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Factory Swing Shift
The Factory stays up late! EVENTS 6.18 – 8pm DOUBLE FEATURE: ANDY WARHOL’S TARZAN & JANE REGAINED… SORT OF (1963) AND TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932) Ace Hotel Pittsburgh – Gym (East Liberty) Ace Hotel Pittsburgh is The Warhol’s official hotel sponsor. FREE; Register at warhol.org
7.21 – 5-8pm TEACHER WORKSHOP: POP CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM Tickets $30
7.28 – 5-9:30pm FACTORY SWING SHIFT The Factory The Factory stays up late! Free with museum admission
7.28 – 7-10pm SILVER SCREEN BAZAAR Hollywood-related memorabilia and collectible marketplace and Pittsburgh premiere of the Warhol film San Diego Surf (1968/1996). Free with museum admission
6.16 – 5-9:30pm The Factory, Free with museum admission
The Factory stays up late! Visit our hands-on underground studio to make art after dark during Factory Swing Shift. Visitors can drop in to experiment with a range of materials and techniques. NEWS
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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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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
05.31/06.07.2017
05.31/06.07.2017 VOLUME 27 + ISSUE 22
[EDITORIAL] Editor CHARLIE DEITCH News Editor REBECCA ADDISON Arts & Entertainment Editor BILL O’DRISCOLL Associate Editor AL HOFF Digital Editor ALEX GORDON Staff Writers RYAN DETO, CELINE ROBERTS Music Writer MEG FAIR Interns CARLEY BONK, HALEY FREDERICK, KRISTA JOHNSON, HANNAH LYNN, JORDAN MILLER, MATT PETRAS, MARC WEEMS
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CONTEST ALERT! Crayons, colored pencils or even markers — if you’re brave enough. Choose your weapon and go outside the lines with our first ever CP Coloring issue. Show us your style on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with #CPColoringIssue for the chance to win a CP prize pack that could include Stage AE tickets, restaurant gift cards, T-shirts and more.
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To make an appointment at the PACT clinic, or for information about HIV/AIDS, call 412-647-PACT (7228) or visit UPMC.com/PACT.
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THIS WEEK
“WE TRAIN FOR MANY THINGS THAT THERAPY DOGS DO NOT GO THROUGH.”
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{CP PHOTOS BY JORDAN MILLER}
Tammi Potts training Gryffin at Center for Victims
Last week, City Paper went to the Future show at KeyBank Pavilion. Check out our photos from the show on our FFW>> blog at www.pghcitypaper.com.
HELPING PAWS
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Editor’s note: The name of the child in this story has been changed to protect her identity.
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HEN 5-YEAR-OLD Jamie first began attending therapy sessions at the Center for Victims, her therapist says, she suffered from low self-esteem and disobedience. Jamie had been sexually abused and had few coping skills to manage the emotional experiences she’d gone through. “[Jamie] presented with trauma symptoms of hypervigilance, avoidance of use of language to describe thoughts, emotions and experiences,” says therapist Megan Cook. “She had little awareness of personal space for self or others, engaged in repetitive traumatic play in session with themes of self-blame, guilt, confusion and a general sense of being in and causing trouble.”
But then Jamie met Gryffin, a 10-yearold German shepherd serving as a “canine advocate” at the Center for Victims, a victim-services and advocacy organization. Jamie’s parents gave permission to include Gryffin in their daughter’s therapy session, and they quickly saw a change in her behavior.
A new program pairing child-abuse victims with dogs helps with healing {BY REBECCA ADDISON} “Having Gryffin available to her has had such a positive impact,” said Jamie’s mother. “He has helped her self-esteem so much.”
Gryffin is part of a new program launched in February at the Center for Victims and the Child Advocacy Center (CAC) at UPMC’s Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. The program is in partnership with Pups Providing Hope, a nonprofit aimed at providing service agencies and the courts with access to trained dogs and handlers in order to bring comfort to victims of violent crimes and other traumatic events. The program, believed to be the only one of its kind in the country, is designed for canines to follow children and their families through the various processes involved in child-abuse cases, from the investigation into prosecution, and throughout trauma treatment. Gryffin began working with children in April. “One of the things we wanted to do CONTINUES ON PG. 08
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PUP WALK SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 2017 10:00am at The Waterfront Debbie McManus, Center for Victims grants and contracts manager, with Gryffin
On-site registration begins at 9:00am
REGISTER ONLINE: animalrescue.org/panera or call 412-345-7300 x204
for Pennsylvania crime victims is expand our services to help people heal from the negative experiences they have,” says Tracey Provident, chief program officer at Center for Victims. “These dogs will stay with a child throughout the process they are enduring as victims of child abuse. Through all the systems they have to interact with, they will have that consistency.” Children are introduced to Gryffin in the waiting room prior to a therapy session at Center for Victims or the forensic interview at the CAC. Potts checks to make sure the children don’t have any allergies that could be aggravated by interacting with Gryffin, and ensures the children aren’t afraid of dogs. The children then walk Gryffin, learning how to clip and unclip his leash. They also learn how to give simple commands like “sit,” “shake” and “lie down.” After each session, the kids are allowed to play with Gryffin to release any built-up tension. “It gives them focus. It gives them
something to do and it calms them down,” says Tammi Potts, Gryffin’s owner and the canine-assisted advocate at the Center for Victims. “The dogs are so calm that when the kids are escalating up, the dog brings them back down. And if you have a child that’s not responding well, they don’t want to speak or interact, what we do is we use it as an ice-breaker and an empowerment tool for the kid.” During the session, Gryffin serves as a source of comfort for the children. In forensic interviews, children are asked to recount the abuse they experienced. The interview can be traumatic. “He’ll check in with the child every so often and if they need him, he’ll interact with them,” says Potts. “They can reach down and pet him. Sometimes they’ll get down and sit with him on the floor.” Potts has been a dog trainer for more than two decades. She’s trained canines to be therapy dogs and work in nursing homes, but Gryffin’s training has been CONTINUES ON PG. 10
Named the best continuing blog in Western Pa. (No, we’re not shitting you.)
Benefits the animals of Humane Animal Rescue
First place, 2017 Press Club of Western Pa. Golden Quill Award
READ US ON THE REGULAR AT WWW.PGHCITYPAPER.COM 8
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Color your world with a Port Authority ConnectCard. The faster, simpler and easier way to get around town.
PORT AUTHORITY PORT AUTHORITY
For more information go to ConnectCard.org. NEWS
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far more extensive. “To make a dog suitable for what we’re doing you need a dog who’s bombproof,” says Potts. “They have to be able to handle pretty much anything. I had a kid drop a bucket of crayons next to his head. You just don’t know what the children are going to do, so you have to be prepared for anything.” One child in a recent therapy session was fixated on Gryffin’s whiskers. Despite the discomfort that all the pulling on his whiskers might have caused, Potts says Gryffin tolerated it for a while before calmly sighing and turning his head. “Rather than reacting or responding in an inappropriate way, he knows how to respond in a way that is gentle for the child,” says Potts. “He didn’t upset her. He didn’t interrupt the process. He’s trained all his life for this.” As part of the Pups Providing Hope program, inmates at the State Correctional Institution-Forest have been tasked with training additional dogs for service. In order to participate in the program, an inmate’s behavior and interactions with other inmates and correction officers is evaluated. A pair of inmates is then assigned a dog from an animal shelter or foster program for intensive obedience training. “I did a training with the inmates on trauma and the importance of what they’re doing and how it helps our victims here,” says Cindy Snyder, clinical director of the Center for Victims. “They were, without exception, excited about being able to give back to victims, and also excited that they were potentially helping to put people in jail.” Six dogs are being trained right now, and a poodle named Cooper has been
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identified to begin working with children in July. Dogs that don’t end up meeting the requirements to work with children can go on to serve as emotional-support dogs in other settings or return to shelters, where they will be easier to adopt. “The rigors we put the dogs through in training are closer to what you’d see with a service dog,” says Potts. “We train for many things that therapy dogs do not go through.” But despite the extensive training, canine advocates are limited in the amount of sessions they can do in a day. “The dog absorbs all of those emotions, so he can only do one or two sessions a day, depending on what the level of emotion is and how long that interview is,” says Potts. “Occasionally we’ll go from the CAC interview over to the hospital and do their medical interview with them as well.” While the sessions take their toll on the canines, the aid they provide to children going through the legal process is invaluable in ensuring child abusers are convicted. “One of the things we know from the research is when kids are around dogs
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and they have that interaction, it increases the chemical in the brain called oxytocin,” says Snyder. “And that happens to be the hormone that helps kids get connected to other people, it helps kids manage their stress, it helps make them less nervous and less anxious. “If the child is less stressed in the interview, you’ll get better information. If the child is less stressed in a medical exam, you’ll get better evidence. And the child will be better able to testify when you get to court.” While the outcomes of cases involving children whom Gryffin has worked with have yet to be determined, his impact on the children is clear. Following sessions with Gryffin, parents are surveyed, and the feedback thus far has been overwhelmingly positive. “What we’re looking for is for the kids to remember the good experience rather than the negative part of the interview and whatever may have been discussed,” says Potts. “Some of the parents say their kids would not have been as comfortable without him there, would not have been able to say what they had said without him there.”
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CITY PAPER COLORING SPECTACULAR ART BY D.J. COFFMAN 12
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
05.31/06.07.2017
It takes a big heart to donate part of your liver.
Mike Thompson Kennedy’s living-liver donor Age 38
Become a living donor to a child who needs a new liver. Kennedy Stevenson Liver recipient Age 5
It’s always hard for kids to wait. But when a child is waiting for a lifesaving liver transplant, the wait is even more difficult. However, for the more than 30 kids who are on Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC’s liver waiting list, there’s another option: living donation. This is when a part of an adult liver is transplanted into a child. The adult’s liver grows back, while the child can go on to live a healthy life. We are on a mission to find donors for these children and to save lives through living donation. Donors are carefully screened and not everyone is eligible. So spread the word and please consider being a living donor to a child. You’ll leave a legacy. And you’ll save a life. Visit UPMC.com/BeADonor.
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CULTURE VULTURES
like they own it. All too often, it becomes something that is almost “theirs.” Like rock ’n’ roll, which the history and heritage is associated with black people and [was invented] almost exclusively within their race, but Elvis Presley is “the king of rock ’n’ roll.” I don’t have a problem with Elvis Presley being involved in rock ’n’ roll; I have a problem with him being called the king.
Fashion designer Tereneh Mosley discusses cultural appropriation and what to look out for {BY RYAN DETO} LATER THIS YEAR, what was originally described as an “urban” and “hip-hop” themed fried-chicken restaurant will open in East Liberty. The announcement and subsequent backlash thrust the topic of cultural appropriation into the forefront in Pittsburgh. People were upset with the way the new restaurant, owned by a white man and originally called “The Coop,” was marketed and announced, given East Liberty’s history as a black cultural center that is rapidly losing its black residents and cultural institutions, due in part to development. The owner apologized for his remarks about his new venture, and defenders point out the benefits a new restaurant might bring to the community. But now that the dust has settled, Pittsburgh City Paper decided to discuss cultural appropriation with an expert. Tereneh Mosley is a Pittsburgh native and internationally acclaimed fashion
{PHOTO COURTESY OF TERENEH MOSLEY}
Tereneh Mosley
designer, specializing in collaborations with Maasai artisans from Kenya. On June 14, she will be participating in a panel discussion titled “Cultural Appropriation and the Arts,” at Everyday Cafe, in Homewood. IN TERMS OF FASHION, ARE THERE PROBLEMS OF CULTURAL
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APPROPRIATION? IS IT A PROBLEM WHEN PEOPLE WEAR SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T ALIGN WITH THEIR CULTURE? It depends on who is creating, who is wearing it and why. For example, the Maasai women that I work with, they are collaborating with me and they are for a global community. They want people to wear what they make. They are proud of it and they want to share it. But in doing that, I name the artisan and I continually talk about it as collaboration. I don’t claim it as all my work. That is something that’s really important. The challenge with cultural appropriation is that when you take it and name it as your own and don’t give creative credit or economic benefit to the original innovator.
