complete nearly impossible tasks in order to earn the fire, or be killed for her failure. As Vasilisa works through the tasks, Collins’ voice moves between gentle verses that drive the narrative, bookended by string and horn arrangements that express both fear and hope. The triumphant choruses express the curiosity and strength of Vasilisa, and as she returns home with a skull full of fire gifted by Baba Yaga, Collins’ voice trails off into the void with the reverberations of a piano and violin. The EP’s four songs are short and sweet, and it leaves the listener yearning for more. Fictional Creature whets an appetite for Collins’ breathy, soaring vocals and careful storytelling. MEGFAIR@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
LLORE EP-RELEASE SHOW 7 p.m. Thu., April 6. The Glitter Box Theater, 460 Melwood Ave., Oakland. www.facebook.com/glitterboxtheater
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[INDIE] + THU., MARCH 30 Brooklyn’s Ava Luna wields a manic energy, its music fusing elements of psych, indie rock, jazz and alternative R&B. The dueling vocals form a conversation that you don’t quite understand but can’t pull away from. Trippy spoken-word pieces drip over beats reminiscent of The Books on tracks like “Steve Polyester,” while the spacey instrumentals of “Infinite House” feel larger than life. Sometimes dark, heavy riffs bring you under a swirling wave of fuzz (“Black Dog”), before washing up on a shore of classic rock (“Best Hexagon”). Ava Luna is a trip that will suck you in and spit you out as a whole new person. Opening for Ava Luna at Club Café is local indie-rock outfit, Honey. Meg Fair 7 p.m. 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $15. 412-431-4950 or www.clubcafelive.com
two-stepping, headbanging paradise. Tonight, a diverse lineup of hardcore bands descends on the venue to share their fury with the Steel City. Ontario’s Soul Sucker is a metal-ish hardcore act that spouts bitter, emotive confessionals over circle-pit-inducing madness. Joining it is Short Leash, from Michigan, whose straightforward, menacing hardcore is nothing short of a fucking blast. Minneapolis’ War Prayer has the power to light that burning in your chest that makes you want to spin-kick, grab the mic with your friends and get your {PHOTO COURTESY OF MOLLY ALPHABET} mosh cardio in for the month. Clevelandbased Hellbound’s metal-leaning hardcore rounds out the lineup. MF 6 p.m. 5106 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $10. All ages. www. robotoproject.org
[POST-PUNK] + FRI., MARCH 31
Been feeling a little too upbeat these days? Itching to get back to grieving the pain of Chet Vincent Three alt-country existence? Spirit has and the Big Bend favorites come a night of gloomy together tonight at post-punk and the Hard Rock Café bouncing gothwave for the sixth annual to satiate you. New CureRock concert to York City’s Decorum, raise awareness and funds for fighting children’s a reverb-soaked, post-punk-meets-goth band, cancer. Pittsburgh’s Chet Vincent and the Big effuses cold energy in its instrumentation and Bend will be serving some bluesy rock jams with dual vocal work, with lilting riffs and mathy just a hint of punk. Kyle Cox’s relatable and beats, rekindling the goth dancer in each of charming country-rock set will be sure to have our chilly blackened hearts. Pittsburgh brings people clapping and stomping along. Finally, its own darkness with Silence (anarcho postrevel in the upbeat, heartfelt pop of Matt Hires punk), Derider (moody, funky post-punk), (think Mumford & Sons or The Lumineers). Bring Her (gothwave darlings) and the city’s pre-eminent Dark ’80s DJ, Erica Scary. The Alona Williams 7 p.m. 230 W. Station Square event page encourages funeral attire, so Drive, South Side. $25. 412-481-7625 or grab that decorative black veil gathering www.hardrock.com/café/pittsburgh dust in your closet and get to it. MF 9 p.m. [HXC] + FRI., MARCH 31 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $7. 412-586-4441 or The Mr. Roboto Project is about to become a www.spiritpgh.com
[CHARITABLE ROCK] + THU., MARCH 30
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TO SUBMIT A LISTING: HTTP://PGHCITYPAPER.COM/HAPPENINGS 412.316.3388 (FAX) + 412.316.3342 X165 (PHONE) {ALL LISTINGS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 9 A.M. FRIDAY PRIOR TO PUBLICATION}
THU 30 HARD ROCK CAFE. Matt Hires, Kyle Cox, Chet Vincent & the Big Bend. CureRock benefits local pediatric & adolescent/ young adult cancer efforts. Station Square. 412-481-7625. JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Tim Vitullo Band w/ The Dovewires. North Side. 412-904-3335. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE. Here Come The Mummies. Warrendale. 724-799-8333. STAGE AE. Daya. North Side. 412-229-5483.
FRI 31 CATTIVO. Erro. Feat. The Lovely Cur, Good Ship Gibraltar & Nightly Standard. Lawrenceville. 412-821-2869. CLUB CAFE. High & Mighty Brass Band. South Side. 412-431-4950. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE. The Reagan Years. Warrendale. 724-799-8333. LINDEN GROVE. Totally 80s. Castle Shannon. 412-882-8687. ROCHESTER INN HARDWOOD GRILLE. The Eagles Tribute. Ross. 412-364-8166. SPIRIT HALL & LODGE. DECORUM (NYC), Silence., Derider, Bring Her & DJ Erica Scary. Lawrenceville. 412-452-2054.
SAT 01 BAJA BAR AND GRILL. Ferris Bueller’s Revenge Band. Fox Chapel. 412-963-0640. CATTIVO. The Skull, Monolith Wielder, Horehound & The Long Hunt. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. CLUB CAFE. Nick Hakim. South Side. 412-431-4950. DOWNEY’S HOUSE. Mr. Clean. Robinson. 412-489-5631. FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK BAND HALL. Near the Edge. Downtown. 814-536-3823. HOWLERS. Goddamnit, Nightmarathons, Old Game & Swiss Army. Bloomfield. 412-706-1643. JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Chrome Moses w/ Pet Clinic. North Side. 412-904-3335. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE. Rusted Root. Warrendale. 724-799-8333. JUGO SLAV CLUB. Jumpin Jack Flash w/ Southside Jerry. Bethel Park. 412-835-1011.
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MOONDOG’S. 13 Saints, The Legendary Hucklebucks, Johnny & the Razorblades. Blawnox. 412-828-2040. MR. SMALLS THEATER. Minus The Bear w/ Beach Slang, Bayonne. Millvale. 412-821-4447. STAGE AE. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness w/ Atlas Genius, Night Riots. North Side. 412-229-5483.
SUN 02 JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Ray Lanich Trio. North Side. 412-904-3335. THE R BAR. Billy The Kid & the Regulators. Dormont. 412-942-0882. STAGE AE. Never Shout Never. North Side. 412-229-5483.
TUE 04 JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Bachelor Boys Showcase. North Side. 412-904-3335. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE. Ray Lanich Band. Warrendale. 724-799-8333. MR. SMALLS THEATER. Son Volt. Millvale. 412-821-4447.
WED 05 CLUB CAFE. Miles Nielsen & the Rusted Hearts. South Side. 412-431-4950. HOWLERS. Bereft, Aseethe & CANT. Bloomfield. 412-682-0320. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE. Billy the Kid & the Regulators. Warrendale. 724-799-8333. KEYSTONE BAR. The Bo’Hog Brothers. Sewickley. 724-758-4217.
DJS
MON 03
THU 30
CLUB CAFE. Carter Hulsey & American Opera. South Side. 412-431-4950.
BELVEDERE’S. Classic Material w/ Selecta & Smi. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2555.
MP 3 MONDAY C. SCOTT {PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN MICHAEL WHITE}
ROCK/POP
Each week, we post a song from a local artist online. This week’s MP3 Monday is “Maneuvers,” from C. Scott’s latest collection of beats, Be That As It May (described on his Bandcamp as “six tracks from my mom’s attic”). Throw some lyrics on these if you want, but the instrumentals do just fine on their own. Stream or download the track for free at FFW>>, the music blog at www.pghcitypaper.com.
HEAVY ROTATION
JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Roger Humphries Jam Session. Ballroom. North Side. 412-904-3335. VALLOZZI’S PITTSBURGH. Eric Johnson. Downtown. 412-394-3400.
Here are four songs that City Paper music writer Meg Fair can’t stop listening to:
REGGAE THU 30 PIRATA. The Flow Band. Downtown. 412-323-3000.
FRI 31 CAPRI PIZZA AND BAR. Bombo Claat w/ VYBZ Machine Intl Sound System. East Liberty. 412-362-1250.
FRI 31 ANDORA RESTAURANT - FOX CHAPEL. Pianist Harry Cardillo & vocalist Charlie Sanders. Fox Chapel. 412-967-1900.
Lizzo
“Good as Hell”
SUN 02
BACKSTAGE BAR AT THEATRE SQUARE. Jeremy Fisher Jr & Peter Ahn. Downtown. 412-325-6769. JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Tony Campbell’s Jazz Jam Session. North Side. 412-904-3335. THE MONROEVILLE RACQUET CLUB. Jazz Bean Live. Every Saturday, a different band. Monroeville. 412-728-4155.
Sammus
“Time Crisis”
K. Flay
“Black Wave”
SUN 02 ROCKS LANDING BAR & GRILLE. Tony Campbell & the Jazz Surgery. McKees Rocks. 412 - 857- 5809.
Tegan and Sara
MON 03
“Boyfriend”
MR. SMALLS THEATER. Centrifuge Thursdays. At the Funhouse. Millvale. 412-821-4447. PERLE CHAMPAGNE BAR. Bobby D Bachata. Downtown. 412-471-2058.
FRI 31 ANDYS WINE BAR. DJ Malls Spins Vinyl. Downtown. 412-773-8884. THE FLATS ON CARSON. Pete Butta. South Side. 412-586-7644. ONE 10 LOUNGE. DJ Goodnight, DJ Rojo. Downtown. 412-874-4582. ROWDY BUCK. Top 40 Dance. South Side. 412-431-2825. RUGGER’S PUB. 80s Night w/ DJ Connor. South Side. 412-381-1330.
SAT 01 BELVEDERE’S. Sean MC & Thermos. 90s night. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2555. CATTIVO. Illusions. w/ Funerals & Arvin Clay. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. DIESEL. DJ CK. South Side. 412-431-8800. PERLE CHAMPAGNE BAR. DJ Tenova. ladies night. Downtown. 412-471-2058. ROWDY BUCK. Top 40 Dance. South Side. 412-431-2825. SPIRIT HALL & LODGE. TITLE TOWN Soul & Funk
NEWS
LINDEN GROVE. Karaoke. Castle Shannon. 412-882-8687. RIVERS CASINO. Kevin Howard Trio. North Side. 412-231-7777.
SUN 02
FRI 31 PALACE THEATRE. Rocktopia. One-of-a-kind musical arrangements featuring the works of classical composers, rock bands & artists including Queen, Mozart, Journey, Handel, U2, Tchaikovsky, Heart, Beethoven, Styx, Foreigner, Rachmaninoff, Pink Floyd, Copland, The Who, more. Greensburg. 724-836-8000. RIVERS CASINO. The Delaneys.Tony Janflone Jr. North Side. 412-231-7777.
FULL LIST ONLINE
CLASSICAL THU 30
SAT 01 ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM. Sound Series: Quartetto di Venezia. North Side. 412-237-8300. PHILLIPS LOUNGE. Jimbo & the Soupbones. New Kensington. 724-351-3060.
FRI 31
SUN 02 PALACE THEATRE. Paul Shaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band. Greensburg. 724-836-8000.
THE BLIND PIG SALOON. Erin Burkett & Virgil Walters w/ Max Leake & Mark Lucas. New Kensington. 724-337-7008.
THE GOLDMARK. Pete Butta. Reggae & dancehall. Lawrenceville. 412-688-8820.
ACOUSTIC
WED 05
THU 30
SMILING MOOSE. Rock Star Karaoke w/ T-MONEY. South Side. 412-431-4668. SPOON. Spoon Fed. East Liberty. 412-362-6001.
DOWNEY’S HOUSE. Aaron from The Lava Game. Robinson. 412-489-5631.
SAT 01 WALNUT GRILL-ROBINSON. The Eclectic Acoustics. Robinson. 412-747-2100.
HIP HOP/R&B SAT 01
SUN 02
STAGE AE. King Chip, Bernz. North Side. 412-229-5483.
BLUES
HAMBONE’S. Calliope Old Time Appalachian Jam. Lawrenceville. 412-681-4318.
SAT 01
WED 05
JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Sweaty Betty Blues Band. North Side. 412-904-3335. POINTBREEZEWAY. The Blues Orphans. Point Breeze. 412-770-7830.
ALLEGHENY ELKS LODGE #339. Pittsburgh Banjo Club. Wednesdays. North Side. 412-321-1834. PARK HOUSE. Shelf Life String Band. North Side. 412-224-2273. WHEELFISH. Jason Born. Ross. 412-487-8909.