IS THERE A TIME WHEN PEOPLE GO TOO FAR WHEN CALLING OUT CULTURAL APPROPRIATION? The only time the cultural-appropriation argument would go too far is [after] all races and cultures receive equal credit and benefit for their contributions to humanity. Until that time, I don’t think it’s ever going to go too far. Because it still keeps happening. Until we are all able to speak to the contributions of people regardless of race, regardless of gender, regardless of [sexual] orientation, regardless of country of origin, then the problem is going to exist. I think the challenge is, for people who are thoughtful and are trying to be intentional, they don’t know what to do. They will say, in terms of my fashion, “Well, I want to buy it, but can I wear it because I am not Maasai?” Well, I am not Maasai and I am wearing it, because this is what they have chosen to share. There are some things that they don’t share with me. There are some things that are not open for distribution. I feel like because we don’t have honest conversations about cultural appropriation and racism and white supremacy and all the things that lead into cultural appropriation, that is why we have challenges. People can look at it as a theoretical construct, but they don’t actually look at how it impacts people’s lives and how it shapes cultural society.
“I THINK IT’S THIS IDEA OF TAKING CREDIT FOR SOMETHING THAT IS NOT WHOLLY YOURS.”
WHY DO ISSUES OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATION KEEP COMING UP? We keep having these problems because it’s a continuous cycle of “I like this music, I am going to eat this food or wear these clothes” and then people think, “and now it’s mine because I am wearing it” or “I discovered this amazing new thing” that actually might have been around for hundreds of years. I think it’s this idea of taking credit for something that is not wholly yours. And it’s not a matter of [having] to stay within your lane of your community. We have shared ideas, culture, music and have for hundreds of years and will continue to do so. But what often happens, if something is created, and by a non-white group specifically … people kind of take it on
CAN A WHITE-AMERICAN MAJORITY CLAIM CULTURAL APPROPRIATION? I would have to ask that if people are adopting what people claim as whiteAmerican, how does it overall affect their economic situation, their political situation? Does it lessen their cultural value? Does it put them in any harm of being erased? Does it put them in a place where they would no longer be able to celebrate that part of their culture? If that is the case, if it’s really harming white people, then yes. But I can’t really think of anything [that is currently happening]. But if there is, I will take it off my dinner plate. RYA N D E TO@ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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from the Humane Animal Rescue
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Care they need. Love they deserve.
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• Hawks are amazing creatures that live all over the world! • There are 8 species of hawk that are native to Pennsylvania. ‡ +DZNV DUH ¿HUFH KXQWHUV WKDW KDYH DPD]LQJ H\HVLJKW WKH\ FDQ VHH XOWUDYLROHW OLJKW • The largest species and most common species in PA is the red tailed hawk.
• Porcupines live all over the world; the North American Porcupine is native to forests in PA. • The average porcupine is covered in around 30,000 quills! • A baby porcupine is called a porcupette! • Porcupines are rodents, so they have ever-growing incisor teeth. They are the second largest rodents in North America, slightly smaller than the Beaver!
6000 Verona Road, Verona, PA 15147 • 412 -345-7300 • humaneanimalrescue.org NEWS
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Which city is home to one of the oldest jazz clubs in the country?
ERIC FRICK
MEET THE
UNEXPECTED
KC KRATT
RHEA ANNA
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ne of the few remaining clubs of its kind in the country, the COLORED MUSICIANS CLUB AND MUSEUM is a place where American musical history is kept alive thanks to new exhibits, concerts and jam sessions.
Held every year since 1975, Buffalo’s JUNETEENTH FESTIVAL (June 17-18), is a two-day celebration of family, culture and tradition that draws more than 100 vendors and thousands of attendees. Festival events include an annual 5K Run and Festival Parade.
For two weekends each August since 1989, Buffalo’s African American Cultural Center presents the PINE GRILL JAZZ REUNION (August 5-6 & 12-13), a highly-anticipated Buffalo tradition that draws thousands to the city’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Park to make new memories under the summer sky.
What better way to understand the Underground Railroad than by following in the footsteps of those hearty souls who risked everything in pursuit of freedom in Canada? MOTHERLAND CONNEXTIONS’ costumed guides take you on a journey into the past that you will never forget.
U NEXPECTED B UFFALO.COM NEWS
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News of the Weird
S E N D YO UR WE I R D N E WS TO W E I RD N E W S @ E ART HL I NK . N E T O R WWW. NE WS O F T HE WE I R D. C OM
{BY CHUCK SHEPHERD}
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Jordan Haskins, 26, was sentenced to probation and sex counseling in May after pleading guilty to eight charges arising from two auto accidents in Saginaw, Mich. Prosecutors said Haskins described “cranking,” in which he would remove a vehicle’s spark-plug wires to make it “run rough,” which supposedly improves his chances for a self-service happy ending. Haskins’ lawyer added, “[Cranking] is something I don’t think we understand as attorneys.”
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Yale University graduate students (well, at least eight of them), claiming “union” status, demonstrated in front of the Yale president’s home in April demanding better benefits (beyond the annual free tuition, $30,000 stipends and free health care). Some of the students characterized their action as an “indefinite fast,” while others called it a “hunger strike.” However, a pamphlet associated with the unionizing made it clear that strikers could go eat any time they got hungry.
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Smooth Reactions: (1) Police in Cleveland are searching for the woman whose patience ran out on April 14 awaiting her young son’s slow haircut at Allstate Barber College. She pulled out a pistol, took aim at the barber and warned: “I got two clips! I’ll pop you.” (She allowed him to finish up — more purposefully, obviously — and left without further incident.) (2) Barbara Lowery, 24, was arrested for disorderly conduct in Cullman, Ala., in May after police spotted her standing on a car, stomping out the windshield and smashing the sun roof. She said it was a boyfriend’s car, that she thought he was cheating on her, and that she had spent the previous night “thinking” about what to do, “pray[ing] about it and stuff.” (However, she said, “I did it anyway.”)
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The Aristocrats! (1) Recent alarming headlines: “UK woman who urinated on Trump golf course loses case” (London). “Fish thief on unicycle busted by DNR [Department of Natural Resources]” (Battle Creek, Mich.). And, from the Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach), all on the same day (May 16, 2017): (1) “Man throws fork at woman in fight over dog poop.” (2) “Senior citizen punches husband for taking Lord’s name in vain.” (3) “Two people busted for creating fake football league, lawmen say.” (4) “Man denies defecating in parking lot despite officer witnessing deed.”
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Clearing the Conscience: (1) In February, a 52-year-old man who, arrested for DUI and taken to a police station in Germany’s Lower Saxony state, wound up spontaneously confessing to a 1991 cold-case murder in Bonn. Police confirmed that, after reopening the files, they found details matching the man’s account, though the man himself was “not quite clear” why he had confessed. (2) A game warden in Titus County, Texas, reported in December arresting a man for possessing a shotgun (the man’s third arrest as a convicted felon with a firearm). The warden had spotted the weapon only because the man “out of the blue” approached
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him and asked if he wanted to inspect his hunting license (which, it turns out, was in order).
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A 22-year-old Los Angeles makeup artist who calls himself Vinny Ohh has, according to his several TV and YouTube appearances and much social-media presence, transformed himself into a “genderless,” extraterrestrial-looking person via around 110 bodily procedures (so far), costing him at least $50,000. He says his appearance is merely an “all-in” representation of how he feels inside. (The “genderless” Vinny has yet to specify a pronoun preference.)
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The impending retirement from public life of Britain’s Prince Philip, announced in May, has likely quashed any slight chance he will visit the Imanourane people on Tanna (in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu) — tragic, of course, because Tanna’s Chief Jack and his followers continue to believe Philip descended from their own spiritual ancestors and has thus dominated their thoughts for the last seven
decades. In fact, when Tanna was in the path of Cyclone Donna in May 2017, the Imanourane were quickly reminded of Philip’s continuing “powers.” (Philip has never visited, but Tannans have long prayed over an autographed photograph he sent years ago.)
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A News of the Weird Classic (October 2013): The story of Kopi Luwak coffee has long been a News of the Weird staple, begun in 1993 with the first reports that a super-premium market existed for coffee beans digested (and excreted) by certain Asian civet cats, collected, washed and brewed. In June (2013), as news broke that civets were being mistreated — captured and caged solely for their bean-adulterating utility — the American Chemical Society was called on for ideas how to assure that the $227-per-pound coffee beans had, indeed, been expelled from genuine Asian civets. Hence, “gas chromatography and mass spectrometry” tests were finally developed to assure drinkers, at $80 a cup in California, that they were sipping the real thing.
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LOCAL
LISTEN AS YOU READ: SCAN THE CODE FOR OUR NEW SPOTIFY PLAYLIST, A SOUNDTRACK TO THE STORIES IN THIS SECTION, OR VISIT WWW.PGHCITYPAPER.COM/BLOGS/FFW/
BEAT
{BY MIKE SHANLEY}
SEEDY MUSIC Dan Styslinger’s name is becoming synonymous with solid pop music. As a guitarist in the band delicious pastries, he adds to that band’s orchestral psychedelic hooks. But as the keyboardist/songwriter/ vocalist in Seedy Players, he gets to present something even further afield — closer to chamber pop, complete with a horn section and the occasional string arrangement. The music feels familiar, but the way those components blend gives them a unique sound.
{PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIE MASHYNA}
Seedy Players
As a child, Styslinger was already absorbing music. “My parents listened to a lot of jazz and musicals,” he says. “So from a very early age, I remember trying to pick out the notes of complex harmonies in jazz chords.” As a teenager, he started developing his own musical identity, listening to Ben Folds and The Shins. During college he heard Steely Dan, which really set him on track. “My goal is to write digestible pop music with influences in jazz,” he says. Seedy Players present all of this on their new EP, The Time in Between. In “Radio,” Styslinger’s voice comes off like a whisper that still sounds crisp, as if he sang just millimeters from the microphone. On other songs, the vocals are on even ground with the band. “Thinking of Penelope” finds the two saxophones and a trumpet wailing between lyrics, in something of a shout straight out of a jazz tune. The five tracks don’t reveal everything on the first listen, but they create a desire for return visits, to discover all the layers built into the songs. The group came together in 2015, originally calling itself Old Soles and Seedy Players. The Time in Between introduces the abbreviated name because the original “became a mouthful and [I] ended up having to explain it too much,” Styslinger says. “I have always been drawn to word play, and I thought it was kind of funny that Seedy Players sounds like ‘CD players.’ Plus, I think Seedy Players fits our vibe very well. Look at us, we’re a pretty ragtag group of sketchy dudes.” INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
SEEDY PLAYERS’ CD-RELEASE with PADDY THE WANDERER and CHET VINCENT & THE BIG BEND 8 p.m. Fri., June 2. Howlers, 4509 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. $5. 412-682-0320 or www.howlerspittsburgh.com
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
{CP PHOTO BY KATE HAGERTY}
Derek Zanetti of Homeless Gospel Choir in his home studio in Hazelwood
PREACHING THE GOSPEL {BY MEG FAIR}
T
HE HOMELESS Gospel Choir makes
music that’s honest. It’s confessional, it protests the darkness in our world, it begs for happiness while navigating the highs and lows of mental illness. The Homeless Gospel Choir (THGC) is Derek Zanetti; his DIY ethos is obvious in everything he does. If you ask him what punk rock means to him, he’ll answer without hesitation: “Punk rock saved my life.” “I never went looking for punk rock. I was a real scared young kid who just wanted to be accepted,” says Zanetti. “I just wanted people around me who loved me and accepted me for who I am, and that’s what punk rock did for me. “I know that I’m a weirdo, I’ve accepted that. I’m 34, and I know that I don’t fit into most people’s shoes.” This is the notion he explores on his lat-
05.31/06.07.2017
est single, “Normal,” pressed on a brightly colored 7-inch that sticks out just like Zanetti’s electric personality. It’s a song about discovering punk, meeting punks for the first time and realizing that he isn’t meant to conform. A chorus of voices belts out a catchy hook: “You’re never gonna be normal, cuz you’re a punk.” In Zanetti’s mind, punk should be inclusive, just as it was open to him. It is a community that should welcome everyone with open arms. “[This world] should not be exclusionary to hipster young twentysomething punks who just want to smoke cigarettes and fuck off,” Zanetti says. “You should be able to start a band and be invited to play all shows, regardless of your age, race, gender, sexuality, ability. You should be able to
sit and watch, or stand and watch, or mosh or don’t mosh. And it should be accepted without question.” The first time City Paper talks DIY shop with Zanetti is in his Hazelwood home, where he resides with his wife, Lindsey, and his pup, Winnie Cooper. The home is full of art, some his own and some by his friends. Winnie runs around with a small corn-onthe-cob toy while Zanetti makes illustrations for an ongoing project. Zanetti wrote his last book, Remembering Everything, here. It’s also where he is currently working on his next book. In an office upstairs, he has a computer, keyboards, a guitar, small synthesizers and other toys he uses to make music. On the walls are dozens of posters from shows in Pittsburgh, where he’s lived nearly his whole life. The house is spacious and comfortable, CONTINUES ON PG. 22
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PREACHING THE GOSPEL, CONTINUED FROM PG. 20
a haven for touring bands to stay and enjoy a hot meal after a show in the city. “So many people put me up, gave me food and took care of me when I was starting out,” explains Zanetti. “It was important to me to own a home that gave me the chance to pay that forward.” The first patches he screenprinted for THGC were of an older man protesting outside of a Walmart with a sign that says, “We’re not going to fight your wars anymore.” Dan Rugh, from Commonwealth Press, took Zanetti under his wing and taught him how to print the patches himself. Now Zanetti pays that good deed forward by turning his basement and living room into a screen-printing, stickerand pin-making workshop for both THGC and other local bands. It’s essentially a DIY haven by design. “DIY is more than punk rock — it’s a whole lifestyle that goes to how you eat your food and live your life,” explains Zanetti. “I want to try and do it myself first. I want to empower others, especially young folks, to do things themselves.” Zanetti believes deeply in making friends with all types of people, and supporting friends in their quest to create. It doesn’t matter what they wear or what they look like, as it’s all about good art. “If you write a good record about your feelings, I’ll buy it. Because I love you, and I want to hear what you have to say,” says Zanetti. “It has nothing to do with haircuts and nail polish.” The Homeless Gospel Choir has come a long way since the early days of hoofing around the country and sleeping on floors. THGC is about to embark on a tour with ’68 and Listener, and the scheduled tour after that is an acoustic voyage with the singer of PEARS. “I have great liberty and freedom to get to pick and choose the tours I want to go on,” says Zanetti, “Now I get to call my friends and say, ‘Are you free to do a big summer banger?’ and we have time to create something special.” A full album to follow the 7-inch will arrive in mid-August after a summer of touring. It is a deeply personal record for Zanetti, a documentation of his own struggles with mental illness. There are visual and musical collaborations with artists like Frank Iero and Frank Turner. It’s an album that Zanetti needed to create, but he could not have done so without the guidance of Chris Dos at A-F Records. “I need someone around to herd my craziness,” says Zanetti, “Chris was the best coach and supporter I could have asked for in this process. Without him, I don’t know that I would have made these records.” M E G FA I R@ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
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The 5th Judicial District of Pennsylvania and Allegheny County Pretrial Services urges you to enjoy your weekend out in Pittsburgh but
PUBLIC PLAY & EVENTS 19TH HOLE BAR & GRILLE CLUBHOUSE EVENT ENTER
make the right choice,
don’t drink & drive.
Join us for Glow Golf Friday June 2nd – 6700 Saltsburg Road, Pittsburgh, Pa 15235 –
Bring this ad for a $99 foursome! Expires 7/31/17
412-793-7111 | www.3LakesGolf.com lf
Tuesday, June 27, 2017 | 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. West Penn Hospital 4800 Friendship Ave., Pittsburgh, PA Stop in. Make a Connection. Make an Appointment.
Register at meet-dr-right.com or call 1-855-856-0319 (TTY users call 711).
Meet LGBT-friendly primary care doctors and specialists from Allegheny Health Network and your community at our informal open house. Refreshments included!
Free Health Screenings
Talk to doctors, ask questions, and get to know them before you schedule an office visit. The doctors are all accepting new patients!
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C U L T U R A L
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P R E S E N T S
NEW RELEASES {BY MEG FAIR}
LONDON CALLING : AN EVENING WITH
L AU R A M V U L A THE HILLS AND THE RIVERS APOCALYPTIC DREAMS SELF-RELEASED WWW.THEHILLSANDTHERIVERS.BANDCAMP.COM
“Brilliantly fierce and fiercely brilliant” — THE LOND ON EVE NING STANDARD
Award–winning British singer Laura Mvula, has been the critics’ choice in the United Kingdom for the last four years. Don’t miss this soulful vocalist known for her inventive, atmospheric mix of R&B, jazz, classical, and pop.
THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2017 • 8 PM DEBUT ! AUGUST WILSON CENTER PITTSBURGH
TRUS TARTS.ORG BOX OFFICE AT THEATER SQUARE 412-456-6666 GROUPS 10+ TICKETS 412-471-6930
The Hills and The Rivers are a sevenpiece making folk music that leans into the gloomier, spookier side of folk. Its latest album, Apocalyptic Dreams, is an exploration of anxiety about the earth’s decimation at the hands of humanity, and fighting despair in the face of impending doom while staring it straight on. By featuring more than a dozen different instruments on the record, The Hills and The Rivers manage to create a sound that is orchestral without relying on electricity. The music on the record sounds as it would on a street corner or in a dive bar without a working sound system. Apocalyptic Dreams hints at a larger-than-life narrative, as if the album is just waiting to be the score to a dark musical. From the ominous entrance “Secondhand Grin” to the celebratory conclusion “Folk Steady,” Apocalyptic Dreams is a journey worth taking.
HEATHER KROPF LIGHTS SELF-RELEASED WWW.HEATHER KROPF.COM
Heather Kropf has been making music in Pittsburgh for almost two decades. Her veteran songwriting experience shows in the smart song arrangements on her latest, a softer rock endeavour called Lights. The production on this album gives Kropf’s ear for melody and harmony and her lyrical strength the space to shine, as she hones a voice that can be gentle and breathy as well as belting. Her vocals imply aching and yearning, and are the perfect accompaniment to the clean, thoughtful instrumentation that twinkles and shines. Lights is a slower, down-tempo record. It’s for a rainy summer day, or to play on a reflective road trip to a place you’ve never been before. MEGFAIR@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
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{PHOTO COURTESY OF COLLEEN EVERSMAN}
Brother Ali
BROTHER FIGURE {BY BILL KOPP} IF THERE IS such a thing as a typical rapper, Brother Ali doesn’t fit that description. The Minneapolis-based member of the esteemed Rhymesayers Entertainment collective turns out rhymes that are often political in nature. But the 39-yearold rapper is more interested in focusing on the positive. And that positivity comes naturally; Ali doesn’t employ a studied approach to songwriting. “I don’t start out with a goal,” Ali tells City Paper in a phone interview. “I just try to create from the most authentic place that I can.” And that place is rooted in his Islamic faith. Ali converted at age 15, and follows a religious path that values harmony among different faiths, one that fits in with the realities of 21st-century life. “I genuinely do have a sense of hope,” he says, “and that comes from faith.” He believes that to honor those who have come before, “we don’t have the option of despair.” That’s not to say that Ali views the world through rose-colored glasses. One of his most well-known tracks is “Uncle Sam Goddamn,” from his 1997 album The Undisputed Truth. In that track — based in part upon Nina Simone’s classic “Mississippi Goddam” — Ali takes the U.S. government to task for its complicity in slavery and the drug trade. Ali believes he has inherited “a legacy of fighting against injustice.” While some rappers engage in creative license, using their own experiences as a jumping-off point for lyrical themes, Brother Ali writes from a more direct place. He says that his lyrics are “always
my experiences, never anything other than that. And even when I’m telling a story about somebody else, I tell it from my own perspective as somebody that loves them, rather than try to tell their story.” Ali has always placed great emphasis on the music that supports his words. In fact, several items from his deep catalog — he’s released six albums and four EPs — have also been released in instrumentalonly formats. All of the music on Ali’s latest, All the Beauty in This Whole Life, comes from real — not sampled — instruments.
BROTHER ALI
WITH SA-ROC, LAST WORD, SOL MESSIAH 9 p.m. Fri., June 2. Mr. Smalls, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $17-20. 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com
That decision arises out of necessity, Ali says. “The business is in such a place now where they have people at record labels who just pore through hip-hop music — even underground, independent hip hop — and just sue everybody that samples their records.” He concedes that he would still sample if he could. But Brother Ali finds great value in using real instruments. “The beauty in that is that really creative things come out of necessity. I do like the outcome of what we’re doing now,” he says. But he doesn’t necessarily think it’s superior to sampling. Ali says that his faith in Islam informs his music more now than it once did. “The music that I’m making is about the spiritual path,” he says. “All human beings are created on the same pattern, and we have an intrinsic quality that makes us want to connect with each other.” I N F O @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
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diesel
CRITICS’ PICKS {PHOTO COURTESY OF EBRU YILDIZ}
C LU B | LO U N G E
UPCOMING CONCERTS Joseph
6/5 | 8:00 PM | AA
6/9 | 7:00 PM | AA
alleghenycounty.us/summer
6/ 13 | 7:00 PM | AA
6/20 | 7:00 PM | AA
OF “THE PLOT IN YOU” 6/24 | 7:00 PM | AA
(Country)
June 4 Pittsburgh Opera
6/29 | 7:00 PM | AA
7/ 1 | 7:00 PM | AA
(Opera)
v I B RO K InG S
All concerts are free and begin at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
20TH ANNIVERSARY/REUNION SHOW 7/8 | 7:00 P M | 21+
Food trucks and Hop Farm Brewing Company craft beer at all concerts beginning at 6:00 p.m.