JAZZ
WORLD
THU 30 EIGHTY ACRES KITCHEN & BAR. Erin Burkett & Virgil walters w/ Eric Susoeff. Monroeville. 724-519-7304.
M A I N F E AT U R E
RIVER CITY BRASS PRESENTS THE EVOLUTION. Palace Theatre, Greensburg. 724-836-8000.
THU 30
WED 05
TUE 04
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WED 05
HAMBONE’S. Ian Kane, Ronnie Weiss & Tom Boyce. Jazz Standards, showtunes & blues. Lawrenceville. 412-681-4318. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE. Antoinette Groove Band. Warrendale. 724-799-8333.
Party. Rare Soul, Funk & wild R&B 45s feat. DJ Gordy G. & J.Malls. Lawrenceville. 412-586-4441.
OTHER MUSIC
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION. Distinguished Chinese conductor Long Yu makes his Pittsburgh Symphony debut CLUB CAFE. w/ Mussorgsky’s Reformed Whores. www. per showpiece for piano, a p South Side. pghcitym later orchestrated by .co 412-431-4950. Ravel, vividly depicts 10 paintings by Mussorgsky’s friend Viktor Hartmann. Principal viola Randolph Kelly takes center stage for Paganini’s virtuosic THE CHOIR OF NEW COLLEGE, Sonata per la Grand Viola, which OXFORD. Calvary Episcopal was given its Pittsburgh premiere Church, Shadyside. 412-396-3400. by Kelly. Heinz Hall, Downtown. 412-392-4900. PITTSBURGH YOUTH PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION. SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: Distinguished Chinese A NIGHT ON BROADWAY. conductor Long Yu makes An evening of Broadway classics his Pittsburgh Symphony & favorites. Upper St. Clair debut w/ Mussorgsky’s showpiece High School, Upper St. Clair. for piano, later orchestrated 412-403-0002. by Ravel, vividly depicts 10 paintings by Mussorgsky’s friend Viktor Hartmann. Principal JUSTIN WEILNAU. First viola Randolph Kelly takes center stage for Paganini’s virtuosic Lutheran Church, Downtown. Sonata per la Grand Viola, which 412-471-8125.
COUNTRY
SAT 01
was given its Pittsburgh premiere by Kelly. Heinz Hall, Downtown. 412-392-4900.
FRI 31 OAKS THEATER. Carla Cooke. Oakmont. 412-828-6322.
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What to do WEDNESDAY 29 Naughty Professor
JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY North Side. 412-904-3335. With special guest Manic Soul. Over 21 show. Tickets: greyareaprod.com 9p.m.
THURSDAY 30
IN PITTSBURGH
Downtown. With special guest Pretenders. Tickets: ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000. 7p.m.
The Glue Factory Project: What’s Missing? NEW HAZLETT THEATER North Side. 412-320-4610. Tickets: brownpapertickets. com. Through Apr. 2.
Daya
Two Birds
STAGE AE North Side. With special guests Alexx Mack & Liberty Deep Down. Tickets: ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000.Doors open at 7p.m.
CATTIVO Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. With special guests John Wayne Gretzky & Look Out Loretta. All ages show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 6:30p.m.
Dopapod
SATURDAY1
REX THEATER South Side. 412-381-1681. With special guest Sweet Earth. Over 21 show. Tickets: greyareaprod.com. 9p.m.
FRIDAY 31 315 Stevie Nicks
PPG PAINTS ARENA
Bryan Ferry
HEINZ HALL Downtown. 412-392-4900. Tickets: pittsburghsymphony. org. 8p.m.
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness STAGE AE North Side. With special guests Atlas Genius & Night Riots.
THE KING AND I BENEDUM CENTER THROUGH APRIL 9 Photo by Matthew Murphy
March 29 - April 4
With special guests Hearken & Side Eye. All ages show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 7p.m.
MONDAY 3
Bowling for Soup REX THEATER South Side. 412-381-1681. With special guests Runaway Kids & Direct Hit. All ages show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 7:30p.m.
Oedipus Rex UNION PROJECT Highland Park. 412-561-6000. Tickets: picttheatre.org. Through Apr. 8. Tickets: ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000. Doors open at 6:30p.m.
Half-Pint Prints ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM North Side. For more info visit warhol.org. Free with museum admission. 10a.m.
Minus the Bear MR. SMALLS THEATRE
Millvale. 412-421-4447. With special guests Beach Slang & Bayonne. All ages show. Tickets: ticketweb.com/ opusone. 8p.m.
Doors open at 6p.m.
SUNDAY 2
CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART Oakland. For tickets and more info visit cmoa.org. 11a.m.
Never Shout Never STAGE AE North Side. With special guest Me Like Bees. Tickets: ticketmaster. com or 1-800-745-3000.
Brunch: Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion
The Courtneys CATTIVO Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157.
After Hours
at the
TUESDAY 4 The King AND I
BENEDUM CENTER Downtown. 412-456-6666. Tickets: trustarts.org. Through Apr. 9.
Davina & The Vagabonds CABARET AT THEATER SQUARE. 412-456-6666. Tickets: trustarts.org. 8p.m.
Library
April 7 + 7 – 10 PM Get your tickets early!
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$30 General Admission • $45 VIP
CLP – Main
carnegielibrary.org/afterhours
4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15213
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
21 + Event
[COMEDY]
“IT’S GOOD FOR DARK TIMES.”
STILL BURNING {BY AMANI NEWTON}
INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
BURNING BRIDGES FESTIVAL Fri., March 31-Sun., April 2. Various venues. $10-20. www.burningbridgesfestival.com NEWS
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[STA GE]
A BROADER FRINGE {BY BILL O’DRISCOLL}
The Reformed Whores: Katy Frame (left) and Marie Anderson {PHOTO COURTESY OF MINDY TUCKER}
This weekend, Pittsburgh welcomes the second annual Burning Bridges Comedy Festival. Organizer John Dick Winters promises an even more accessible event, with even bigger performances. Headliners include James Adomian, the elastic impressionist known for his appearances on Comedy Bang! Bang! and The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, and Aparna Nancherla, the acerbic comic from Conan and Inside Amy Schumer who has more than 150,000 Twitter followers. The festival is presented by Race to the Coffin Comedy and The Epicast Network. Pittsburgh-based comic Winters chuckles at hearing the word “diversity” used to describe the lineup, which features nearly four dozen comedians, male and female, local and national, and from different backgrounds. “Yeah, diversity is a weird word,” he says. The festival even includes lots of comedy for people who aren’t necessarily inclined toward standup. Sunday’s headliners, for instance, are Reformed Whores, a country-music comedy duo who describe themselves as “If Tenacious D and Dolly Parton got drunk and had a baby.” Their videos have more than a million views on YouTube, including “Hump-a-Lot Bear,” a twangy, all-American anthem to the joys of girlhood masturbation. Katy Frame, the accordion player, says that song is one of their best. “I’m yelling the word ‘masturbating’ on the street! I don’t think it’s something you should be ashamed of,” she says by phone from their home base, in Brooklyn. “In high school, we played a game of truth-or-dare, and this girl admitted that she masturbated 11 times a week. And I was like, ‘Oh, my God! I’m doing great, I’m not hitting eleven times a week.’ So that really helped me.” Marie Anderson, who plays ukulele, adds, “That’s the only song my parents ask, ‘Can you please not play that bear song?’ It’s amazing how shameful that can be for people. But that’s why we sing it. It’s a sweet song!” Reformed Whores headlines the festival’s closing night, at Club Café. Like last year, Burning Bridges uses multiple venues around the area: Arcade Comedy Theater, Downtown; Club Café, on the South Side; the newly opened Unplanned Comedy Warehouse, in Lawrenceville; Mr. Smalls, in Millvale; Comtra Theater, in the North Hills; and Hambone’s, in Lawrenceville, the only venue where all the performances will be free.
Pittsburgh Fringe acts, clockwise from upper left: One Man Apocalypse Now, magician Cody Clark, The Seven Suitcases of a Snake Oil Salesman and Cockatrice
C
ODY CLARK remembers when he discovered his calling as a magician. As an autistic kid, he’d never felt quite capable at most tasks. But when he was 11, a magician called him onstage to help with a couple of tricks, like restoring a broken wand, and dropping the blade in a “dismemberment” routine. “That was a very inspiring moment for me,” says Clark. He felt empowered, he says. The Louisville, Ky.-based Clark went on to learn how to do magic himself, working extra hard on sleight-of-hand to compensate for his poor motor skills. Now, at 23, he’s a college graduate and full-time stage magician who does everything from weddings to a kids’ show as the character “Conductor Cody.” But Clark has found one sort of showcase particularly receptive to his craft:
M A I N F E AT U R E
fringe festivals, those increasingly popular programs highlighting smaller-scale, often unconventional performance art. Clark has played fringe fests in Indianapolis and Cinncinnati, with bookings forthcoming in Orlando and Kansas City. And his show
PITTSBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL Fri., March 31-Sun., April 2. Various venues, North Side. $8-15 per show (discounts available with festival button); day passes: $25-40; weekend pass: $95. www.pittsburghfringe.org
Cody Clark: A Different Way of Thinking is among the acts at the fourth annual Pittsburgh Fringe Festival. “At a fringe fest,” he says, “they are very open to anything being an art.”
This year’s festival runs March 31-April 2 and features 30 acts, up from 19 last year; there’s also visual art, and more music. And while the festival is still mostly contained within a few square blocks on the North Side — including social club St. Mary’s Lyceum, a venue from last year — new locations include the nearby Alphabet City, Allegheny Inn Bed and Breakfast and, serving as “Fringe central,” Artists Images Resources. The acts, most of whom perform two or three shows each over the weekend, are a mix of local and national talent. Pittsburgh Fringe, like most fringe fests, is uncurated. But Xela Batchelder, in her second year as Pittsburgh Fringe organizer, says 13 of this year’s 30 acts are nationally touring. Some, like Boston-based humorist CONTINUES ON PG. 28
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A BROADER FRINGE, CONTINUED FROM PG. 27
Randy Ross’ sex-and-love-themed monologue The Chronic Single’s Handbook, have played Scotland’s fabled Edinburgh Fringe. Philadelphia-based performer Bradley Wrenn, who’s also played Edinburgh, brings his solo, medieval-knight-themed comedy piece Cockatrice. Other fringe-fest faves include The Portable Dorothy Parker, Grove Goddess Productions’ one-woman show about the famed author and wit reminiscing about her famous friends (Hemingway, Fitzgerald) and career. Other likely fest highlights include One Man Apocalypse Now, in which Philadelphia-based Chris Davis acts out what he calls a dark-edged “comedic send-up” of the legendary 1979 film. Speaking by phone, Davis says he’s been fascinated by Apocalypse Now since viewing it in the 1990s, as a high school student. His 50-minute show finds him acting out a condensed plot with rewritten dialogue but all the key characters, including Martin Sheen’s Capt. Willard, Dennis Hopper’s whacked-out photographer, Marlon Brando’s iconic Kurtz and even a female stripper. “It’s good for dark times,” says Davis. The show premiered this past September at Philadelphia’s fringe festival, and is booked at Edinburgh, where Davis has performed three years running.
Bad Idea Variety Show is part of the Pittsburgh Fringe.
Locally based productions include Eva & Hillary, Erika Fricke’s satirical play imagining a conversation between the über-charismatic Eva Peron and the wonky Hillary Clinton. The 30-minute work stars Jennifer Tober and Emily Askin, and asks, says Fricke, “What do we really expect of our female leaders?” Other Pittsburgh Fringe acts include: Betsy Carmichael’s BINGO Palace, an inter-
active comedy led by a Buffalo, N.Y.-based drag performer; Approaching Happiness, a monologue on happiness and mental health by Washington, D.C.-based comedian Krish Mohan; The Dorothy Matrix 8-Bit Orchestra, in which a Philadelphia-based drag queen conducts a classical-music concert with an orchestra comprised of vintage Nintendo Game Boys; The Pink Hulk: One Woman’s Journey
THE FESTIVAL FEATURES 30 ACTS, UP FROM 19 LAST YEAR.
to Find the Superhero Within, New Yorkbased Valerie David’s monologue about surviving cancer; The Seven Suitcases of a Snake Oil Salesman, with storytelling, magic, juggling and more by O’Ryan the O’Mazing; That Really Funny Improv Show, from St. Louis; and Bent Antennae Productions’ Triage, an edgy sendup of “reality” competitions. April 1 brings the one-night-only Fringe StorySlam, an open-mic competition. For his part, Clark, the young magician, will deliver an hour-long theatrical magic show built around the story of his often challenging life. Rather than a stunt-driven approach, he says, “I really like the more personal approach to magic.” His tricks reflect life episodes, like one in which he conjures boxes of Velveeta mac-and-cheese to recall his grandmother’s cooking, or represents his struggles learning magic with autism by doing the cut-and-restored-rope trick. Clark is especially happy to make his Pittsburgh debut because of a certain local icon. “Mr. Rogers has been such a big influence on me,” he says. “I couldn’t really be the macho man, but for Mr. Rogers that was OK.” In Fred Rogers, Clark says, “I found an example of manliness that I could get behind.”
pittsburgh.colormemine.com south hills.colormemine.com
301 South Hills Village 15241 412-854-1074 5887 Forbes Ave 15217 412-421-2909
ONLY AT
D RI S C OL L @ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
THROUGH MAY 14 FREE ADMISSION Peter Paul Rubens, Portrait of Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency, Princess of Condé (detail), c. 1610. Oil on canvas, Frick Art & Historical Center.