7/ 14 | 7:00 PM | AA
8/3 | 7:00 PM | AA
FAREWELL TO RACHEL B SHOW 8/25 | 7:00 P M | 21+
for tickets visit DIESELPGH.COM or Dave’s Music Mine (southside) 1801 e. carson st | pittsburgh |412.481.8800 PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
Subtlety has no place in the music of The Main Squeeze, nor should it. The flamboyant and lively five-piece, touted on its website as a combination of Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin and Daft Punk (accurate), got its start as a party band at Indiana University in 2010. The party is still alive and well, but the sound and production have evolved into something pristine and finely tuned. Check out the latest release, Without a Sound, to get your feet wet, but head down to Club Café tonight to get the party experience in full. Not for those averse to the wah-wah pedal. Locals Shaq Nicholson — also a five-piece, also generous with the funk — opens the show. Alex Gordon 7 p.m. 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $10. 21 and over. 412-431-4950 or www.clubcafe live.com
[BRASS] + SAT., JUNE 03
7/ 1 3 | 7:00 P M | 18+
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[FUNK] + THU., JUNE 01
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3W S
on the Skids is a longtime veteran of the alternative music scene. The band’s lyrics fall somewhere between a critique and an appreciation of white-trash culture, and its sound is a NutriBullet blend of rock, country, punk, surf and whatever else you wanna throw in there. The members have been known to throw fried chicken into the audience at shows, so maybe bring a moist towelette, or at least an empty stomach. SCOTS is joined onstage at the Rex Theater by cowpunk outfit Whiskey Daredevils. HL 8 p.m. 1602 E. Carson St., South Side. $15-20. 21 and over. 412-381-6811 or rex.greyareaprod.com
Beauty
Brass funk music has Slap its own specific way of getting people onto the dance floor, but so does electronic music. When you combine the two, you get Beauty Slap, the Pittsburgh-based group that makes you wanna use the word “groovy” and mean it. The band has the beat drops your brain craves side by side with a brass version of the hook from Snoop Dogg’s “Who Am I?” It sounds crazy on paper, and it sounds crazy in real life too, but in the best possible way. Joining Beauty Slap at Brillobox is the smooth-voiced, uptempo melancholy of Outcalls. Hannah Lynn 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $15. 21 and over. 412-621-4900 or www.brilloboxpgh.com
[ROCK/COUNTRY] + SUN., JUNE 04 North Carolina-based band Southern Culture
PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES HARTLEY}
6/22 | 7:00 PM P M | AA
June 2 The Stickers with special guest The Hobbs Sisters
[FOLK/POP] + TUE., JUNE 06 I have a sister and neither of us has any natural musical talent. She used to play the guitar and I used to play the flute, and if we formed a band together, it would probably sound like two weasels caught in a bear trap. The opposite will be true for sister trio Joseph’s show at Mr. Smalls tonight. It is sure to sound weasel-free and be full of angelic sibling harmonies, like on the triumphant “Burn the White Flag.” Returning just a few weeks after their last Pittsburgh show is the intimate electronic-folk duo Overcoats, who aren’t technically sisters, but might as well be. HL 8 p.m. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $18-20. All ages. 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com
CITY PAPER COLORING SPECTACULAR ART BY EMILY TRAYNOR NEWS
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FEATURED MUSIC 6/2
REBIRTH BRASS BAND + Jimbo and the Soupbones
6/3 6/4 6/5 6/6 6/7 6/8
HIPPO CAMPUS + Pet Clinic LAS CAFETERAS + Meeting of Important People PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MICHAEL KIWANUKA + Cloves SEAN ROWE + BIRDS OF CHICAGO BEATS + BARS featuring Choo Jackson, HollyHood, Billy Pilgrim, Pirate Gang, Track Meet, Hubbs, + DJ Selecta
VISUAL ARTS 3+ PUBLIC ART INSTALLATIONS 12+ INDOOR/OUTDOOR EXHIBITIONS JURIED VISUAL ART EXHIBITION
6/9 DAWES + The Accidentals 6/10 SARAH JAROSZ + FRUITION 6/11 ST. PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES + The Commonheart
ARTIST MARKET PRESENTED BY ART ON FILM
CREATIVITY ZONE HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES ARTIST DEMONSTRATIONS
ART + TECH CREATE FESTIVAL AWC LAB
TRUSTARTS.ORG/TRAF 28
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
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THEATER + DANCE INDOOR + OUTDOOR SPACES
DON'T MISS THE
7TH ANNUAL PJLIF
JUNE 16-18 2017
JAZZLIVE PUB CRAWL JAM SESSIONS ARTIST BOOTHS FOOD TRUCKS CRAFT BEER
FEATURED ARTISTS
Roy Ayers, Angelique Kidjo, David Sanborn Electric Band, Hudson-Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, John Medeski, Larry Grenadier, Odean Pope Sax Orchestra, The Bad Plus, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Chico Freeman Plus+tet, Sean Jones Quartet, Tia Fuller Quartet, Linda May Han Oh Quartet, Shirazette Tinnin & the Sonic Wallpaper, Jazzmeia Horn
TRUSTARTS.ORG/JAZZLIVEFEST NEWS
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TO SUBMIT A LISTING: HTTP://PGHCITYPAPER.COM/HAPPENINGS {ALL LISTINGS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 9 A.M. FRIDAY PRIOR TO PUBLICATION}
ROCK/POP
DIESEL. Roots of Creation, Hop A Train. 7 p.m. South Side. 412-431-8800.
THU 01
TUE 06
CLUB CAFE. The Main Squeeze. 7 p.m. South Side. 412-431-4950. RUMFISH GRILLE. The Rockers. 7-10 p.m. Bridgeville. 412-914-8013.
FRI 02 BAJA BAR AND GRILL. Nightlife Band. 8 p.m. Fox Chapel. 412-963-0640. BLOOMFIELD BRIDGE TAVERN. Rock Against Trump-ism #3. Feat: The Marcinko/Matula/ Wenzell Jazz Trio, Dave Musick, Carol Blaze, Vanessa Silberman, The Love Dimension, The Van Allen Belt & A.T.S. 8 p.m. Bloomfield. 412-682-8611. CLUB CAFE. Adelaide In Autumn, The Wire Riots, All In Uniform. 6 p.m. South Side. 412-431-4950. GOOSKI’S. Acid Witch, Horehound & Mires. 9 p.m. Polish Hill. 412-681-1658. HOWLERS. Seedy Players w/Paddy The Wanderer, Chet Vincent & The Big Bend. 8 p.m. Bloomfield. 412-682-0320. MOONDOG’S. Squeezen the Shaman. 9 p.m. Blawnox. 412-828-2040. PINBALL PERFECTION. Welcome to Someday. 7:30 p.m. West View. 412-931-4425.
CLUB CAFE. Blossoms. 7 p.m. South Side. 412-431-4950. JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Bachelor Boys Showcase. First Tue. of every month, 7 p.m. North Side. 412-904-3335. MR. SMALLS THEATER. Joseph. 7 p.m. Millvale. 412-821-4447.
WED 07 BELVEDERE’S. Dwarves, Decent Criminals, Thundervest, Porno Tongue & Super Fun Time Awesome Party Band. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2555. CLUB CAFE. KOLARS w/ Luxury Machine. 7 p.m. South Side. 412-431-4950. HEINZ FIELD. U2, The Lumineers. 6:30 p.m. North Side. KEYSTONE BAR. The Bo’Hog Brothers. First Wed. of every month, 7 p.m. Sewickley. 724-758-4217.
DJS
FRI 02 ANDYS WINE BAR. DJ Malls Spins Vinyl. 5 p.m. Downtown. 412-773-8884. BRILLOBOX. Pandemic : Global Dancehall, Cumbia, Bhangra, Balkan Bass. First Fri. of every month, 9:30 p.m. Bloomfield. 412-621-4900. THE FLATS ON CARSON. Pete Butta. 10 p.m. South Side. 412-586-7644. ONE 10 LOUNGE. DJ Goodnight, DJ Rojo. 9 p.m. Downtown. 412-874-4582. ROWDY BUCK. Top 40 Dance. 10 p.m. South Side. 412-431-2825. RUGGER’S PUB. 80s Night w/ DJ Connor. 9 p.m. South Side. 412-381-1330.
THU 01
SAT 03
BELVEDERE’S. NeoNoir Dark 80s w/ Erica Scary. First Thu. of every
BELVEDERE’S. Sean MC & Thermos. 90s night. First Sat. of
MP 3 MONDAY
SAT 03
ABBEY: IN THE RED {PHOTO COURTESY OF KITOKO CHARGOIS}
CATTIVO. Blaenavon. 9 p.m. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. CLUB CAFE. Easy Roscoe w/ Jon Worthy & Brahctopus. 10 p.m. South Side. 412-431-4950. DOWNEY’S HOUSE. Gone South. 8:30 p.m. Robinson. 412-489-5631. THE LAMP THEATRE. KASHMIR. Led Zeppelin tribute show. 8 p.m. Irwin. 724-367-4000. OAKS THEATER. The Eagles Tribute. 7:30 p.m. Oakmont. 412-828-6322. THE R BAR. Nicolle Belli Band. 9:30 p.m. Dormont. 412-445-5279. STAGE AE. AFI. 6 p.m. North Side. 412-229-5483.
month. 10 p.m. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2555. MR. SMALLS THEATER. Centrifuge Thursdays. At the Funhouse. 9 p.m. Millvale. 412-821-4447. PERLE CHAMPAGNE BAR. Bobby D Bachata. 10 p.m. Downtown. 412-471-2058.
SUN 04 CLUB CAFE. Margaret Glaspy. 7 p.m. South Side. 412-431-4950. HOWLERS. Journalism, Bat Zuppel & Dan Koshute. 9 p.m. Bloomfield. 412-682-0320. THE R BAR. Billy The Kid & the Regulators. 6 p.m. Dormont. 412-942-0882. REX THEATER. Southern Culture on the Skids w/ Whiskey Daredevils. 8 p.m. South Side. 412-381-6811.
MON 05 CLUB CAFE. The Steel Wheels. 7 p.m. South Side. 412-431-4950.
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Each week, we post a song from a local artist online for free. This week, it’s a track from ABBEY: In the Red, the new multidisciplinary dance performance from Staycee Pearl dance project and Soy Sos. “Driva Man” is an Abbey Lincoln classic, revived in a stirring performance here with Soy Sos Extended Ensemble and Anqwenique Wingfield on vocals. Stream or download it at FFW>>, the music blog at www.pghcitypaper.com.
EARLY WARNINGS {PHOTO COURTESY OF SHERVIN LAINEZ}
every month. 10 p.m. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2555. CATTIVO. Illusions. w/ Funerals & Arvin Clay. First Sat. of every month, 9 p.m. Lawrenceville. 412-687-2157. DIESEL. DJ CK. 10 p.m. South Side. 412-431-8800. PERLE CHAMPAGNE BAR. DJ Tenova. ladies night. 9 p.m. Downtown. 412-471-2058. ROWDY BUCK. Top 40 Dance. 10 p.m. South Side. 412-431-2825. SPIRIT HALL & LODGE. TITLE TOWN Soul & Funk Party. Rare Soul, Funk & wild R&B 45s feat. DJ Gordy G. & J.Malls First Sat. of every month, 9 p.m. Lawrenceville. 412-586-4441.
PENN HEBRON GARDEN CLUB. Penn Hills Coffeehouse. Singer songwriter showcase featuring a rotating lineup of jazz, acoustic, bluegrass & world music. 7 p.m. Penn Hills. 412-204-7147. WHEELFISH. Jason Born. 7 p.m. Ross. 412-487-8909.
REGGAE THU 01 ATRIA’S RESTAURANT & TAVERN. The Flow Band. 7 p.m. North Side. 412-322-1850. PIRATA. The Flow Band. 9 p.m. Downtown. 412-323-3000.
Palehound
FRI 02 WATERWORKS - GREENSBURG. The Flow Band. 7 p.m. Greenfield. 724-216-5408.
TUE 06 THE GOLDMARK. Pete Butta. Reggae & dancehall. 10 p.m. Lawrenceville. 412-688-8820.
[TUE., JUNE 13]
SAT 03
PUP, Charly Bliss
WED 07
RUMFISH GRILLE. The Flow Band. 6:30 p.m. Bridgeville. 412-914-8013.
Spirit, 242 51st St., Lawrenceville
SMILING MOOSE. Rock Star Karaoke w/ T-MONEY. 9:30 p.m. South Side. 412-431-4668.
SUN 04
[SAT., JULY 1]
BAJA BAR AND GRILL. The Flow Band. 2 p.m. Fox Chapel. 412-963-0640.