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
THEFRICKPITTSBURGH.ORG 412-371-0600
[PLAY REVIEW]
HAND OF FATE
Karen Baum in Oedipus Rex {PHOTO COURTESY OF SUELLEN FITZSIMMONS}
{BY MICHELLE PILECKI} Oedipus Rex, the 2,500-year-old hit by Sophocles as freely adapted and directed by PICT Classic Theatre artistic director Alan Stanford, is, uh, complex. Puns aside, the PICT production at the Union Project ranges from grand spectacle to annoying obstacles. The play opens with the Sphinx, a marvel of the talented thespian Karen Baum enhanced by costume (designed by Michael Montgomery) and various special effects (kudos to the tech people). Visually, the show drabs down after that, but — the voices. The cast Stanford has assembled do declaim with the richest and most melodious voices (give him credit, too, for retaining a kind of Sophoclean rhythm in the dialogue). Unfortunately, the arrangement of the theater — a sort of cut-off thrust design — means that most of the time, we’re looking at the backs of heads (at best, profiles). The passion, the tensions are dissipated. After a couple of millennia, Oedipus presents no need for spoiler alerts. The proud and powerful king of Thebes slowly realizes that, as predicted by two soothsayers, he did indeed kill his father and marry his mother. Mere mortals cannot defeat the gods. This production fleshes out the characters and probes the relationships. While horrified at their unwitting incest, Oedipus and Jocasta (Justin Wade Wilson and Shammen McCune, respectively) still burn with the love of their long marriage. The murdered Laius (Kevin H. Moore) is shown as a man who inspired fear, not loyalty. Creon (Johnny Lee Davenport, turning on his best Samuel L. Jackson voice) comes out of the shadows of power to proclaim it once the Truth is out. Speaking of cast members (most of them multi-cast), I must sing the praises of Linda Haston as the wise and authoritative Leader of the Chorus, and James FitzGerald as the angered seer Tiresius. Apart from the Sphinx, the design elements are subtle and timeless. This could be Thebes 3,000 years ago or another Thebes whenever. Antonio Colaruotolo’s lighting adds dimension to Johnmichael Bohach’s set (note scenic artist Deborah Thomas). Technical director Steve Lau and Almeda Beynon’s sound design enriches the supernatural nature of the tale. A sometimes-obstructed feast for the eyes, Oedipus Rex is a feast for the ears. INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
OEDIPUS REX continues through April 8. PICT Classic Theatre at the Union Project, 801 N. Negley Ave., Highland Park. $15-50. 412-561-6000 or www.picttheatre.org NEWS
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” ’†——ž ™Â?Š Â—ÂŽÂ“ÂˆÂŠÂ˜Â˜Ć˝ ž”š ’š˜™ ˜”‘›Š Čž —Ž‰‰‘Š˜Ǥ † ˜Ž“Œ‘Š œ—”“Œ †“˜œŠ— —Š˜š‘™˜ Ž“ ‰Š†™Â?Ç„
THIAGO ARANCAM as Prince Calaf
ALEXANDRA LOUTSION as Princess Turandot
WEI WU as Timur
MARIA LUIGIA BORSI as LiĂš
ÇŚ Č? Ç„ ČžČœ ĘŽ Č? ÇŚ Š“Š‰š’ Š“™Š— ÇŚ ŽˆÂ?Š™˜ ˜™†—™ †™ Č–ČœČ? ÇŚ Č&#x;ČœČ?Ç‚Č&#x;Č ČĄÇ‚ČĄČĄČĄČĄ ”— •Ž™™˜‡š—ŒÂ?Â”Â•ÂŠÂ—Â†Ç€Â”Â—ÂŒÇ Â™ÂšÂ—Â†Â“Â‰Â”Â™ UNDERSTAND EVERY WORD! Sung in Italian with English texts projected above the stage. Campaign by Creme Fraiche Design.
Season Sponsor
Tuesday Night Sponsor: Ambridge Regional Distribution & Manufacturing Center
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"Rare and special... and it's seriously funny."
BEHIND BAKERY SQUARE JOHN HODGE DIRECTED BY
JED ALLEN HARRIS
The London Times
BY
Opening Night April
7
(through April 30) Moscow, 1938. A dangerous place to have a sense of humor; even more so a sense of freedom. quantumtheatre.com 412.362.1713
{PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN VIATORI}
Lindsay Fisher in Over Exposed
[DANCE]
INSIDE OUT {BY STEVE SUCATO} CATHARTIC JOURNEYS of self-examina-
tion and self-discovery are common in dance. In her first public dance production since returning to the area, Lindsay Fisher peels back the curtain on her public persona to reveal more of her personal life in Over Exposed, on Thu., April 6, at the New Hazlett Theater. Part of the theater’s CSA Performance Series, the 75-minute, intermissionless dance-theater work is described by Fisher as “a collection of the doubts, insecurities, everyday joys and small victories that make up one woman’s life.” She says she was interested in bringing out into the open parts of her personal life she usually hides from view — things she is embarrassed by and things that have emotionally rocked her world.
Hasenpflug, as well as by Arvo Pärt and German alt rockers Milky Chance, the work also uses pre-recorded and live spoken text to introduce and interconnect each of its five sections about aging, gender roles, memory and loss. Currently on the dance faculty at Slippery Rock University, Fisher, a Butler native, studied dance and choreography at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of Iowa, and worked for a time as a freelance dancer based in New York City. Her time in New York, and the painful breakup of her first marriage, inspired a section of Over Exposed entitled “View From Inside.” Fisher recalls a feeling of emotional estrangement living with her then-husband before they separated, and the odd feeling of being alone in a city of millions. Joining Fisher on stage will be a recent Point Park grad, dancer Montana Michniak, and dancer/choreographer Matt Pardo, co-founder of Pittsburgh’s newest producing organization, The Blanket. Additionally, 22 student dancers from Slippery Rock University will perform in the sections titled “Memoria,” about clinging to memories, and “Reading the Red,” a fun, prop-heavy piece. Fisher admits her travails and triumphs in Over Exposed are like those of many. The hope is that the show will not only entertain, but prove therapeutic to those who might be grappling with similar personal issues.
“IT’S TERRIFYING BUT AT THE SAME TIME LIBERATING.”
LINDSAY FISHER PERFORMS
OVER EXPOSED 8 p.m. Thu., April 6. New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $25. 412-320-4610 or www.newhazletttheater.org
“It’s terrifying but at the same time liberating to put elements of me out there I don’t normally share,” says Fisher. Set to a mix of original music by composers Jason Palamara and Andy
I N F O@ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
[BOOK REVIEW]
WELL RED
ART OF YOGA
{BY FRED SHAW}
Most yoga studios are adorned with om symbols, mandalas and incense. They are positive, peaceful spaces that act as sanctuaries from the outside world. The Carnegie Museum of Art, however, provides a different aesthetic with its new, professionally instructed yoga class on Thursday evenings. Now you can do downward-facing dog (or my favorite, savasana) in a space modeled after the Parthenon, or surrounded by cast façades of France’s St. Gilles-du-Gard church. The class was organized by Laura Zorch-McDermit, the museum’s manager of social experiences, and local yoga instructor Stefanie Zito, a 500-hour YogaWorks graduate who offers both private lessons and classes at venues including Schoolhouse Yoga and Green Heiress Holistic Health. She also visits workplaces to share her playful, strength-building, all-level yoga magic with employees during work hours. Zito’s teaching style is dynamic, and students are encouraged to take advantage of the multiple options she provides per pose. The classes at the Carnegie have been held in a variety of spaces, including the Hall of Architecture and Carnegie Music Hall. However, most classes will be held in the Hall of Sculpture, depending on the exhibition schedule. “We want visitors to experience the museum in many different ways,â€? says Zorch-McDermit. “Practicing yoga in our spaces allows for participants to connect with their surroundings and think anew about the museum as a place for self-care.â€? As if the venue weren’t grand enough, some classes include musical accompaniment by musicians from the Pittsburgh Symphony as a part of the symphony’s Music & Wellness program. The program promotes the therapeutic qualities of live music at medical facilities such as Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. A symphony musician will perform during yoga class on the following dates: March 30, April 27 and May 18. Sessions run from 7-8 p.m. and are open to ages 18 and over. All classes are drop-in. The fee is $8 for museum members, $10 for non-members and $5 for students; no pre-registration is available. A 10-class pass can be purchased at the door for $75, or $50 for members and students. Don’t forget your mat! INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
THURSDAY YOGA AT CMOA continues weekly. Carnegie Museums of Art, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. 412-622-3131 or www.cmoa.org NEWS
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Instructor Stefanie Zito at the Carnegie {PHOTO COURTESY OF BRYAN CONLEY}
{BY JEN LUCAS}
The psychology of colors has been studied for centuries by the likes of Goethe, Jung and an army of marketers. With the longest wavelength, red is said to be the most physical of colors, raising pulses and stimulating “fight or flightâ€? responses. It’s been described as stimulating, and lacking subtlety. And it works as a powerful theme in Kayla Sargeson’s debut full-length poetry collection, First Red (Main Street Rag). Sargeson, a Western Pennsylvania native, is a graduate of Carlow University who earned her master-of-finearts degree in poetry from Columbia College Chicago. She’s a champion of Pittsburgh’s poetry scene, curating the MadFridays reading series and editing City Paper’s online feature “Chapter & Verse.â€? A poet of unblushing honesty, she pulls no punches over the book’s 75 pages, with work often centering on family dysfunction and frank discussions of sexuality. In the rant-like “Dear World —,â€? her persona unfiltered, she writes, “If one more person says to me, ‘You’d be so much prettier / without all that makeup’ / I’ll scream. / I like frilly dresses and tough boots. / The name of my lipstick is Russian Red. / My lingerie matches. / I’m not afraid of sex.â€? Nothing is out of bounds, as those whom “I don’t forgiveâ€? get lined up in her sights, with some stanzas presented as dishes best served cold. The color motif continues in the title poem, which opens on the speaker watching soap operas with her grandmother, commenting that “all the ‘bad’ women wore red lipstick / and I loved them.â€? Sargeson picks up this thread when her speaker describes time with her mother “at four-years old, playing at her vanity table / I was hungry for red — / Spanish Red, another Estee Lauder, / red like my mother’s ’94 Sunfire ‌â€? The poem ends with a tutorial on applying lipstick that effectively points to how behavior can be learned and modeled. Perhaps the most well-crafted poem in a collection where candor reigns is the playful “My Father as the Crazy Horse Gentleman’s Club.â€? There, Sargeson writes, “My father was the Karma Chameleon / in white suits, long flowing hair. He came and went, / came and went. His love was easy but not free — / ‌ He would break your heart.â€? The extended simile works for its gritty artfulness even as First Red reads like a kind of truth not meant for the timid.
“Jessica Dickey addresses life, art, death, and love with wit and grace.�
MARCH 11 – APRIL 2, 2017
[YOGA]
— DC Metro Theater Arts
THE GUARD BY
Jessica Dickey
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FOR THE WEEK OF
03.30-04.06.17 Nikki Brugnoli revisits the postindustrial Pittsburgh of her youth — coke ovens and slag dumps — in drawings and prints. Newcomer Jiyong Hong uses sculpture and installations to make “geographical and memory maps” of the Pittsburgh she’s learning on walks through the city. Misty Morrison’s paintings explore what our responsibility is when we witness injustice. And in their paintings and sculptures depicting the experiences of queer black and white males, Devan Shimoyama and Danny Ferrell ask, “Who deserves the American dream?” Those are four of the nine new bodies of work comprising Pittsburgh Center for the Arts’ Solo & Collaborative Exhibits, which opens with a reception on Fri., March 31. The exhibits, curated by Laura Domencic, also include: Inside the Rabbit Hole, Out in the Meadow, and Up a Tree, sculptures exploring memory and place by Isabel Farnsworth and Shannon Hines; a room-sized installation by DS Kinsel and Julie Mallis recreating their Magic Organs studio at Garfield’s BOOM Concepts; Nicole Renee Ryan’s paintings of imagined landscapes, titled The Place and the Un-Place: Memories of Memories; ceramic and mixedmedia sculptures by Jonathan Schwarz and Angela Biederman, titled Interdependent; and Lauren’s Wilcox’s Cave, which explores the formation of gender identity through found and manipulated imagery.