Adult Mom
HIP HOP/R&B
Mr. Roboto Project, 5106 Penn Ave., Bloomfield
FRI 02
COUNTRY
[TUE., JULY 11]
MR. SMALLS THEATER. Brother Ali. 8 p.m. Millvale. 412-821-4447.
Palehound
SAT 03 HARD ROCK CAFE. Frank Vieira. 9 p.m. Station Square. 412-481-7625.
Mr. Smalls, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale
BLUES FRI 02 BISTRO 9101. Blue Orphans. 7:30 p.m. McCandless. 412-318-4871. NOLA ON THE SQUARE. Jimmy Adler Band w/ John Gresh’s Gris Gris. 8 p.m. Downtown. 412-471-9100.
SAT 03 MOONDOG’S. Jimmy Adler Band Charlie Barath, Clint Hoover & Ron Yarosz. 8 p.m. Blawnox. 412.828.2040. NIED’S HOTEL. Bill Toms & The Hard Rain. 7 p.m. Lawrenceville. 412-781-9853. RIVERTOWNE BREWING COMPANY. Strange Brew. 7 p.m. North Side. www.myrivertowne.com.
SUN 04 JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Shot O’ Soul. 7 p.m. North Side. 412-904-3335. THE R BAR. Billy The Kid’s American All-Stars. 7 p.m. Dormont. 412-942-0882.
JAZZ
BACKSTAGE BAR AT THEATRE SQUARE. Jeremy Fisher Jr & Matt Ferrante. 5 p.m. Downtown. 412-325-6769. ROLAND’S SEAFOOD GRILL. The N-Motion Band. 9 p.m. Strip District. 412-567-2804.
WED 07
SAT 03
THU 01
FRI 02
THE BLIND PIG SALOON. Erin Burkett & Virgil Walters w/ Ken Karsh & Mike Tomaro. 7:30 p.m. New Kensington. 724-337-7008.
MAHLER’S RESURRECTION. 8 p.m. Heinz Hall, Downtown. 412-392-4900.
SAT 03
ACOUSTIC
CIOPPINO SEAFOOD CHOPHOUSE BAR. Lucarelli Jazz feat. Peg Wilson. 7 p.m. Strip District. 412-281-3090. JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Tony Campbell Jam Session. 5 p.m. North Side. 412-904-3335. THE MONROEVILLE RACQUET CLUB. Jazz Bean Live. 7 p.m. Monroeville. 412-728-4155.
SUN 04
CLASSICAL
MAHLER’S RESURRECTION. 8 p.m. Heinz Hall, Downtown. 412-392-4900.
BLACK FORGE COFFEE HOUSE. Good Morning Bedlam w/ Ferdinand the Bull & Nameless in August. 7 p.m. Knoxville. 412-291-8994. ELWOOD’S PUB. West Deer Bluegrass Review. First Thu. of every month, 7:30 p.m. Rural Ridge. 724-265-1181.
SUN 04 MAHLER’S RESURRECTION. 2:30 p.m. Heinz Hall, Downtown. 412-392-4900.
WED 07 PLAY N’AT W/ PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. 7 p.m. City of Asylum @ Alphabet City, North Side. 412-435-1110.
FRI 02 FULL CRANBERRY SPORTS T LIS E BAR & GRILLE. The Eclectic Acoustics. ONLwIN w.
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8 p.m. Cranberry. paper pghcitym JAMES STREET 724-776-5500. .co GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. David Murray, Kahil El Zabar & Mortis Duo. MUSIC TO MY EAR. David 8 p.m. North Side. 412-904-3335. Hawkins. 12:30 p.m. Ross. ROCKS LANDING BAR & GRILLE. 412-223-9747. Tony Campbell, John Hall, Howie Alexander & Dennis Garner. 7 p.m. McKees Rocks. 412- 875- 5809. HAMBONE’S. Calliope Old Time Appalachian Jam. First Sun. of every month, 5 p.m. Lawrenceville. HAMBONE’S. Ian Kane, Ronnie 412-681-4318. Weiss & Tom Boyce. Jazz Standards, showtunes & blues. 6:30 p.m. Lawrenceville. 412-681-4318. ALLEGHENY ELKS LODGE #339. Pittsburgh Banjo Club. 8 p.m. North Side. 412-321-1834. RILEY’S POUR HOUSE. Jazz PARK HOUSE. Shelf Life Happy Hour w/ Martin Rosenberg. String Band. 9 p.m. North Side. 412-224-2273. 5:30 p.m. Carnegie. 412-279-0770.
THU 01 LINDEN GROVE. Karaoke. 8 p.m. Castle Shannon. 412-882-8687. STAGE AE. Everclear. 6:30 p.m. North Side. 412-229-5483.
SAT 3
THU 01 JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Roger Humphries Jam Session. Ballroom. 8 p.m. North Side. 412-904-3335. RILEY’S POUR HOUSE. Jazz Happy Hour w/ Martin Rosenberg. 5:30 p.m. Carnegie. 412-279-0770. VALLOZZI’S PITTSBURGH. Eric Johnson. 5:30 p.m. Downtown. 412-394-3400.
FRI 02 ANDORA RESTAURANT - FOX CHAPEL. Pianist Harry Cardillo & vocalist Charlie Sanders. 6:30 p.m. Fox Chapel. 412-967-1900.
NEWS
SAT 03
SUN 04
JAMES STREET GASTROPUB & SPEAKEASY. Travlin’. 8 p.m. North Side. 412-904-3335. NEW HAZLETT THEATER. Cello Fury. 8 p.m. North Side.
MON 05
SUN 04
WED 07
STAGE AE. Foster the People. 7 p.m. North Side. 412-229-5483.
TUE 06
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What to do May 31 - June 6 WEDNESDAY 31 Morbid Angel
MR. SMALLS THEATRE Millvale. 412-421-4447. With special guests Suffocation, Revocation & Withered. All ages show. Tickets: ticketweb. com/opusone. 7:30p.m.
Katastro & Pacific Dub HARD ROCK CAFE Station Square. 412-481-ROCK. With special guest Keystone Vibe. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 8p.m.
THURSDAY 1 Everclear
STAGE AE North Side. With special guests Vertical Horizon & Fastball. Tickets: ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000. Doors open at 6:30p.m.
Create Festival 2017 AUGUST WILSON CENTER Downtown. 412-456-6666. Tickets: trustarts.org. 12p.m.
Hed PE REX THEATER South Side. 412-381-1681. With special
IN PITTSBURGH
guests Motograter, Skratch & Prime 8. All ages show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 8p.m.
DOLLAR BANK THREE RIVERS ARTS FESTIVAL DOWNTOWN JUNE 2-11
FRIDAY 25
Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival VARIOUS LOCATIONS Downtown. Free event. For schedules and more info visit traf.trustarts.org. Through June 11.
Sir Cadian Rhythm HARD ROCK CAFE Station Square. 412-481-ROCK. With special guests The Brighton Boys & Kaelber. Over 21 show. Tickets: ticketfly.com or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 8:30p.m.
MONDAY 5
The Steel Wheels Allegheny County Summer Concert Series: The Stickers
CLUB CAFE South Side. 412-431-4950. With special guest Twain. Over 21 show. Tickets: ticketweb.com/opus one. 8p.m.
SOUTH PARK AMPITHEATER South Park. With special guest The Hobbs Sisters. Free show. For more info visit alleghenycounty.us/summer. 7:30p.m.
Ms. Lauryn Hill
TUESDAY 6
Jazz Live: Yoko Suzuki or 1-877-4-FLY-TIX. 8p.m.
BYHAM THEATER Downtown. 412-456-6666. Tickets: livenation.com. 8p.m.
SATURDAY 3
Sinbad
KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER East Liberty. 412-363-3000. For tickets and more info visit kelly-strayhorn.org. 9p.m.
CARNEGIE OF HOMESTEAD MUSIC HALL Munhall. 412-462-3444. All ages show. Tickets: ticketfly.com
Full Bloom Summer Dance Party
412.431.0700 • 1305 E. CARSON ST. • SOUTH SIDE 32
Over 21 show. Tickets: ticket web.com/opusone. 8p.m.
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
05.31/06.07.2017
AFI STAGE AE North Side. With special guests Nothing & Souvenirs. Tickets: ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000. Doors open at 6p.m.
SUNDAY 4
Foster the People
STAGE AE North Side. With special guest Miya Folick. Tickets: ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000. Doors open at 7p.m.
Margaret Glaspy CLUB CAFE South Side. 412-431-4950. With special guest Brooke Annibale.
ANGES R. KATZ PLAZA Downtown. 412-456-6666. Tickets: trustarts.org/jazzlive. 5p.m.
Joseph MR. SMALLS THEATRE Millvale. 412-421-4447. With special guest Overcoats. All ages show. Tickets: ticketweb. com/opusone. 8p.m.
CITY PAPER COLORING SPECTACULAR ART BY NATHAN MAZUR NEWS
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[DANCE]
LEATHER WAS MINIMAL, MOHAWKS UNKNOWN.
HIGH KICKS Seeing dance at the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival is nothing new. Having to look 300 feet up the side of a building to see it is a first. Austin, Texas-based aerial dance company Blue Lapis Light’s stage for the world premiere of its work Stardust is the side of Downtown’s 31-story Fifth Avenue Place. The company gives two free evening performances of Stardust, June 2 and 3. One of the fastest growing genres of dance, aerial work, more specifically aerial silks, has been popping up everywhere. Dancing off buildings, however, is quite different, says Blue Lapis Light artistic director/choreographer Sally Jacques, by phone from Austin. The logistics and expense of rigging, rehearsing, permits, road closures and security can be quite high. Jacques, a native of England, says her interest in aerial dance began with her idea to have dancers perform on construction scaffolding. That led to adding nets, ropes and harnesses. She formed Blue Lapis Light in 2005 in order to create large-scale, site-specific aerial dance works with an element of social context. “Our works always have a component of the human journey and our connection to each other and nature,” says Jacques. The 30-minute Stardust, “in a very transcendent sort of way,” says Jacques, addresses the current climate of separatism with regard to cultural diversity. “Why are we focusing on conflict and not unity?” says Jacques. “We could do so much more for so many if we opened our hearts and had a little compassion.” Set to a range of music from Sigur Ros, Hans Zimmer and Brian Eno to operatic arias, the work in five sections will find four dancers flipping, somersaulting and leaping a la circus acrobats along the side of the building. For its site-specific works, the troupe usually rehearses for three to four weeks on site. In Pittsburgh, the company will have only three days to rig and rehearse for its performances, the bulk of Stardust’s creation and prep work having been done on a studio mock-up of the site. It’s an element of added risk Jacques says she and her troupe are prepared for. “I am a site-work choreographer,” says Jacques. “I love being on buildings and being in nature.” INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
BLUE LAPIS LIGHT performs STARDUST 9 p.m., Fri., June 2, and 9 p.m. Sat., June 3. Fifth Avenue Place, 120 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Free. www.traf.trustarts.org
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
A Blue Lapis Light dancer {PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUE LAPIS LIGHT}
{BY STEVE SUCATO}
“Dress Up As Natives,” by Stacy Weiss
[ART REVIEW]
BE HEARD, BE SCENE {BY BILL O’DRISCOLL}
P
ERHAPS NO emotion is less punk than nostalgia. And despite its title, Non-Punk Pittsburgh, an exhibit at SPACE Gallery documenting the city’s underground music scene circa 1979-83, is pretty punk: all about sounds, looks and attitudes that were new here then, largely in explicit rejection of what came before. What happens when two charter members of that scene look back? Dennis Childers was an artist and drummer in Carsickness, today considered the era’s signal local band. Childers’ co-curator, photographer Larry Rippel, was a key documenter of the scene. Non-Punk Pittsburgh includes more than 100 pieces, most of them large-scale images by several photographers, plus film, music videos and concert posters. The exhibit captures Pittsburgh’s underground starting a few years after punk’s initial burst out of New York and London. And, “non-punk” indeed, there’s little here
05.31/06.07.2017
that looks or sounds much like the Ramones or the Sex Pistols (though you’ll spot T-shirts touting The Clash and X-Ray Spex). Mostly, it’s a bunch of arty, restless — and, you can’t help noting, overwhelmingly white — college kids in the last days of Big Steel and before the advent of cell phones, the internet, personal computers or even widespread cable, digging their own cultural escape tunnels.