{ART BY DANNY FERRELL}
Full events listed online at www.pghcitypaper.com
^ Fri., March 31: Instill & Inspire: The John & Vivian Hewitt Collection of African-American Art
thursday 03.30
BY BILL O’DRISCOLL
Reception: 5:30-9 p.m. Fri., March 31. Exhibits continue through July 23. 6300 Fifth Ave., Shadyside. $5 donation requested. 412-361-0873 or www.pfpca.org
We’re three months from the 125th anniversary of one of America’s most infamous labor struggles: the Battle of Homestead. Henry Clay Frick’s 1892 lockout of steelworkers at Homestead Steel Works sparked a strike, then a deadly battle between workers and Pinkerton detectives hired to break the union. The
Battle of Homestead Foundation marks the episode with a seven-month series of talks, performances and film screenings. It begins with a presentation on April 6, by Tammy Hepps, who discusses her grandfather’s role in Homestead’s Jewish community following the battle. 7 p.m. Thu., April 6. Bost Building, 623 E. Eighth Ave., Homestead. Free. 412-478-5907 or www.battleofhomestead.org
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SCREEN Ty Dolla $ign’s “No Justice,” Raphael Saadiq’s “The Answer,” Elijah Blake’s “Hanging Tree” and Mali Music’s “Trouble” are the four tracks fueling filmmaker Bush Renz’s new visual EP, 17. The 17-minute film — a project of Harry Belafonte, his social-justice group sankofa.org and Tidal music-streaming service — follows a black teenager who is contemplating college before a fateful encounter with police. The short honors Trayvon Martin and other black victims of racial and police violence; tonight’s Pittsburgh-premiere screening, at Homewood’s The Shop, is followed by a discussion on activism and the arts moderated by journalist Brentin Mock and including Samantha Kellie-Ann Black, Paradise Gray, Darrell Kinsel and Jacquea Mae. Bill O’Driscoll 6 p.m. 621 N. Dallas Ave., Homewood. Free. www.facebook.com (“visual ep the shop”)
COMEDY “Everybody always asks me, ‘When you blow up, you gonna go Hollywood?’” says Donnell Rawlings. “You damn right! I can’t wait to go Hollywood! You think I did entertainment to go Brooklyn? I ain’t keepin’ it real. I’m selling out. Selling out is the shit.” Rawlings played Ashy Larry on Chappelle’s Show and has toured extensively with Dave Chappelle himself.
His current national standup tour brings him to the Pittsburgh Improv for six performances starting tonight. BO 8 p.m. Continues through Sun., April 2. 166 E. Bridge St., The Waterfront, West Homestead. $20. 412-462-5233 or www.pittsburgh.improv.com
friday 03.31 ART Instill & Inspire: The John & Vivian Hewitt Collection of African-American Art, new at the August Wilson Center, honors the priceless art collection one middle-class couple formed over 50 years. The Hewitts made their first purchase in 1949, with money given to them for their wedding, and eventually compiled paintings, drawings and more by Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, and nearly two dozen other artists from the U.S. and Caribbean. The show opens today. Amani Newton 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Exhibit continues through June 30. 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. Free. 412-471-6070 or www.trustarts.org ^ Thu., March 30: 17 {IMAGE COURTESY OF BUSH RENZ}
^ Fri., March 31: Celebrating Mary Lou Williams: Pittsburgh’s Bebop Queen
TRIBUTE For Women’s History Month, Danielle Maggio and the Ryan Arts and Culture Center fete a homegrown legend. Celebrating Mary Lou Williams: Pittsburgh’s Bebop Queen honors the East Liberty-raised musician who became one of the most innovative jazz artists of all time, arranging music for Duke Ellington and Tommy Dorsey, among others. A screening of Carol Bash’s short documentary “Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band” includes a prescreening discussion and live music by vocalist Maggio and pianist Samuel Okoh-Boateng. AN 6-10 p.m. 420 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks. $5-10 suggested donation. 412-331-1685 or facebook.com/ryanartscenter
Sushi Kim
WORDS WordPlay returns with an especially intriguing group of talents who’ll tell their personal stories while a DJ creates a real-time soundtrack. Tellers for these Bricolage Production Company shows, running Downtown tonight and tomorrow, include: former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Samantha Bennett; WYEP general manager Abby {PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNY KARLSSON} ^ Fri., March 31: WordPlay Goldstein; humorist and WordPlay creator Alan Olifson; life coach and improv comedian Mary C. Parker; and stage and screen actor Brendan Griffin. BO 8 p.m. (7:30 p.m. “happy half-hour”). Also 8 p.m. Sat., April 1. 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $25. www.bricolagepgh.org
DANCE Is This a Man’s World? So asks locally based choreographer Sarah Jeffers in the second iteration of her work that “explores the external and internal limitations … associated with gender.” This second take on a work that premiered last year adds men to the original cast of six women. Performances tonight and tomorrow, at The Space Upstairs, are followed by discussions with the artists, over coffee. A gallery exhibition at the venue features work by local photographer Richard Frost, created in collaboration with the performers. BO 9 p.m. (gallery opens at 7:30 p.m.). Also 9 p.m. Sat., April 1. 214 N. Lexington St., Point Breeze. $10. www.facebook.com (“is this a man’s world”)
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COOKED AT YOUR OWN TABLE
EAT ME... NOW.
HAPPY HOUR 10% O OFF FF
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Korean BBQ Buffet
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EVERYONE IS A CRITIC
{PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD FROST}
^ Fri., March 31: Is This a Man’s World?
saturday 04.01 STAGE
CRITIC: Ahmari Anthony, 17, a student from Homestead
What happens to a bunch of strangers whom a power outage traps on a trolley beneath Mount Washington late one Friday night? Add booze and jazz, and the results range from fear, guilt and accusations to philosophizing and shared wisdom in Lights Out, a new play at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Co. The playwright is Point Park University journalism professor Steve Hallock. Cheryl El-Walker directs a cast including Connor McCanlus, Sam Lothard and Melissa Franklin. The first performance is tonight. BO 8 p.m. Continues through April 16. 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $22.50. www.pghplaywrights.com
WHEN: Sun.,
BALLROOM
EVENT: A Conversation with Kathleen Neal Cleaver and Denise Oliver-Velez, part of
the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival, at the August Wilson Center, Downtown
March 26
The talk was amazing. I have personally admired these two [former Black Panther Party official Cleaver and former Black Panther Oliver-Velez] for a long time. Especially doing community organizing, meeting people who not only started it, [but] raised it to a national level, is necessary. You have to know where you’ve been to know where you’re going. There’s so many kids my age, especially other black kids, it amazes me how they don’t know these people. And especially with Kathleen and Denise, it’s because they’re women. If Malcolm X were still alive, everybody would be running out to come listen to him speak. These women were doing the work too and have really been through it. They have so many experiences and so much wisdom.
tuesday 04.04 SCREEN
In addition to its historical resonance, April 4 has one big fictional referent: It’s the date Winston Smith began his fateful The fictional setting for the journal in 1984. Tonight, the Fourth Annual Galaxy Ball Hollywood Theater joins 90 is Gossip City: a place where other moviehouses nationally “it rains drama and snows in screening director Michael lies.” So you know they’ll Radford’s well-regarded film be bringing it at this yearly adaptation of George Orwell’s opportunity for the public classic dystopian novel. The 1984 to experience the ballroom (of course) film stars John Hurt, as community, an underground Winston, and Richard Burton in culture created by gay his final film role. In a time when black men in 1960s Harlem, current events have restored and still a showcase for 1984 to best-seller lists, tonight’s style, attitude and creativity screening will be followed by for black and brown LGBT a discussion about civil liberties folks. Tonight, at the Ace {PHOTO COURTESY OF HUNY YOUNG} facilitated by Brenda Lee Green, ^ Sat., April 1: Fourth Annual Galaxy Ball Hotel, watch contestants in of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “Rumor(s)” vie for trophies, BO 8 p.m. 1449 Potomac Ave., Dormont. $10. 412-563-0638 cash and bragging rights in some 30 categories, from or www.thehollywooddormont.org “Thug Realness” to “Butch Queen in Pumps,” all to live commentary by Kevin JZ Prodigy and Gregg Evisu Lanvin. The evening also has an HIV/AIDS-education component. BO 9:30 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.). 120 S. Whitfield St., WORDS East Liberty. $15-25. VIP: $60 (single) and $100 (couple). Penguin Bookshop hosts a book-launch party for Almost www.facebook.com (“galaxy ball rumors”) Missed You, the debut novel from Pittsburgh native Jessica Strawser. Published by St. Martin’s Press, the tale of parental abduction questions whether it’s possible to really know anyone, even your spouse. Strawser, who now lives in Cincinnati, TALK is a publishing-industry veteran whose achievements include It might surprise some to know that one of America’s being editorial director of Writer’s Digest magazine, and foremost intellectuals on race relations is an Irish-American a moving 2014 “Modern Love” essay about losing her named Timothy Egan. Egan is a weekly contributor to best friend to domestic violence. AN 6 p.m. 417 Beaver St., the New York Times, and was on the team that produced Sewickley. Free. 412-741-3838 or www.penguinbookshop.com the 2001 Pulitzer-winning series “How Race Is Lived in
thursday 04.06
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America.” Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures welcomes him tonight to its Ten Evenings series following publication of his book The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero, an instant Times bestseller. Get your tickets soon; most reserved seats have already been sold out. AN 7:30 p.m. Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $15-35. 412-622-8866 or www.pittsburghlectures.org
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
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THESE ARE SOME OF THE BEST PORK BUNS AROUND
ROCK SOLID When Pittsburghers think of comfort food, a meaty sandwich stuffed with fries typically comes to mind. The people behind Onion Maiden have different ideas — like Vietnamese noodle salad, tater tots covered in kimchi, or vegan hotdogs — but they still feel their dishes are comforting. “We think of our food as comfort food,” says co-owner Brooks Criswell. “Everything on our menu is nostalgic.” Onion Maiden started out as a pop-up food cart providing vegan festival-style food that could be eaten easily while standing up between shows. (Onion Maiden is a play on the name of metal band Iron Maiden.) In March, Onion Maiden opened up a 35-seat brick-andmortar restaurant in Allentown’s business district. This gave the owners the opportunity to expand their menu and to pay more homage to chef Diana “Dingo” Ngo’s Southeast Asian and Chinese roots. New specialties include a rice-noodle salad with peanuts and lemongrass, as well as a scallion-pancake taco filled with slow-cooked jackfruit — both of which, Criswell says, offer indulgent contrasts like sweet and savory, and crispy and chewy. There’s also a platter with sharp cashew cheese, baguette, chutney and apples, and the restaurant still offers a wide variety of the vegan hotdogs it popularized as a food cart. Criswell says diners might call Onion Maiden’s cuisine Asian-American-vegan “fusion.” But he, Ngo and main baker Elyse Hoffman prefer to avoid labels. “People like to categorize us, but this is really just our take on food,” says Criswell. Hoffman’s vegan-baked goods will also be given more room, thanks to the extra space a fixed venue provides. These include donuts topped with cookie crumbles, fruit-filled turnovers and muffins. When Onion Maiden first opened in mid-March, Criswell says he worried many of the food cart’s fans wouldn’t cross a river and visit the Allentown space. But those fears quickly dissipated, as business has been steady. “A lot of our friends and fans have already made multiple trips up here,” says Criswell. “And there are a ton of people I’ve never seen visiting, too. It’s a pleasant surprise.” RYANDETO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
5-10 p.m. Wed.-Sat. and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday brunch. 639 E. Warrington Ave., Allentown. www.onionmaiden.com. Cash only. NEWS
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“Straight to Hell” rice noodle salad {PHOTO COURTESY OF BROOKS CRISWELL}
{BY RYAN DETO}
{CP PHOTO BY VANESSA SONG}
Scallops with sweet-potato purée, cherry-bacon chutney and port wine
EAST TO WEST {BY ANGELIQUE BAMBERG + JASON ROTH}
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HE BISTRO-STYLE international
restaurant is one of our favorite concepts, replacing greatest-hits menus and kitschy bazaar decor with more eclectic, curated selections of dishes and elegantly appointed surroundings. On East Carson Street, M&J Bistro describes its approach as Asian-American, specializing in sushi and “Asian-inspired” dishes. Executive chef Ricky Kirsop’s credentials are legit: he spent over a decade running the kitchen at McCormick & Schmick’s up the road, where he worked daily with seafood in a fine-dining setting. The atmosphere at M&J couldn’t be farther from that at the venerable seafoodand-steak house. Here, instead of sedate wood paneling and oil paintings, was an exuberant instance of a particular style that doesn’t quite have a name. The ceiling
M A I N F E AT U R E
were edamame and crab Rangoon; a handful of traditional, mostly Chinese-American dishes; and a peculiar throwback to midcentury continental cuisine, lobster thermidor. But a closer look at the descriptions revealed that very little was as it seemed. The edamame were flavored with Himalayan pink salt and togarashi, a Japanese chili powder, and the short ribs were served with wasabi-spiked mashed potatoes. Togarashi first made an appearance in the complimentary taro chips that were served, still warm, when we sat down. The slices were the size of dessert plates, yet paper-thin, and the heat from the chilies was subtle and satisfying. It worked well on the edamame as well, although they were served in a bowl with liquid at the bottom, as if not drained completely. Our other starter was Asian pork buns.
was comprised of funky drywall curves and the lighting was an LED rainbow centered on a cool blue. M&J’s shiny brightness was supplemented by an enormous photomural of the Golden Triangle at night, as well as dozens of artworks by a range of local artists, part of a café-style monthly series.