NON-PUNK PITTSBURGH continues through June 18. SPACE Gallery, 812 Liberty Ave., Downtown. 412-325-7723 or www.spacepittsburgh.org
The 90-some photos, mostly black-andwhite, by Stacy Weiss, Childers, Rippel and others, depict bands like Carsickness, The Cuts and The Shakes playing everywhere from dingy clubs to outdoor gigs at Market Square (with cameos by Stiv Bators,
Robert Fripp and Cyndi Lauper). Portraits, including a color series of Carsickness by Martha Rial, who later notched a Pulitzer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, provide nice counterpoint. Curators Childers and Rippel also offer an array of carefully saved (if casually displayed) 8½-by-11-inch photocopied concert posters for shows at nowvanished venues like The Decade, Phase III, Charlie’s 10¢ Saloon (“Beer Cheap Before 11:00”) and The Electric Banana, the latter punk’s home base in ’80s Pittsburgh. Five 1980 music videos help sketch the era’s sensibility. Found-footage videos for Carsickness tracks, including “Police Dog” and gear-shifting anti-KKK piss-take “Bill Wilkinson,” highlight Karl Mullen’s growling vocals and the band’s musical ambition alongside its political concerns. Two lo-fi performance vids by The Cardboards demonstrate why the new-wavey group was so popular here: Frontman Max Haste (a.k.a. Joe O’Lear) looks and acts like David Byrne
[BOOKS]
SHARES ALIKE {BY SHALIN MODY}
Jeff Gramm
in a button-up shirt and tie while declaiming as ironically as the B-52s’ Fred Schneider over a nervous beat, skittering synths and angular, honking sax lines. (“You’re the apple of my eye, but we cantaloupe,” he sings.) Also projected in the gallery is a reasonably sympathetic 1979 local-TV-news segment on those crazy kids and their “punk” music. Still, the scene’s Rosetta Stone remains Stephanie Beroes’ 1980 short film “Debt Begins at 20,” a minimalist narrative built around real bands and real people, centering on Cardboards drummer Bill Bored (a.k.a. Bill von Hagen). The sound is murky (some dialogue is subtitled), but you get the picture: Bored’s trashed Oakland apartment, his trip to Jim’s Records, a make-out session, all leading to a Saturday-night party the Cardboards are headlining. Many cans of Schlitz are consumed; Reid Paley, soon to form seminal local band The Five, cameos; Max Haste sings, “Pretend your mind is a dress … you need a new outfit now”; and the singer for all-female band Hans Brinker and the Dykes sums up by yelping, “I want Pittsburgh to be fun … I’m bored bored bored.” The performance-art angle worked by Hans Brinker, the Cardboards and others is notable. Like the mid-’70s Manhattan of Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain’s oral history Please Kill Me, and the Los Angeles of Penelope Spheeris’ 1981 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization, Pittsburgh circa 1980 had no codified way to be punk. Some bands played loud guitars, others quirky synths; some wore T-shirts and jeans while others glammed it up. Leather was minimal, mohawks unknown. In the liner notes for Get Hip Records’ fine new early-Carsickness compilation, no less than novelist Michael Chabon (who saw the band as a Carnegie Mellon undergrad nearly 40 years ago) accurately pegs Carsickness as post-punk. Most rock thrives best on stage. So it is gratifying that this exhibit was complemented by a Carsickness reunion (with killer sets in April at both SPACE and Gooski’s), and by ongoing open jam sessions at the gallery, with drum kit, amps and PAs provided. Indeed, for Childers (a longtime high school art teacher) and Rippel (a professional photographer), there’s more affection here than there is anything so gooey as nostalgia. Non-Punk Pittsburgh is straight period documentation, without even any interpretative wall-text. Instead, we’re left with moments, like those in photos taken at Phase III by Kevin Brunelle: The Shakes in full howl; The Cuts’ shirtless bassist sharing his mic with two sweaty fans; Hans Brinker and the Dykes, clearly having a blast, making a scene. And strongly implying you should go make your own. D R ISC OLL@ PGHC ITY PAP ER.CO M
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It’s never a dull conversation with investor, author and former indie rocker Jeff Gramm, who starts our phone interview from his New York offices with an anecdote about a visit to Pittsburgh: “My band played with The Frogs in Millvale, and this fucking crazy brawl ends the show.” On June 7, Gramm revisits Pittsburgh under tamer circumstances, but to discuss a topic that’s triggered many a corporateboardroom scuffle — investor activism — and his critically acclaimed 2016 book, Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism. Activist investors buy stocks and lobby for corporate changes — e.g., firing underperforming executives and increasing dividends. Such proposals sometimes meet with staunch management opposition. Gramm expresses a conflicted take on investor activism’s intentions. “The primary motivation is making money,” he says, “but the pervasive threat of activism is good … because it drives accountability.” Activism can backfire when investors prioritize quick profits over a company’s longterm health. Dear Chairman profiles one failed firm in which activist-driven salary cuts spurred mass employee departures. Gramm writes of the dangers of complacent firms opposing shareholder involvement. In the 1980s, Ross Perot urged General Motors to streamline its bloated cost structure to compete with Japanese automakers. To its peril, GM rebuffed these sensible recommendations. It silenced Perot by buying out his stake, unfairly handing him a significant profit at the expense of other shareholders. Gramm notes a “problematic” trend of companies curtailing activism by limiting shareholder voting rights. But he adds that in high-quality but shareholder-unfriendly corporations like Google, investors should remain willing to cede some rights to profit from these companies’ growth. Shareholder activism gained visibility with famed investor Bill Ackman’s recent bet against Herbalife stock, and lobbying efforts to convince regulators that Herbalife is an illegal pyramid scheme. Asked whether the public is rightfully skeptical when a billionaire investor who profits from such trades depicts activism as altruism, Gramm says, “I love that Ackman used his resources to expose a scuzzy business. Activism can be sanctimonious, but the moral outrage can also be sincere.” As Gramm has matured as an investor, he’s shifted focus from bargain stocks to higher-quality companies: “In some lowquality businesses, managers have bad intentions and use companies as vehicles for self-enrichment, making it very hard to win.” INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
JEFF GRAMM, at CFA Society Pittsburgh luncheon. Noon, Wed., June 7. Duquesne Club, 325 Sixth Ave., Downtown. $40. www.cfasociety.org +
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Summer Break Series June 10: CATurday July 22: Celebrating 20/20
cmoa.org/summerbreak {PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL SHAHEN} Charles “Teenie” Harris, Man wearing sunglasses and eating popsicle, standing in front of telephone pole and houses (detail), ca. 1960, Carnegie Museum of Art, Heinz Family Fund, © 2017 Carnegie Museum of Art, Charles "Teenie" Harris Archive
Saturday celebrations of art, music, interactive activities, and sunshine!
Allison Cahill in Tea for Three, at South Park Theatre
[PLAY REVIEWS]
TEA TIMES {BY TED HOOVER} SOUTH PARK Theatre recently closed its
[ MAY 13 – JUNE 4, 2017]
“Vivid, perceptive, and quietly gripping.” — The New York Times
IRONBOUND BY Martyna Majok
DIRECTED BY Tracy Brigden
Use code CITYCITY to save $5 on single tickets
BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAY! 412.431.CITY (2489) / CityTheatreCompany.org / South Side
first production of the season, Nana’s Naughty Knickers. I didn’t happen to catch it, but a title like that hardly encourages thoughts of deep, heady theater down the road.
TEA FOR THREE runs through Sat., June 3. South Park Theatre, Corrigan Drive and Brownsville Road, South Park. $15. 412-831-8552 or www.southparktheatre.com
So I’m surprised and happy to talk about South Park’s current offering, Tea for Three: Lady Bird, Pat & Betty. The script, by Eric H. Weinberger and Elaine Bromka, is three monologues for one actress playing all of the above First Ladies. The piece was written as a one-woman show for Bromka and performed in New York in 2013. In an understandable alteration, South Park has cast three actresses: Allison Cahill as Lady Bird Johnson; Reneé Ruzzi-Kern as Pat Nixon; and Lesa Donati as Betty Ford. Allison M. Weakland directs. Weinberger and Bromka have made two smart choices: It’s a quick show, lasting less than 90 minutes, and the
playwrights introduce us to the women as each is vacating the White House, upping the stakes considerably. The show never really digs any deeper than our received notions. The women address the audience while reciting events we already know from headlines. But even at a headline level, they did lead interesting lives in interesting times, and I was engaged for most of the night. Cahill (and Johnson) are best served by this CliffsNotes approach. Cahill’s bemusement as a “down-home girl” finding herself in D.C. is endearing, and skimming through a précis of Lyndon’s political career feels just right. Additionally, Cahill (like Weinberger and Bromka) reminds us that no matter where the Johnsons went, the people they met were always wishing to meet the “real” First Couple. Nixon’s presidency is far too complex and dramatic to be fitted with such a lightweight treatment; Ruzzi-Kern is effective and moving but is shortchanged by this abbreviated retelling. Weinberg and Bromka don’t seem to know what to do with Betty, so there are jokes about her drinking and her sassiness, which add up to nothing. Donati plunges in but can’t define a character the writers haven’t written. And look at me, I got through all of this without making a Melania joke.
THE SHOW NEVER REALLY DIGS ANY DEEPER THAN OUR RECEIVED NOTIONS.
I N F O@ P G H C I T Y PA P E R. C OM
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[ART REVIEW]
WEDDING BOWS
ART TROVE
{BY GWENDOLYN KISTE}
{BY CARRIE MANNINO} hits all the right nostalgic notes, look no further than The Philadelphia Story, now at Little Lake Theatre. Based on the 1939 play (with its subsequent 1941 film adaptation), this Philip Barry-penned show follows the impending second-round nuptials of socialite Tracy Lord (Leighann Calamera), who must contend with her colorful family and a pair of spies from a gossip magazine, all while coping with the antics of her charming ex-husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (the affable Everett Lowe). Director Lora Oxenreiter helms a firstrate cast with standout performances from Eric Leslie and Carley Adams as the reporter and photographer, respectively, sent to infiltrate the wedding. The success of The Philadelphia Story, however, hinges on the lead character, and in that regard, this production is a rousing success. Last seen on the Little Lake stage in Last Train to Nibroc, Calamera is a versatile actress who transforms a role so indelibly associated with Katharine Hepburn into something entirely her own. Tracy Lord might be described as “made of bronze,” but Calamera gives a lively, and at times heartbreaking, performance that feels all too real and relatable.