M&J BISTRO 2017 E. Carson St., South Side. 412-251-0558 HOURS: Mon.-Thu. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat. noon-11 p.m.; Sun. noon-9 p.m. PRICES: Appetizers, soups, and salads $3-14; entrees $10-30 LIQUOR: Full bar
CP APPROVED At first glance, the menu didn’t go long on its self-proclaimed fusion concept. There
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EAST TO WEST, CONTINUED FROM PG. 35
Formerly the
Tin Angel
Make your Easter Reservations Today! 11AM-3PM
Special menu available.
Diningg with a
1200 GRANDVIEW AVENUE • MT. WASHINGTON 412-381-1919 • VUE412.COM
TAJ MAHAL INDIAN RESTAURANT
Serving North Indian, South Indian and other authentic regional Indian Cuisine
• Award Winner for Best Indian food 2000-2017 • The proud caterer for G20 summit - #1 choice for catering Indian cuisine. All events, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers • Lunch buffet 7 days a week • Dinner buffets Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Taj Mahal is owned and operated by chef/owner Usha Sethi since 1996.
7795 McKnight Rd • 412-364-1760 • tajmahalinc.com
Four fat dumplings featured tasty, wellseasoned meat centers that were neither minced char siu nor firm meatball, but somewhere in between; their doughy wrappers were springy, not gummy. These are some of the best pork buns around. Chicken lo mein was straightforwardly in line with what you’d get at most takeout places, except that it was much, much better. The generous portion of sliced white meat was tender, juicy and flavorful, as if marinated; the mixed veggies were properly tender-firm and bright in color; and the noodles straddled soft and chewy. But where low-grade lo mein is all too often greasy and one-note savory, Kirsop coats his ingredients with just a hint of sweetness to bring out impressive depth of flavor. Sautéed green beans with black-bean sauce was similarly straightforward, but in this case, so much so that it did not quite make a satisfying main dish. The blistered green beans were tender and almost dry, just lightly coated in cooking oil and tossed with fermented black beans. While this would have been an excellent side dish (in fact, that is exactly how we enjoyed our leftovers), there was just not enough flavor variety here to sustain one palate for an entire meal. M&J has a full sushi bar with almost two dozen varieties of fish and roe. We explored many of them in the deluxe sushi dinner, which included 10 different nigiri, plus a simple tuna roll. The presentation was gorgeous: a big, square platter with a plastic sakura branch in the middle, ringed with the maki, then sprigs of watercress, then the nigiri, and finally lemon wedges to fill in the corners. The fish lived up to the presentation as well, with the scallop standing out for its buttery texture and luscious sweetness. We were also impressed to see saba, pickled mackerel, a rare treat that’s unusual for its firm texture and bold flavor. Scottish salmon was crusted with wasabi and ginger, served alongside a cylinder of pineapple rice that was artfully arranged with a sort of waterfall of shredded carrot and snow peas. The salmon was marvelous, cooked a touch past the medium rare we prefer, but still moist. Its crisp crust brought big flavor without overwhelming the salmon; orange-ginger sauce was a perfect complement, reinforcing the ginger in the crust while sweetly countering the zing of the wasabi. In theory, the rice would do the same, but ours was too dry to enjoy, and the carrots were inexplicably bitter. For dessert, passion-fruit crème brûlée was extraordinary, perfectly crusted with burnt sugar and subtly, yet unmistakably, fragrant with fruit. Maybe the M in “M&J” stands for “Mmm.” Nothing about our meal was ordinary, and the highlights were superb. INF O @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
[PERSONAL CHEF]
SCONE THUGS & HARMONY Lemon Lavender Scone {BY MATT SCHROEDER, OM NOM BAKE STUDIO} Me and scones didn’t get along. I just didn’t like their scone faces. It’s like, “Hey buddy, what are you tryin’ to be? A biscuit? A cookie? Are you savory, or sweet? Get it together!” Then I tried one. By what I will freely admit to as an accident, I shoved a so-fresh-it-was-OMG-still-warm scone into my gob while rushing to a meeting. Amazing. I was converted. Below is the best of the best. I hope it changes your world, or at least your breakfast. *Most ingredients weight, gredients measured by weig which ensures consistency.
INGREDIENTS S • 10.2 oz. pastry y flour • 3.4 oz. granulated ed sugar • 0.3 oz. baking powder • 0.3 oz. salt • 5 tbsp. dried lavender flowers • 2.5 oz. unsalted butter, cold, cut into half-inch cubes • 2 eggs • 6.25 oz. heavy whipping pp g cream • 0.15 oz. vanilla • zest of one lemon • 0.2 oz. lemon juice INSTRUCTIONS Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir flour, 2.4 ounces of sugar, baking powder, salt and 3 ounces of lavender flowers in a large bowl. Add cold butter, using a pastry cutter to break butter into small chunks. In medium-sized bowl, lightly beat one egg and combine with four ounces of cream, vanilla, lemon zest and juice. Using a spatula, pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and butter. Gently combine ingredients until liquid is fully incorporated. Place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Have some extra flour to keep the dough from being too sticky. With your hands, work dough ball into a roughly 8-inch-diameter puck (around 1½-inch thick). Cut into 8 equal slices, like a pie. Place on cookie sheet. Let rest while making an egg wash: In a small bowl, add one egg and remaining heavy whipping cream, and beat until combined. Brush egg wash over scones, then lightly sprinkle lavender flowers and sugar on top. Place scones into preheated oven. Bake for 14-18 minutes, until edges are just beginning to brown (ovens vary). Remove from oven — and WAIT! The process of the baking is still working its magic. Let the scones rest for 10 minutes before devouring. INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
WE WANT YOUR PERSONAL RECIPES AND THE STORIES BEHIND THEM. EMAIL THEM TO CELINE@PGHCITYPAPER.COM.
BOOZE BATTLES {BY CELINE ROBERTS}
Each week, we order the same cocktail at two different bars for a friendly head-to-head battle. Go to the bars, taste both drinks and tell us what you like about each by tagging @pghcitypaper on Twitter or Instagram and use #CPBoozeBattles. If you want to be a part of Booze Battles, send an email to food-and-beverage writer Celine Roberts, at celine@pghcitypaper.com.
THE DRINK: BOURBON ON THE BOULEVARD
merly of Salt of the Earth and Morcilla, has been excited to see the bar rise from mere idea to reality. “When I got here in January, we were nowhere near ready to open,” she says, gesturing to the completed bar. “I’ve got a great team. We work so well together and each has different abilities. There’s a base of great service and knowledge.” Parks wants the beverage program to complement Stevens’ menus as well as highlight locally sourced offerings. Union Standard stocks only Pennsylvania beers, with a focus on Pittsburgh-based breweries like Full Pint and Draai Laag. The wine menu falls in step with mostly American offerings, while the cocktails feature housemade syrups and Pennsylvania spirits. Six cocktails are dedicated to the classic-cocktail canon, and six are house recipes developed by the bar team. Especially cooed over by the bartender {CP PHOTO BY JOHN COLOMBO} Union Standard’s Promenade: Boyd & Blair with lavender and lemon crowd is Park’s inclusion of the Martinez. “It’s a forgotten cocktail,” says Parks. “It’s a [ON THE ROCKS] perfect blend of a Manhattan and a martini.” Parks wants to keep the list fresh, and a month in, she is already itching to switch things up. However, mainstays will remain as hallmarks of the list. Egg{BY CELINE ROBERTS} white cocktails will always appear, as IT’S BEEN A very busy month for Union (echoes of Eleven aren’t hard to miss), while well as a seasonally inspired mint julep (Stevens reportedly has a deep affection Standard. The new restaurant from chef providing an inviting space for guests. The large stone bar circles the landing for the drink). “Besides, we always have Derek Stevens, formerly executive chef crushed ice on hand,” says Parks, smilof Eleven, has been a long-anticipated between the first and second floors. ing and gesturing to the raw bar. opening both for the public and for About 30 seats beckon to the afterIn an ode to the buildStevens, who’s been in Pittsburgh kitchens work crowd and remain occupied MORES O ing’s beauty, some drinks are T since the 1990s. The restaurant occupies long into the night by a rotating O PH E IN Lw named for its architectural a corner of Downtown’s jaw-droppingly cast of friends, lovers, businessOaN . t w wper details. The Crown of Stone, a pa beautiful and freshly renovated Union people and bartenders stopping pghcitym .co riff on a whiskey sour, honors Trust building. When visiting, make by to greet colleagues. If you prethe pattern of stone and terra cotta sure to stroll into the main atrium and fer oysters with your champagne, along the building’s roof, while the gaze up at the circles of golden rails you won’t have to go far. A raw bar is spiraling up into glass heights. The set into the space and filled with mounds Promenade is named for the walkway aloft between its two steeples that circle the two-floor restaurant itself mixes Old of crushed ice. Beverage manager Jennifer Parks, for- signature atrium. World glamour with modern touches
A NEW STANDARD
Union Standard bar blends New and Old World qualities
Ten Penny 960 Penn Ave., Downtown DRINK: Pittsburgh Boulevardier INGREDIENTS: Wild Turkey 101 bourbon, sweet vermouth, Campari OUR TAKE: Campari is the first note of this classic cocktail. Behind the bitterness is a subtle balance of bourbon and vermouth, making for a strongly booze-forward, one-and-done drink. A hint of smokiness completes the flavor profile.
VS.
C E L I N E @ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
This week on Sound Bite: City Paper joins Cleveland chef Jeremy Umansky in his exploration of koji: the mold that makes everything delicious. www.pghcitypaper.com Winghart’s Burger & Whiskey Bar
One Bordeaux, One Scotch, One Beer
5 Market Square, Downtown
Tsingtao Lager
DRINK: Boulevardier INGREDIENTS: Jim Beam rye, sweet vermouth, Campari OUR TAKE: Strong notes of citrus and bitterness are immediately apparent in this cocktail. The ebb and flow between bitterness and sweetness from the Campari and whiskey keep the drink interesting to sip. Caramel and spice notes from the rye serve to highlight and balance.
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$32.52-33.99/case Tsingtao is admittedly more of a summer beer, but it’s my favorite cheap lager (although Tecate gives it a run for its money). This Chinese beer has been around since 1903. It’s pleasant to sip ice-cold and doesn’t pack an alcoholic wallop, making it an excellent midday beer. RECOMMENDED BY CELINE ROBERTS
Tsingtao is available at Save-Mor Beer & Pop Warehouse, in Squirrel Hill, and Mellinger’s Beer Distributor, in Oakland.
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MAUREEN HERSELF MOVES THROUGH THE WORLD LIKE A GHOST
SAFELY HELD {BY AL HOFF} The extraordinary efforts of ordinary people during terrible times form the basis of The Zookeeper’s Wife, an adaptation of the best-selling book by Diane Ackerman, directed by Niki Caro (Whale Rider, North Country). The backdrop for this based-onreal-life story is World War II and, in particular, the Holocaust. In Warsaw, Poland, husband and wife Jan and Antonina Zabinski run a well-established zoo, while living in a sprawling house on site. Then comes the German invasion, and things turn dire, particularly for the city’s Jewish population.
Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain), in happier, pre-war times
At the zoo, most of the animals are killed, and the facility is put under the control of Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl), a.k.a.“Hitler’s zoologist.” He immediately has an American bald eagle shot, mounted and installed in his office; he also starts a breeding program for an extinct German buffalo. Antonina (Jessica Chastain), for whom Heck has an affinity, works to appear accommodating to the new regime. Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) makes delivery trips to the Jewish ghetto, returning with residents hidden in his truck, who are then given shelter on the zoo grounds. Caro’s film is an effective piece of war-based melodrama (I’d have jettisoned Chastain’s “Polish” accent), even as it treads familiar ground. There are smaller moments of tension, but it’s no spoiler to say that the larger outcome is not in doubt. The actors play it low key, and Heldenbergh is especially good as the soulful zookeeper who seems as much crushed as he is heartened by his heroic efforts. Starts Fri., March 31 AHOFF@PGHCITYPAPER.COM AHOFF@PGHCITYPAPER.C .COM OM
T2 TRAINSPOTTING It’s been 20 years, and whatever happened to the Scottish layabouts of 1996’s Trainspotting? Director Danny Boyle reunites with his cast, including Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle and Ewen Bremer, to fill us in. Starts Fri., March 31
Spooked: Maureen (Kristen Stewart) tries on a shiny look.
OUT OF BODY {BY AL HOFF}
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N OLIVIER ASSAYAS’ offbeat thriller Personal Shopper, Maureen (Kristen Stewart) is an American woman working in Paris as a personal assistant for a celebrity. Most of this sucky job entails securing free garments and accessories for her client to wear to events. In her spare time, Maureen is an amateur medium, and hangs out at a country house her recently deceased twin brother owned; they had a pact to send a signal from beyond, should one of them die. But the nights spent in the big, gloomy house are not sealing this deal, despite the hopeful frisson of creaky floors and unhinged doors. But then Maureen gets a barrage of text messages from an unknown number. The messages are somewhere between creepy and playful, and over the course of a couple of days, the texter prompts Maureen toward risky behavior and (likely overdue) self-examination. It could be a person, but the breadth and intimacy of the mystery texter’s knowledge suggests something super-human. “Are you a ghost?” Maureen
texts, to no reply. There is an astonishingly long sequence in this film that is just Maureen and her iPhone, sending and receiving texts, and reacting. Possible ghosts aside, it’s a précis of the fraught nature of texting. These are the words unmoored from emotional intent, inflection and other
PERSONAL SHOPPER DIRECTED BY: Olivier Assayas STARRING: Kristen Stewart Starts Fri., March 31. Regent Square
CP APPROVED useful cues (the opening parry — “I know you” — could be flirty, sincere or threatening). Layer on the stress of waiting for replies (curse you, pulsating ellipses), and the internal debate over how, or whether, to respond. Stewart is great throughout the film, but this extended silent scene gives the actress prone to twitchy inten-
sity and hard-edged vulnerability plenty of satisfying exercise. Assayas’ film is slowish, and lacking in standard plot beats. It’s partly a ghost tale, partly a downbeat character study and maybe even a dig at lifestyles of the rich and famous. Beyond the supernatural, this is an exploration of loss, grief and learning to move on. While there might be a supernatural ghost, Maureen herself moves through the world like a ghost: unseen except as a conduit for her famous boss. (Is it any wonder she seeks agency in trying on the boss’ clothes?) Her young life should be brimming with potential, but Maureen is held down by the past, loneliness and a lack of goals. It’s left open-ended whether there are ghosts, and what, if anything, might happen. Not for nothing is this film bookended with scenes depicting Maureen alone and confused in empty and isolated houses. But like a possible sighting of a ghost, you may find yourself pondering it all long after the light has faded. A H OF F @ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
Ewan MacGregor heads a lively cast. 11:30 p.m. Fri., March 31, and 11:30 p.m. Sat., April 1. Manor
FILM CAPSULES CP
HAPPY FEET. In a world of singing penguins, one black-and-white fellow makes his mark by … dancing. George Miller directs this 2006 animated comedy. 11 a.m. Sat., April 1. Tull Family Theater, 418 Walnut St., Sewickley. www.thetullfamilytheater.org
= CITY PAPER APPROVED
NEW THE BOSS BABY. I’ll give the team behind the animated comedy The Boss Baby, directed by Tom McGrath and adapted from Marla Frazee’s book, some credit: This is a fresh idea, and doesn’t even include talking animals. (There are some puppies, but that scene isn’t anything like you would be expecting.) There is a talking baby, but it’s not quite that simple. First we meet the perfect family — 7-yearold Tim and his doting parents. Tim spends a lot of time imagining himself in exciting scenarios, none of which prepare him for the 24-hour living nightmare that is his new baby brother. Of course, the new infant is the “boss,” demanding all the attention, but he turns out to also be an actual boss. We learn in a prologue that some babies — made in a great baby factory in the sky — are straight-up babies, while others are miniature adults. The “Boss Baby” (voiced with expected brio by Alec Baldwin) is an up-and-coming executive at the aforementioned factory, Baby Corp., which is in a corporate struggle with Puppy Co. Tim’s parents work at Puppy Co., hence the strategic placement of the Boss Baby to disrupt the competition. Much like the two sorts of babies depicted here, the film offers two versions of storytelling. The first half is mostly low-key, finding gentler entertainment in Tim’s relatable struggle to embrace the new family member — whom he knows only as a mewling infant, and who has ruined his life. But once the Boss Baby comes clean and reveals his true identity, the second aspect of the movie kicks into typically frantic high gear, as the two brothers team up to stop the dastardly head of Puppy Co. The Boss Baby isn’t likely to enter the Classic Canon of Animated Kiddie Fare, but it’s reliably amusing throughout and makes a case for sibling cooperation. (It is not recommended as a substitute for the “where do babies come from?” talk.) Alec Baldwin is having a moment these days, and if you can’t get enough of his patented smarmy charm, make plans to see this. Starts Fri., March 31 (Al Hoff) GHOST IN THE SHELL. Set in the near future, this thriller follows Major (Scarlett Johansson), a human who has been cyber-enhanced and now works to prevent various crimes. The live-action film, directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman), is adapted from the Japanese manga, which was previously adapted for the screen in a 1995 animated version. Starts Fri., March 31
REPERTORY
HERMITAGE REVEALED. Margy Kinmonth’s 2004 documentary examines the history of Russia’s famed Hermitage art collection, among the world’s largest, on its 250th anniversary. Beautiful art in a beautiful building, once an imperial palace. 12:45 p.m. Sun., April 2. Tull Family Theater, 418 Walnut St., Sewickley. www.thetullfamilytheater.org SINGING IN THE RAIN. Hollywood’s transition from silent film to talkies is lovingly skewered in this rousing musical from Stanley Donen. The 1952 film stars Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, Pittsburgh’s own Gene Kelly and a very important lamppost. 7 p.m. Tue., April 4 (Tull Family Theater, 418 Walnut St., Sewickley;www.thetullfamilytheater.org). Also, 7:30 p.m. Wed., April 5 (AMC Loews Waterfront).
The Boss Baby which included performing, composing, arranging and mentoring up-and-comers such as Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. The evening, titled “Celebrating Mary Lou Williams: Pittsburgh’s Bebop Queen,” also includes performances from Danielle Maggio and Samuel Okoh-Boateng, a short lecture and light refreshments. 6 p.m. (movie starts at 7:15 p.m.). Fri., March 31. Ryan Arts and Culture Center, 420 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks. www.ryanart.org. $5-10 suggested donation
Alphaville — and stars Eddie Constantine and Anna Karina. In French, with subtitles. March 31-April 3 and April 5-6. Row House Cinema
DONNIE DARKO. Writer/director Richard Kelly’s 2001 debut is a hard-to-categorize tale about a doomed teen. Over 28 days, Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) struggles to understand his suburban world, which is tilting toward madness, steered by a giant rabbit named Frank. Kelly excels at capturing Donnie’s dread with verve, yet he and Gyllenhaal ground this anxiety so firmly in the confusion and inarticulateness of ordinary adolescence that there’s no easy fantasy loophole. A hybrid of time-travel treatise, ’80s snapshot, troubled-kid drama and dark comedy. 7 p.m. Fri., March 31; 7:30 and 9 p.m. Sat., April 1. Director’s Cut: 7 p.m. Sun., April 2. Hollywood (AH)
CONTEMPT. A screenwriter’s marriage dissolves during a movie production, as she spends time with the producer, in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 drama about art and business. Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance and Brigitte Bardot star. In French, German and English, with subtitles. March 31, April 1 and April 3-5. Row House Cinema
ALPHAVILLE. Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 film is a vision of a dystopian Paris of the future — here known as
TRAINSPOTTING. Danny Boyle directs this flashy 1996 dramedy about drug addicts in Edinburgh, Scotland;
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OUT OF THE DARK. In Michael Mayer’s drama, two young gay men meet in a Tel Aviv nightclub, but their burgeoning relationship has many obstacles. One of the men is from a well-connected Jewish family, and the other is a Palestinian student from Ramallah, whose brother is in an armed resistance group. When the relationship becomes public, things quickly go from good to bad to very bad. In Arabic and Hebrew, with subtitles. 7 p.m. Tue., April 4. Alphabet City, 40 W. North Ave., North Side. Free. www.reelq.org (AH)
BREATHLESS. An American in Paris (Jean Seberg) and a raffish criminal (Jean-Paul Belmondo) meet and run wild, in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1959 New Wave classic, winning the hearts of cineastes and hipsters for decades to come. In French, with subtitles. March 31-April 6. Row House Cinema
IXCANUL. In Jayro Bustamante’s 2015 drama, a teenage girl awaits her arranged marriage, to occur on the slopes of an active volcano. In Maya and Spanish, with subtitles. 7 p.m. Tue., April 4. Public Health G23, 130 DeSoto St., Oakland. www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/node/432. Free (includes pizza) 1984. John Hurt stars in Michael Radford’s 1984 adaptation of George Orwell’s dystopic novel about trying to find love amid in a totalitarian state ruled by forced conformity and mind-numbing propaganda. Two Pittsburgh screenings join the nearly 100 screenings nationwide, marking the day — April 4 — the story’s protagonist began his journal. 8 p.m. Tue., April. 4. Regent Square. Also at the Hollywood Theater (where a post-film discussion will be facilitated by the ACLU of Pennsylvania).
PIERROT LE FOU. Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina star in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1965 film about a bored man, the women he meets and the getaway they embark on after discovering a corpse. In French, with subtitles. March 31-April 3 and April 5. Row House Cinema
CMU INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: FACES OF IDENTITY OLD STONE. In Johnny Ma’s 2016 drama, a Chinese taxi driver struggles to make amends after injuring a pedestrian. In Mandarin, with subtitles. 7 p.m. Thu., March 30. McConomy Auditorium, CMU campus, Oakland. www.cmu.edu/faces WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE. This new documentary from Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel profiles the political and environmental conflicts that arise between the indigenous people of northern Peru and the government, which is working to facilitate mining in the region. In Spanish, with subtitles. 7 p.m. Fri., March 31. CMOA Theater, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. www.cmu.edu/faces
FLASHDANCE. In this heartfelt 1983 drama from Adrian Lyne, plucky Pittsburgh welder and performance artiste Alex (Jennifer Beals) won’t let any of life’s roadblocks prevent her dream of dancing for the ballet. Or, in this howlingly funny camp classic, a disco-driven gal gyrates her wetT-shirted way out of South Side titty bars and changes classical ballet forever with her bumpand-grind routine. What a feeling! 7:30 p.m. Wed., March 29. AMC Loews Waterfront. $5
21X NEW YORK. Polish director Piotr Stasik’s new documentary essay casts a contemplative lens on the variety of people and experiences that help create New York City. 4 p.m. Sat., April 1. McConomy Auditorium, CMU campus, Oakland. www.cmu.edu/faces
MARY LOU WILLIAMS: THE LADY WHO SWINGS THE BAND. This new documentary introduces viewers to Mary Lou Williams, who grew up in East Liberty, taught herself to play piano and, by her early teens, in the 1920s, was gigging with Duke Ellington and others. Williams went on to a long, fruitful musical career,
HOME CARE. Slávek Horák’s recent Czech dramedy checks in with a home-care nurse who realizes she might need some help herself. In Czech and Slovak, with subtitles. 7 p.m. Wed., April 5. McConomy Auditorium, CMU campus, Oakland. www.cmu.edu/faces
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I, OLGA HEPNAROVA. Petr Kazda and Tomás Weinreb’s new drama recounts the true story of Olga Hepnarova, who, in 1973, drove a truck into a group of people in Prague. She was the last woman executed in Czechoslovakia. In Czech, with subtitles. 7 p.m. Sat., April 1. McConomy Auditorium, CMU campus, Oakland. www.cmu.edu/faces DISTURBING THE PEACE. This new documentary from Stephen Apkon and Andrew Young profiles a peace movement — the joint Israeli and Palestinian activist group Combatants for Peace — and how it hopes to bridge conflict in the troubled region. 5 p.m. Sun., April 2. McConomy Auditorium, CMU campus, Oakland. www.cmu.edu/faces
THE EAGLE HUNTRESS. In the remote Kazakh region, a teenage girl (with the help of her father) defies tradition by training to enter an eagle-hunting competition. Otto Bell directs this recent uplifting documentary. In Kazakh, with subtitles. 7 pm. Thu., April 6. McConomy Auditorium, CMU campus, Oakland. www.cmu.edu/faces
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“AS IT GETS MONOTONOUS, PLEASE COMMIT TO THAT FEELING.”
HALL OF FAME {BY CHARLIE DEITCH} It should come as no surprise to anyone that I like wrestling. And not just professional wrestling, I also like freestyle wrestling that you might see at the Olympics or your kid’s high school. So, in honor of the upcoming WrestleMania weekend, I wanted to do my list of the greatest wrestling matches I’ve ever seen. Editor’s note: Most have little to do with wrestling.