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY continues through Sat. June 3. Little Lake Theatre, 500 Lakeside Drive, Canonsburg. $13.75-21.75. 724-745-6300 or www.littlelake.org
Charles Alston’s “Woman Washing Clothes” (1970)
IF YOU’RE SEEKING a classic comedy that
The show is not flawless. The shortcomings of The Philadelphia Story, though, are not the fault of Little Lake, but of time itself. In particular, when class and privilege have become topics that are increasingly salient in everyday conversation, a tale of a proverbial “poor little rich girl” can be a little hard to bear. While the play is selfaware enough to anticipate the audience’s chagrin toward the Lords’ lavish lifestyle, it offers little insight or notable commentary on the subject. Quite the opposite, in fact: The denouement opts for the status quo, with the rich characters coming off as entitled to a happy ending due to all their myriad “struggles.” Still, The Philadelphia Story has never aimed to be a deep political text. This is an escapist romantic comedy, plain and simple, and at that, it thrives without reservation. For a breezy good time, the genial cast and capable direction make this production a delightful experience. INFO@ PGHC ITY PAP ER.CO M
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The Instill and Inspire exhibit, at the August Wilson Center, aims to do just that: motivate viewers to create and support art, and cultivate a respect for and understanding of the 20th-century AfricanAmerican experience. The show centers on the collection of John and Vivian Hewitt, a couple who in 1949 began supporting African-American artists by providing a venue (their home) for artists to show their work at a time when such art was not represented in galleries. A video interview accompanying the exhibit shows Vivian Hewitt (the first black librarian at our own Carnegie Library before she moved to New York with her husband) in her art-filled home, discussing how their collection began. The touring exhibit features 58 works by 20 artists, both well known (Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett) and lesser known. It includes a wide variety of styles and media, and ranges from representational works to fully abstracted images. What the pieces have in common is their striking emotional effect. An especially moving section displays portraits, which serve as an intimate and loving look into the everyday lives of African Americans. Adjacent pieces by Ernest Crichlow depict young girls in very different situations: “Girl with Flowers” portrays a child in a bright yellow dress smiling in a cheerful garden, while “Waiting” contains a stark sketch of a child’s face behind barbed wire. This juxtaposition reflects the range of emotions conveyed in the show, from the hopeful and jubilant figures of musicians in Bearden’s “Jamming at the Savoy” to the terrifying shadows of Ku Klux Klan members in Eugene Grigsby’s “No Vacancy.” The exhibition continues a floor below with a poster gallery filled with works by Jonathan Green, who credits his success to the Hewitts’ support. His vibrant paintings, reproduced in poster form and used for fundraising and charity events, depict the Gullah culture of the South’s rice-growing low country. Green’s strokes are filled with movement, and the billowing fabrics and brightly hued grass are palpable. The exhibition, in its three parts (the two galleries and a sofa-outfitted room showing Vivian Hewitt’s interview), is very effective both at displaying a diverse and impressive collection of work, and in highlighting the importance of AfricanAmerican art and its place in the art world. INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
INSTILL AND INSPIRE continues through June 30. August Wilson Center, 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. 412-471-6070 or www.trustarts.org +
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FOR THE WEEK OF
06.01-06.08.17 Full events listed online at www.pghcitypaper.com While living in Pittsburgh, Marcus Stevens graduated from Point Park University and racked up numerous stage credits in shows like the comedy musical Forever Plaid. After relocating to New York City, he added Forbidden Broadway to his resume. Now he can claim another monumental role: God. “I certainly don’t feel very God-like,” Stevens (pictured) says in an interview during rehearsals for An Act of God, at Pittsburgh Public Theater. “But that’s part of the joke of the show.”
The play’s plot finds God, aided by the archangels Michael (Tim McGeever) and Gabriel (John Shepard), deciding to visit Earth to offer some new proclamations. It’s not a role that came easily to Stevens, who’s used to being a character actor rather than the lead. “It felt like I was scaling a mountain every day,” he says. Being back in town helped. “I haven’t been back performing in Pittsburgh in years,” he said. “It felt like coming home.” Stevens isn’t new to comedy that takes jabs, considering his work on Forbidden Broadway, which parodied hits like Annie and Phantom of the Opera. Act of God was written by David Javerbaum, a former writer on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. Javerbaum also created the popular Twitter account @TheTweetOfGod, responsible for blunt quips about religion and current events, like: “You happened because I created monkeys and got arrogant.” The Public’s production is directed by artistic director Ted Pappas, whom Stevens said he has kept in touch with since he graduated college. Of Act of God, Stevens says, “I think it’s so smart. … It’s one of the smartest comedies I’ve read in a long time.” He stressed that An Act of God is very much for mature audiences. “If you’re not an adventurous theater-goer, you may want to give your ticket to someone else,” he says with a laugh. BY MATT PETRAS
8 p.m. Continues through July 2. 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $15.75-56. 412-316-1600 or www.ppt.org
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{PHOTO COURTESY OF AARON JACKENDOFF}
^ Fri., June 2: Thought Pockets
thursday 06.01 TALK
much more. Bill O’Driscoll CREATE: Noon-9 p.m.; www.pghtech. Here come four days of big ideas at the August Wilson org. AWC Lab: Fri., June 2-Sun., June 4; www.awclab.com Center. Today’s day-long CREATE 2017, co-sponsored by the Pittsburgh Technology Council and the Pittsburgh Cultural STAGE Trust, offers two free attractions: the Innovation Salon Starting tonight, 12 Peers Theater stages the one-man exhibition and play Thom Pain (Based marketplace, with on Nothing) at Pitt’s everything from 3DStudio Theatre. The printing workshops to production stars Matt tiny-house tours, and Henderson, an actor with Ideafest, a series of a broad portfolio in the talks and performances Pittsburgh area. Written exploring innovation. by Will Eno, the 2004 (Ticketed events follow at play is composed mainly night.) And from Friday of strange, meandering evening through Sunday, narration about pop-up research center discomforting memories; The AWC Lab gives past productions have “artists whose work involved audience affirms and projects the interaction. “Eno’s futures of people of brilliantly crafted African descent” the monologue is a direct chance to share their descendant of the spare, findings with the absurdist writings of Samuel ^ Thu., June 1: The AWC Lab public. AWC Labs’ free Beckett,” writes Philip workshops, panels, Brandes of the Los Angeles performances and film screenings include “Building Future Cities,” Times. Matt Petras 8 p.m. Continues through June 18. 4200 our relationship with plants, a youth music showcase, and Fifth Ave, Oakland. $20. 412-626-6784 or www.12peerstheater.org CONTINUES ON PG. 40
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SHORT LIST, CONTINUED FROM PG. 38
EVERYONE IS A CRITIC
^ Fri., June 2: Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival
DANCE There’s a good chance you’ve never seen anything quite like Thought Pockets. This site-specific street-performance series by The Ellipses Condition employs choreography and colored chalk. Performers draw on the pavement to accent the dance, which Ellipses calls “impossibly slow movement.” The dancers, often in groups, contort their bodies in elegant patterns that unfold glacially. View today’s installment near the corner of Stanwix and Forbes; two more performances follow next weekend, at new locations. MP 4-7 p.m. Also June 9 and June 10 (locations and times TBA). Downtown. Free. www.thoughtpockets.com
EVENT:
Improv Jam at Steel City Improv Theater, Shadyside CRITIC:
Joshua Cox, 25, a software developer from Shadyside WHEN:
Thu., May 25
< Fri., June 2: Sinbad
friday 06.02 seeing Papa do a set at New York’s Comedy Cellar. Tonight’s show, at the Oaks Theater, is all-ages, but Papa, who looks like your father’s accountant, still delivers with an edge, working in the classic style of Dick Cavett or Mort Sahl. Like his take on the difference between the super-rich and the rest of us: “They don’t do this. They don’t come out to the ass-end of Cleveland, sit in the dark and listen to jokes.” Charlie Deitch 7 p.m. 310 Allegheny Blvd., Oakmont. $30-35. 412-828-6322 or www.theoakstheater.com
COMEDY Beloved comedian and actor Sinbad comes to the Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall. While many remember him as the obnoxious mailman in the Christmas classic Jingle All the Way, Sinbad has decades of experience doing standup. Although his material is clean, he doesn’t shy from talking serious topics like race and politics. The comic recently told Slate that he doesn’t strictly follow a script: “If you watch me three times, I’m going to give you three different shows.” MP 8 p.m. 510 E. 10th Ave., Munhall. $36-56. 877-435-9849 or www.librarymusichall.com
FESTIVAL
I’ve been doing improv at this theater for six months now, it’s been a while. I wanted to do something that was sort of scary and made me sort of uncomfortable, so I decided to try it out. This is one of the better jams I’ve been to in a while. I went up on stage and stood up on a chair and had no idea what the scene was going to be, and I was like, ‘Oh, [the other person] will figure it out.’ And then we figured it out! I think everyone should try improv at Steel City specifically. I really feel like it’s a good way to get yourself out of your comfort zone, try something new. Even if you’re worried, like, ‘I’m not funny,’ or, ‘I don’t know how to make stuff up off the top of my head,’ yes you can, because you do it every day. B Y MATT P ETRAS
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The Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival begins with a splash — a building-side rappelling-dance number by Austin, Texas-based troupe Blue Lapis Light (see on page 34). But there’s plenty more to the 10 days of free music and art that comprise the 58th annual fest. Big draws include such music headliners as Rebirth Brass Band (tonight), Las Cafeteras (Sun., June 4) and St. Paul and the Broken Bones (June 11). Public art includes the Portugal-born Umbrella Sky Project (just what it sounds like), in Gateway Center, and Tidal (lead artist: Shilo Shiv Suleman), an interactive geofeedback piece with metal and fabric “clouds” whose LEDs mimic the motion of the three rivers in real time. The fest’s art exhibits include a Pittsburgh incarnation of Drap Art, the Barcelona, Spain-based festival for artists who use trash as medium, and the annual Juried Visual Art Exhibition, with work by 50 artists from the region. There are also plenty of kids’ activities, movies at the Harris Theater, the familiar artists’ market and food vendors, and more, all in and around Point State Park and the Cultural District. BO Noon-9 p.m. Continues daily through June 11. Free. Downtown. 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org
COMEDY Tom Papa is a comic’s comic. You might not have heard of him, but some comedians call him one of the best in the business. Jerry Seinfeld recruited Papa to open for him on tour after
saturday 06.03 FESTIVAL Roots Pride Pittsburgh calls tonight’s party, at the August Wilson Center, The Final Turn Up. That’s because it’s the final edition of this 3-year-old grassroots alternative to the Delta Foundation’s annual Pride Festival, which Roots Pride organizers called too corporate and not inclusive enough. Tonight’s headliner is nationally known, Brooklyn-based rapper Junglepussy, along with Philadelphia’s DJ Delish and local talents Joy KMT and kNOwSHADE, a tribute to ballroom culture and more. Roots Pride, presented by Sanctuary and True T Entertainment, also includes Sunday afternoon’s Roots Pride panel, with local artists and activists addressing the topic QT Futurisms: What’s Next For Pittsburgh. BO Party: 9 p.m.2 a.m. (admission is pay-what-you-can). Panel: 3:30 p.m. Sun., June 4 (free). 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. www.facebook. com (“roots pride pittsburgh”)
{PHOTO COURTESY OF LAILA ARCHULETA}
^ Wed., June 7: Chatham Baroque
sunday 06.04 WORDS TEDx Pittsburgh is the independently organized local incarnation of those widely social-media’d TED talks exploring new ideas in technology, entertainment and design. This year’s event, grandly titled “Awakening Ideas on the Rise,” features a day-long roster of speakers, performers and filmmakers delving into their “moments of clarity” on ideas ranging from mental health, empathy and medical technology to behavioral design, and truth-telling in news media. Presenters at the Byham Theater at this Pittsburgh Cultural Trustsponsored event include Manchester Craftsman’s Guild founder Bill Strickland; PublicSource executive director Mila Sanina; Carnegie Mellon University’s Hannah du Plessis; and Chris #2 Barker, of Anti-Flag. Filmmaker Emmai Alaquiva and comedian Gab Bonnesso host. Tickets include lunch; a VIP ticket comes with a oneyear Pittsburgh Cultural Trust membership. BO 11:30 a.m.5 p.m. 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $30 (VIP: $50). 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org
wednesday 06.07 MUSIC Shadyside Presbyterian {PHOTO COURTESY OF MO HARRIS} Church is presenting a series ^ Thu., June 1: Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) of Wednesday-night concerts called Music for Midsummer Nights. Tonight, for the first of these, the church welcomes the Pittsburgh Camerata, a choral group, and Chatham Baroque, an ensemble that uses 17th- and 18th-century instruments. Tonight’s program features music by Handel, including Chandos Anthems. The groups have a sterling reputation; when Chatham Baroque accompanied a performance of Handel’s Julius Caesar last year, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writer Mark Kanny called them “world-class.” Students can attend for free. MP 7 p.m. 5121 Westminster Place, Shadyside. $10-15. 412-682-4300 or www.shadysidepres.org
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THE WING MEAT WAS UTTERLY, FALLING-OFF-THE-BONE SUCCULENT
DONUT TIME {BY MEG FAIR} We take donuts for granted. The supremely satisfying morning treat is much easier to pick up and eat than it is to make. When MJ Flott describes the process of making donuts from scratch, it sounds like a tricky and complex science experiment. Flott is the brain and the baker behind Wolf Teeth Donuts. Flott’s obsession with donuts began with a craving during a trip down to Austin, Texas. Upon arriving back home in Pittsburgh, Flott set to work making them. Many nights were spent tweaking the recipe, making small batches with different recipes, and giving donuts to friends and coworkers to taste-test. Once the recipe was nailed down, Flott began producing bigger batches at the kitchen at Spirit, in Lawrenceville.