Tommy Dreamer vs. Sandman, Packard Music Hall, Warren, Ohio Sometime in the late 1990s, I was home visiting my family, and I saw there was an Extreme Championship Wrestling show the next night near Youngstown. I’d never seen ECW before, but heard it could be a bit crazy. At one point, Dreamer put a garbage can over Sandman and invited the crowd to punch it and kick it, which my brother did. Good times.
Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka vs. some crappy jobber I don’t remember the match from the early 1980s. I only know that Superfly leapt off the top rope (as he was wont to do) onto his opponent. At the same time, my older brother leapt off the back of the couch onto my dad’s legs that were relaxing on his La-Z-Boy. My dad’s knee hyperextended, and we were banned from watching wrestling for a solid six months.
Justin Tuggle, Bismarck-Henning High School vs. some kid he was supposed to lose to in the Illinois High School Athletic Association regional finals Tuggle was a scrawny kid with wild, curly hair who wrestled at 119 pounds. He was an OK wrestler with an OK record, but on this day he was good enough. Through a consolation match, he backed into the finals, caught a kid napping and rolled him up for a pin and a trip to the state tournament. I was covering the match for my paper and watching the match with a coach from another school, who looked at me and summed it up best: “Of all the guys out here,” he growled, “fucking Tuggle.” CDEITCH@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
GOT A TIP? Know of a local sport that isn’t getting the attention it deserves? Did a local athlete just do something incredible that warrants recognition? City Paper Sports want to hear about it: info@pghcitypaper.com
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{CP PHOTO BY LUKE THOR TRAVIS}
Greg Manley leads Kimberly Bracken in Ludovia, the new game from City of Play.
PLAY WITH YOUR FEELINGS {BY BILLY LUDT}
A
S THE FOUNDER and creative
director of City of Play, Adam Nelson only really has one job: to return “play” to adult lives. Over the years, the creative agency has hosted a number of events across the city, such as game nights and dodgeball games at the Ace Hotel. “Playing is the act of making meaningful choices, and Pittsburgh is the original city of play,” Nelson says. “Right now, we’re focused on making Pittsburgh this vibrant and meaningful place for everyone that comes here. Adults need to and benefit from playing.” City of Play’s latest endeavor is a fitness class for social skills called Ludovia, led by director of production Greg Manley. Ludovia is an interdisciplinary class held at The Hideout, an art space in Point Breeze’s The MINE Factory; classes are 7-9 p.m. Tuesdays, through May 2. The class explores physical and emotional interaction through exercise and games. Manley says the class is composed of
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
The next step in this game added vomartial arts, dance, sports, theater, yoga, massage and conflict resolution. And as cals and replaced the clap with a movewith every City of Play class, there are no ment. One person started with a hand movement and a noise for the next person physical requirements to enroll. “Play is a state of practical imagination,” to repeat. “As it gets frustrating, and as it gets Manley says. “You can play by reading a book. You can play by singing a lullaby. The monotonous, please commit to that feeling,” Manley says. “When in doubt, more you embody your imagination, surrender to what you’re getting.” the more you can play.” Eventually the noise and moCity Paper sat in on (and MORES PHOTOE tion the group started with was attempted to participate in) IN L . ON at www changed into something new. Ludovia’s first class, on March 21. r e p a p ty pghci m The last step of the game placed For the first half of the two.co a person in the center of the circle, hour class, participants became leaving them to pick up wherever the physically warm by non-traditional means: washing the floor in pairs by sound and motion left off, and to take crawling on all fours, and doing a cross the expression. “You need to give people the space between line dancing and jogging and yoga. Preceding this is what Manley to express themselves,” Manley says. “If you sympathize with them, then they referred to as “middle school games.” Participants stood in a circle and can’t progress.” I N F O@ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM Manley clapped toward the person on his left side. That person would then receive the clap, and clap again to the person on More information about City of Play is available on its website (www.cityofplay.org). their left, and so on.
[THE CHEAP SEATS]
ROUNDING THIRD {BY MIKE WYSOCKI} WITH JUNG HO KANG currently unable to
get a U.S. work visa on the heels of a DUI conviction in South Korea, the Pirates’ hot corner is missing its defender. If Kang can straighten himself out, maybe one day he’ll be talked about as one of the best Pirates third basemen in history. The all-time honor goes to Hall of Famer Pie Traynor, but who’s been the best in more recent times? It’s an important position; no matter what the situation, it’s always fun to get to third base. Looking at statistics since 1967, including batting average, homers, RBI, on-base plus slugging percentage, wins above replacement level, fielding, batting average on balls in play (BABiP), and the always-popular weighted runs created, we crunched the numbers to learn who has been the hottest Bucco at the hot corner. Like all rankings, there’s bound to be some controversy and heated debate.
10.
Jim Morrison played with the Bucs from 1982-1987. His big year was 1986, when he was the team MVP, batting .274 and amassing 88 RBI. He came to Pittsburgh when the team got bad, and left right before it got good.
9.
Nicknamed “Scrap Iron,” Phil Garner’s Pirates highlight was his clutch postseason performance in 1979. Scrap Iron hit .417 in the NLCS to beat the hated Reds. He was even better in the World Series, getting 12 hits in 24 at-bats. He was upstaged only by “Pops” Stargell.
8+7.
These positions are shared by Josh Harrison and Freddy Sanchez for a number of reasons. They both played around 200 games at third for the Pirates. Sanchez won a batting title at third in 2006, and Harrison came in second to stupid Justin Morneau in 2014. After their breakout years at third, both players were moved to new positions. The weird part is, of all the Pirates third basemen in the past 50 years, Harrison and Sanchez had the first- and second-best defensive ratings at that position.
6.
In 2003, Aramis Ramirez was traded by the Pirates for several players, including a guy who struck out so much that his nickname was “The Windmill.” The Pirates didn’t get the best of that deal, but Ramirez made the most of his time while he was here. Aramis’ hot year was 2001, when he clubbed 34 dingers and knocked in 112 runs.
5.
Jeffrey Wayne King sounds like somebody the police are searching for in a domestic-terror incident. Unrealistically high expectations dogged the first-round draft pick during his stay in Pittsburgh; that and a nagging back. But in retrospect, Jeff King
{CP PHOTO BY LUKE THOR TRAVIS}
Josh Harrison
had a pretty solid career. King strolled around the bases 99 times as a Pirate and even hit two home runs in an inning — twice.
4.
Pedro Alvarez was part Aramis Ramirez, part Bobby Bonilla, and part Jose Hernandez. He had a powerhouse swing that helped lead the Pirates to a winning season in 2013. That year he was the co-winner of the National League home-run title and an All Star, knocked in 100 runs, and led the league by striking out 186 times.
3.
Bill Madlock won two batting titles with the Pirates after winning two with the Cubs. He would’ve won another in 1982 if former Pirate-turned-Expo Al Oliver hadn’t edged him out. Madlock was a relentless hitter who produced almost every year he was in Three Rivers Stadium. He’s the only player in the history of baseball with four batting crowns who is not in Cooperstown.
2.
Richie Hebner always seemed to leave on bad terms. The liberal media clashed with Hebner when he was mired in a slump. It became so uncomfortable here that he signed with the rival Phillies for the same amount of money the Bucs offered. The Phillies then signed Pete Rose, and Hebner complained about it so much they traded him to the Mets. He ingloriously ended his Mets tenure by giving the finger to the Shea Stadium faithful. But the guy could play.
1.
Bobby Bonilla was so bad at third defensively that Jim Leyland moved him after witnessing 67 errors in two seasons. But from 1986-1991, Bobby Bo put together one of the best six-year offensive tears the city has ever seen. When the numbers are tallied, Bonilla is the best. In this span, he hit .284 and had 868 hits, 191 doubles, 114 homers, 500 RBI and an OPS of .838. Not all at third, but enough to qualify him for the top spot.
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Postcard and Paper Show, Sat. April 8, 9-3, Fairhaven United Methodist Church, 2415 Saw Mill Run Blvd. Rts 51 & 88. Three Rivers Postcard Club. Info: 412-653-7723
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Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Room 251, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on April 4, 2017, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for the following:
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Pittsburgh Colfax K-8 Restroom Renovations Asbestos Abatement Prime Contract Project Manual and Drawings are available for purchase at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual.
Smokers Wanted The University of Pittsburgh’s Alcohol and Smoking Research Laboratory is seeking participants for a three-part research project. To participate, you must: • Currently smoke cigarettes • Be 18-55 years old, in good health, and speak fluent English • Be willing to fill out questionnaires, and to not smoke before two sessions.
Earn up to $150 for completing this study. We are an equal rights and opportunity school district. Parent Hotline: 412-622-7920 www.pps.k12.pa.us
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{BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY / WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM}
ACROSS
OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH
NO BIG PUN INTENDED
For more information, call (412) 624-8975 *Our laboratory is also seeking couples, where one or both people smoke.
Weekend appointments available. For more information, call (412) 648-2214
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
1. “Coming, honey!” 7. Idle talk 15. Erogenous zone ring 16. Try and convince 17. “’Jesus Walks’ rapper, do you have any extra cash?” 19. Point of writing 20. Spot where you might get posterized 21. “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper’s fleet? 28. Cpl.’s superiors 29. Maker of the Bolt 30. Tees off 32. Rail-thin 35. Likud’s land 36. “99 Problems” rapper’s coast? 38. Girl in a fairy tale that’s a total passive type and not a very good role model for my daughter 39. Francis’ office 43. Fruit dessert 44. “Dies ___” 45. Computers for people in the arts 46. “If I Ruled The World” rapper serving as a CNN correspondent? 50. Boat full of horseshit 51. Agcy. getting demonstratively cut by Trump
52. “Hotling Bling” rapper baking bread? 62. Wedding ___ 63. Notre Dame coach whose last game was a 27-0 route of USC 64. Seeing challenges? 65. “Everybody chip in!”
DOWN 1. Furniture material 2. Firing squad?: Abbr. 3. Night in some odes 4. Type of milk 5. Nicholas Gage novel 6. Cheap keyboard company 7. Somebody I have to hire to do my taxes: Abbr. 8. “Can You Forgive ___?” (Pet Shop Boys single) 9. Anger 10. Group with wands: Abbr. 11. It’s chewed on the lea 12. Gunk in a beehive? 13. Lets on 14. Overflows (with) 18. Nut-free school no-no: Abbr. 21. Small change 22. Salad dressing 23. Egg head? 24. Inabilities to move things forward 25. Traps out at sea, perhaps 26. “Roundball Rock”
composer John 27. Cutting edge provider? 28. Ignore the alarm and the screaming toddler 31. Alanna Masterson’s “Walking Dead” character 33. “___ and Getz” (jazz album by vibrophonist Lionel and saxophonist Stan) 34. Big name in chicken 37. Letter after epilson 38. Shipping fee? 40. “The natives ___ restless” 41. Blackbird’s call 42. Class of 2017 Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame inductee 43. “Dumb and Dumber To” star 45. Niño’s mother 47. “This stinks!” 48. Safari rival 49. Unhealthy gas 53. Drummer’s set-up 54. Hamburgto-Berlin dir. 55. “___ getting late” 56. March Madness souvenir 57. ___-80 (classic PC) 58. National Pizza mo. 59. Twerpy stringed instrument 60. Lion’s quarry 61. Cool, for cats {LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS}
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FOR THE WEEK OF
Free Will Astrology
03.29-04.05
{BY ROB BREZSNY}
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The dragon that stole your treasure will return it. Tulips and snapdragons will blossom in a field you thought was a wasteland. Gargoyles from the abyss will crawl into view, but then meekly lick your hand and reveal secrets you can really use. The dour troll that guards the bridge to the Next Big Thing will let you pass even though you don’t have the password. APRIL FOOL! Everything I just described is only metaphorically true, not literally.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to legend, Buddha had to face daunting tests to achieve enlightenment. A diabolical adversary tempted him with sensual excesses and assailed him with vortexes of blistering mud, flaming ice and howling rocks. Happily, Buddha glided into a state of wise calm and triumphed over the mayhem. He converted his nemesis’ vortexes into bouquets of flowers and celestial ointments. What does this have to do with you? In accordance with current astrological omens, I hope you will emulate Buddha as you deal with your own initiatory tests. APRIL FOOL! I wasn’t completely honest. It’s true you’ll face initiatory tests that could prod you to a higher level of wisdom. But they’ll most likely come from allies and inner prompts rather than a diabolical adversary.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Since I expect you’ll soon be tempted to indulge in too much debauched fun and riotous release, I’ll offer you a good hangover remedy. Throw these ingredients into a blender, then drink up: a 1,000-year-old quail egg from China, seaweed
from Antarctica, milk from an Iraqi donkey, lemon juice imported from Kazakhstan and a dab of Argentinian toothpaste on which the moon has shone for an hour. APRIL FOOL! I deceived you. You won’t have to get crazy drunk or stoned to enjoy extreme pleasure and cathartic abandon. It will come to you quite naturally — especially if you expand your mind through travel, big ideas or healthy experiments.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Hire a promoter to create gold plaques listing your accomplishments and hang them up in public places. Or pay someone to make a thousand bobble-head dolls in your likeness, each wearing a royal crown, and give them away to everyone you know. Or enlist a pilot to fly a small plane over a sporting event while trailing a banner that reads, “[Your name] is a gorgeous genius worthy of worshipful reverence.” APRIL FOOL! What I just advised was a distorted interpretation of the cosmic omens. Here’s the truth: The best way to celebrate your surging power is not by reveling in frivolous displays of pride, but
get your yoga on!
rather by making a bold move that will render a fantastic dream 10 percent more possible for you to accomplish.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Endangered species: black rhino, Bornean orangutan, hawksbill turtle, South China tiger, Sumatran elephant and the Leo messiah complex. You may not be able to do much to preserve the first five on that list, but PLEASE get to work on saving the last. It’s time for a massive eruption of your megalomania. APRIL FOOL! I was exaggerating for effect. There’s no need to go overboard in reclaiming your messiah complex. But please do take strong action to stoke your self-respect, self-esteem and confidence.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Race through your yoga routine so you have more time to surf the Internet. Inhale doughnuts and vodka in the car as you race to the healthfood store. Get into a screaming fight with a loved one about how you desperately need more peace and tenderness. APRIL FOOL! A little bit of self-contradiction would be cute, but not THAT much. And yet I do worry that you are close to expressing THAT much. The problem may be that you haven’t been giving your inner rebel any high-quality mischief to attend to. As a result, it’s bogged down in trivial insurrections. So please give your inner rebel more important work to do.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
schoolhouseyoga.com gentle yoga yoga levels 1, 2 ashtanga yoga meditation
yin yoga prenatal yoga mommy & me yoga for kids
Research shows that a typical working couple devotes an average of four minutes per day in meaningful conversations. I suggest you boost that output by at least 10 percent. Try to engage your best companion in four minutes and 24 seconds of intimate talk per day. APRIL FOOL! I lied. A 10 percent increase isn’t nearly enough. Given the current astrological indicators, you must seek out longer and deeper exchanges with the people you love. Can you manage 20 minutes per day?
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
You should begin work on a book with one of the following titles, and you should finish writing it no later than April 28: “The Totally Intense Four Weeks of My Life When I Came All the Way Home” … “The Wildly Productive Four Weeks of My Life when I Discovered the Ultimate Secrets of Domestic Bliss” … “The Crazily Meaningful Four Weeks When I Permanently Anchored Myself in the Nourishing Depths.” APRIL FOOL! I lied. There’s no need to actually write a book like that. But I do hope you seek out and generate experiences that would enable you to write books with those titles.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you were a passenger on a plane full of your favorite celebrities, and the pilot had to make an emergency landing on a remote snowbound mountain, and you had to eat one of the celebrities in order to stay alive until rescuers found you, which celebrity would you want to eat first? APRIL FOOL! That was a really stupid and pointless question. I can’t believe I asked it. I hope you didn’t waste a nanosecond thinking about what your reply might be. Here’s the truth, Aquarius: You’re in a phase of your astrological cycle when the single most important thing you can do is ask and answer really good questions.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You say that some of the healthiest foods don’t taste good? And that some of your pleasurable diversions seem to bother people you care
Carry out a prank that makes someone feel good. Report results at Truthrooster@gmail.com.
In a way, it’s too bad you’re about to lose your mind. The chaos that ensues will be a big chore to clean up. But in another sense, losing your mind may be a lucky development. The process of reassembling it will be entertaining and informative. And as a result, your problems will become more fascinating than usual, and your sins will be especially original. APRIL FOOL! I lied, sort of. You won’t really lose your mind. But this much is true: Your problems will be more fascinating than usual, and your sins will be especially original. That’s a good thing! It may even help you recover a rogue part of your mind that you lost a while back.
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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
You now have an elevated chance of finding a crumpled one-dollar bill on a sidewalk. There’s also an increased likelihood you’ll get a coupon for a 5 percent discount from a carpet-shampoo company, or win enough money in the lottery to buy a new sweatshirt. To enhance these possibilities, all you have to do is sit on your ass and wish really hard that good economic luck will come your way. APRIL FOOL! What I just said was kind of true, but also useless. Here’s more interesting news: The odds are better than average that you’ll score tips on how to improve your finances. You may also be invited to collaborate on a potentially lucrative project, or receive an offer of practical help for a bread-andbutter dilemma. To encourage these outcomes, all you have to do is develop a long-term plan for improved money management.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
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about? You say it’s too much hassle to arrange for a certain adventure that you know would be exciting and meaningful? Here’s what I have to say about all that: Stop whining. APRIL FOOL! I lied. The truth is, there will soon be far fewer reasons for you to whine. The discrepancies between what you have to do and what you want to do will at least partially dissolve. So will the gaps between what’s good for you and what feels good, and between what pleases others and what pleases you.
GO TO REALASTROLOGY.COM TO CHECK OUT ROB BREZSNY’S EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES AND DAILY TEXT-MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. THE AUDIO HOROSCOPES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE BY PHONE AT 1-877-873-4888 OR 1-900-950-7700
Savage Love {BY DAN SAVAGE}
Gay guy here. Met a guy online. He came over. We had incredible sex and then a great conversation lasting several hours. But — and you knew there was one coming — he told me that he lied about his HIV status. (I asked him before meeting him, like I do with anyone.) He is undetectable, but he told me initially he was “HIV/STD negative.” I got very upset — more from the lie than his status. (I know that undetectable is practically the same as negative.) I really like him, but that was a big lie. He told me all about his life and any other secrets after that. Should I swear off him for lying about such a big topic? Or is the fact he did tell me and our connection enough to give him a second chance? I had not been that happy up till the reveal in, well, maybe ever. But I want to be wise.
27-year-old wife. We have been married for three years and together for four. My question is twofold: One, how do I gracefully accept his “no”? We have sex usually two times a week — I wish it was more like five — which means he turns me down two or three times a week. I want to be better at hearing “no” from him without getting upset. The more I freak out, the less likely he is to fuck me the next time I ask. It’s a bad cycle. Two, he watches porn every day. I know because I was naughty and snooped. I love porn and I watch a lot of it myself. But it doesn’t replace sex for me. Is there a conversation to be had about this? Should I just keep my mouth shut? I love him but I am so frustrated. SINCERELY PERPLEXED OVER UNWANTED SEXUAL ENERGY
DID ASK, DIDN’T TELL
Why would he lie? To avoid rejection. Obviously. Guys often refuse to hook up with guys who are honest about being HIV-positive even though a positive guy with an undetectable viral load is less of a risk — at least where HIV transmission is concerned — than a guy who believes himself to be negative because he was the last time he got tested, or because he doesn’t think he could ever get infected and so has never been tested. Someone who was recently infected is highly infectious; someone who doesn’t think he could ever get infected — because he doesn’t sleep with older guys, because he only tops, because his ass is magic and he uses unicorn spit for lube — is a fucking idiot, and fucking idiots are higher risk for fucking everything. Sometimes positive guys get sick of being punished for being honest, and so they lie — and it’s particularly tempting to lie to someone you don’t expect to see again, i.e., a quick hookup. HIV-positive people shouldn’t lie to their sex partners. Obviously. People should be honest, informed consent is consent, and lying about your HIV status can be risky for people with HIV. Thanks to stupid laws passed by ill-informed idiots, failing to inform a sex partner you’re HIV-positive is a crime in many areas. There are people in prison today — mostly men, mostly black — for failing to disclose. These disclosure laws incentivize not knowing your status — you can’t be punished for not disclosing what you don’t know — putting everyone at higher risk. Why would he tell the truth? It’s possible he lied to you about his status — a lie he regarded as harmless thanks to his undetectable viral load — because he assumed this would be a hookup and nothing more. He wasn’t going to infect you and he wasn’t going to see you again. But after you two hit it off, DADT, he decided to tell you the truth right away instead of waiting weeks or months. The connection you describe is hard to find — this could be the start of something great — but the lie he told was big, yes, but understandable. I think he deserves credit for coming clean right away — and a second chance.
You want to have sex five times a week, SPOUSE, you watch a lot of porn, and porn doesn’t replace sex for you. Isn’t it possible that it works the same way for your husband? He wants to have sex twice a week, he watches a lot of porn, porn doesn’t replace sex for him. Don’t assume your husband is having a wank every time he visits a porn site. Lots of people — men and women — like to take a quick peek at porn sites, get a little erotic charge, and then get on with whatever they’re doing without stopping everything to have a wank. That said, SPOUSE, I can certainly understand why you’re frustrated — you’re having a lot less sex than you’d like and you’re constantly feeling rejected — but blowing up about porn isn’t going to help anything. So what do you do with your feelings of frustration? Regarding frequency, SPOUSE, you directly address the issue with your husband and propose a low-stakes, low-pressure (and mutually pleasurable) compromise. Tell him you’d like to aim for three times a week, but put mutual masturbation on the table for that third time and/or the husband giving you a masturbatory assist. He may not be up for PIV more than twice a week, but he may be up for crawling into bed with you and either having a wank with you or holding you and talking porny while you have a wank. As for your frustration around always initiating, well, sometimes we have to accept the shit we cannot change. As the person with the higher libido in your relationship, SPOUSE, you may be stuck being the initiator.
“HIV-POSITIVE PEOPLE SHOULDN’T LIE TO THEIR SEX PARTNERS. OBVIOUSLY.”
I want to fuck my 31-year-old husband more often than he wants to fuck me, his
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Filmmakers, lovers, wannabe porn stars, sex-positive types, kinksters and other creative types are invited to create short porn films — five minutes max — for HUMP! 2017, my dirty little film festival! HUMP! films can be hardcore, softcore, live-action, stopmotion, animated, musical, kinky, vanilla, straight, gay, lesbian, bi, trans, genderqueer — your film can be anything because everyone and everything is welcome at HUMP! For more information on submitting a film — including info about the big cash prizes! — go to tinyurl.com/hump2017! On the Lovecast, Dan spars with rival advice columnist Minda Honey: savagelovecast.com.
SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO MAIL@SAVAGELOVE.NET AND FIND THE SAVAGE LOVECAST (DAN’S WEEKLY PODCAST) AT SAVAGELOVECAST.COM
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{PHOTO COURTESY OF ESCAPE BRADENTON}
Members of the Pittsburgh Pirates after their Escape Bradenton adventure
ESCAPE PLAN {BY CHARLIE DEITCH}
THERE ARE many ways to evaluate a major-league baseball team. You can talk to players and coaches; you can watch the club practice and play; and you can get opinions from people in the know, like scouts or other journalists. But you have to evaluate the information, break it down and take bias into account; of course during spring training the manager thinks they’ll win a World Series. But if you want a black-and-white determination of how a group of guys operates as a team, there’s only one person to ask — the guy who runs the local escape room.
Pirates management, which was looking for team-building activities. This writer has escaped successfully from rooms around Pittsburgh, but the rooms at Escape Bradenton are very challenging (my group did not get out). These rooms take a high level of cooperation and communication to complete. Players were divided into six groups of 10, and the groups were assigned certain rooms. EB’s staff (Tony, Ricki, Abby, Camryn and Leo) made sure the team received the whole experience. So, how did the Buccos do? “We were really impressed by these guys when they came in,”
“WE WERE REALLY IMPRESSED BY THESE GUYS.” In mid-March, 60 members of the Pittsburgh Pirates spent an off-day trying to bust out of one of three scenario rooms at Escape Bradenton, a local escape room. For the uninitiated, players are locked in a room and given a specific length of time to complete tasks and solve puzzles to reach several objectives, the most important being to escape the room. The business was opened in November 2014 by co-owners Bryan and Deniz Uzbay. In one scenario, you are part of a World War II Allied commando unit whose job it is to find an artifact, defuse a bomb and escape the bunker. In “Inheritance,” you follow an archeology professor’s letter to solve a mystery. And not a lot is known about “Crucifixus” except that it’s the most challenging room and has a parental warning about “disturbing and violent content.” Bryan Uzbay told City Paper that he was approached by
Uzbay says. “They all did well; they had great communication. And we treated them like any other customer, we didn’t make it easier; and they all rose to the occasion. “One thing that was obvious was that when the tension kicked in, the veteran presence in the room was very tangible; they took control of the situation, and the young prospects stepped up even though they were out of their comfort zones. As a baseball fan, that’s what you like to see in a team.” And there you have it. The puzzles in these rooms don’t know who’s solving them. They don’t care what your earned-run average is or how many bases you stole or how much money you make. You either step up or you fail. It’s the secret to both escaping a fake WWII bunker and winning a World Series. C DE IT CH @ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.29/04.05.2017
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