{CP PHOTO BY MEG FAIR}
Donuts from Wolf Teeth
The base donut has a consistent flavor and texture, but Flott likes to switch up the flavors every week. The Sunday City Paper dove in for a taste-test at Polish Hill’s Lili Café, the flavors of the week were orange with rosewater, chocolate-peanut butter, blueberry pie and classic vanilla. The chocolate-peanut-butter donut is decadent, and the blueberry pie’s glaze pairs nicely with its crumbly pie-crust garnish. The orange and rosewater donuts make the treat taste light and summery. For donut traditionalists, the vanilla donut, with its sprinkle-covered glaze, will get the job done. Flott’s donuts are deep-fried and vegan. The deep frying gives them the classic fluffy interior, and their satisfying texture could convince skeptics that they were eating a traditional donut made with eggs and dairy. Although Flott is gluten-intolerant, Flott believes firmly in the beauty of a yeasted and deep-fried donut. While the recipe is vegan, it is not gluten-free. “So much of making donuts is about babysitting gluten,” laughs Flott. “When the donut batter is mixing, I’m cheerleading the gluten to set up right, even though gluten makes me feel terrible.” Wolf Teeth Donuts are available at Spirit’s brunch on Saturdays, Lili Cafe on Sundays, and at various pop-up events around the city. MEGFAIR@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
{CP PHOTO BY VANESSA SONG}
Chicken dinner with mac-and-cheese and greens
HOME COOKING {BY ANGELIQUE BAMBERG + JASON ROTH}
D
URING THE first half of the 20th
century, the Great Migration brought black Southern culture north, including a down-home cuisine that featured corn as a staple starch, boiled legumes and greens, and fried, cured or smoked pork, poultry, and seafood. Thus, although it originated in the South, soul food, as such fare is often called, is at home in the north. Many soulfood restaurants are not just places to go for a meal; they are community meeting places and social centers in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. As such, they seem to suggest that the concept of Southern hospitality traveled north with the cuisine. We certainly experienced hospitality at Soul Food on Hamilton, an aesthetically spartan but atmospherically warm and
www.wolfteethdonuts.com
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welcoming restaurant in Homewood run by Ms. V. Dobbins. The menu is grounded in traditional soul food, peppered with Pittsburgh favorites (hoagies, steak salad) and augmented with daily specials.
SOUL FOOD ON HAMILTON 7302 Hamilton Ave., Homewood. 412-242-4455 HOURS: Tue.-Sat. 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday buffet 1-5 p.m. PRICES: Sandwiches and salads $6-12; entrees $11-22 LIQUOR: None
CP APPROVED Dobbins made us feel right at home — specifically, the home of someone eager to please us and determined that we not go
hungry. Though we did not identify ourselves as reviewers, in addition to all that we ordered, she brought us plate after plate of hot, fresh-from-the-kitchen items just because she thought we would like to try them: extra shrimp, a waffle and a serving of the daily special of spaghetti with meat sauce. If satisfaction was her goal, she succeeded. We got started with fried wings. The crust was light and crisp, not fluffy like a batter, but not crunchy like breading, either. The meat inside was utterly, fallingoff-the-bone succulent. The Belgian-style waffle we were given paired well. It was not crisp, but had a rich, malty flavor that balanced both the savory chicken and the syrup. Ribs weren’t available during our lunchtime visit, so we tried a fried pork chop
instead. The crust was similar, but not identical, to the chicken, perhaps due simply to cooking in a pan instead of a fryer. Regardless, the deeper color portended deeper flavor, and while the meat could have been more tender, it was a tasty chop. Fried tilapia was not moist, but we wouldn’t describe it as dry, and a lemony flavor seemed somehow cooked into the substantial crust in lieu of a juicy wedge to squeeze on top. Fried whiting is also available. Fried shrimp are on the menu, but our attempt to order them was politely declined; Ms. Dobbins explained that the shrimp she had that day were too big, and would toughen up before the frying was done. She brought us, instead, an order of grilled shrimp that were firm yet tender and lightly, flavorfully browned. Each entrée came with two sides, and we were able to try most all of them on offer. Potato salad was superb, with tender potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and minced celery in a thick, creamy dressing that was full of flavor without smothering the main components. Macaroni and cheese was nearly as good, going heavy on real melted cheese rather than a creamy sauce for a more direct cheesy flavor; this was good enough for a main course. Yams were sweet but not cloyingly so, their vegetable flavor coming through alongside the molasses-like brown sugar. However, greens were cooked to a fair-thee-well, such that we couldn’t tell whether they were mustard or kale. Bits of smoked turkey couldn’t rescue their weak flavor. And fries were a thorough failure: Their soggy, pale character betrayed that they had been cooked neither long nor hot enough. We were nearly done — and pretty full — when Ms. Dobbins delivered a bonus plate of the day’s special, spaghetti. Very much in the style of a fire-hall fundraiser, the tomato sauce was meaty, augmented by a couple beefy meatballs. The only flaw was a too-light hand with seasoning: a quick sprinkle of salt made a big improvement, and another of parmesan really brought the flavors together. When you go to Soul Food on Hamilton, be sure to stroll toward the back, where a refrigerated case is full of homemade desserts, from sweet-potato pie to chocolate cake. Had we not been plied with so many entrees, we would have relished the chance to try the sweets. Will Homewood be the next frontier of gentrification in Pittsburgh’s rapidly transforming East End? If so, we hope it will not come at the expense of the neighborhood’s established community and its own local businesses, such as Soul Food on Hamilton. INFO@ PGHC ITY PAP ER.CO M
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[PERSONAL CHEF]
LOVE IS WARM, SPICY CHICKPEAS {BY CELINE ROBERTS} My most memorable college years were spent living in a tiny apartment in Oakland with four other women whom I adored. We shared everything and managed to do so with relative grace. This was most notable in our galley-style kitchen: just 5 feet long and 3 feet deep, in which two or three of us would regularly cook at the same time. This chickpea dish was born out of the vegetarianism and poverty of those college years, and now in adulthood, it is still as comforting and delicious as ever. Note: All the spices in this recipe are added to taste. I spend a lot of time standing over the pan, almost burning my fingers on frying chickpeas, tasting and adjusting. Feel free to experiment with your own spice combinations as well. INGREDIENTS • 1 15½-ounce can chickpeas • ½ large yellow onion, finely diced • garlic, minced (as much you want, but please use at least 2 cloves) • ½ red bell pepper, diced • a healthy amount of oil/butter (I like to use ghee because of the high smoke point.) • black pepper • red-pepper flakes • cayenne pepper • cumin • smoked paprika • chili powder • oregano • salt • optional: a perfectly ripe, sliced avocado or a fried egg (leave that yolk runny!)
Destination
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INSTRUCTIONS Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Set aside. Dice the onion and red pepper. Mince the garlic. Set aside. Warm a pan over medium heat with about 2 tablespoons butter or oil of your choice. (I like to use my cast-iron pan for this dish.) When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook for about 2 minutes, until they start to soften. Add the red pepper and garlic, and cook for another minute or so. Start adding your spices to the vegetables now so they have time to open up their flavor into the oil. After another 30 seconds, add the chickpeas and stir everything together. Continue cooking and adjusting spices, until the chickpeas start to crack open and get slightly crispy on the outside. Fry an egg or slice an avocado to top the dish, and serve immediately while still piping hot.
TAJ MAHAL INDIAN RESTAURANT
Serving North Indian, South Indian and other authentic regional Indian Cuisine
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WE WANT YOUR PERSONAL RECIPES AND THE STORIES BEHIND THEM. EMAIL THEM TO CELINE@PGHCITYPAPER.COM.
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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: THE CURE FOR WHAT AILS YOU {CP PHOTO BY DREW CRANISKY}
A negroni at Grapperia
[ON THE ROCKS]
INSCRUTABLE AND BITTERSWEET Negroni Week is the perfect excuse to try this classic cocktail {BY DREW CRANISKY}
Casbah
ON AZIZ ANSARI’S hit series Master of None,
229 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside
negronis flow as freely as the laughs. From racing to finish one before succumbing to the effects of Lunesta, to flirty “I wish we could just drink negronis and dance” text messages, the classic cocktail is practically a character of its own. And that starring role on the buzziest show of the moment confirms what many have known for years: The negroni is a classy, all-purpose and utterly delicious drink. The American writer and chef Gabrielle Hamilton describes the drink this way in her memoir Blood, Bones & Butter: “The negroni is a short and perfect aperitivo made of equal parts bitter Campari, sweet vermouth and floral gin over a couple of
DRINK: Penicillin INGREDIENTS: Famous Grouse scotch, lemon, ginger, honey, Laphroaig 10-year OUR TAKE: Typically a cool-weather drink, Casbah’s iteration should make a smooth transition to summer by highlighting the cocktail’s herbal and citrus components, bolstered by notes of stone fruit and fennel. Lightly sweet with scotch backbone to stiffen it into a spirit-driven drink, this penicillin is a nice cure for a long day.
VS.
ice cubes with a small slice of fresh orange dropped in it to release its oils. That perfectly Italian presence, which sparks your appetite and brightens your mood, holds in balance the sweet and bitter.” Hamilton goes on to use the negroni as a metaphor for her tumultuous love life, and it fits nicely. Like love, the negroni is complex and stimulating, inscrutable and bittersweet. The drink derives its signature red hue and bitter astringency from Campari, an herbal liqueur that’s been produced in Italy for more than 150 years. The gin and vermouth bring
more botanicals to the table, and somehow all of those powerful flavors combine to create one of the most alluring drinks in the classic-cocktail canon. Though it’s often described as an aperitif (before-dinner drink), the herbs and bittering agents also make it a fantastic digestif, perfect for quaffing after an indulgent meal. And the negroni template lends itself well to experimentation and modification. The boulevardier, for instance, is a standard riff that swaps bourbon or rye for the gin. The negroni sbagliato leaves out the gin and introduces some sparkling wine, making for a brunch drink better than any mimosa. Whether you’re a dedicated fan or a negroni newbie, there’s no better time to drink one than during Negroni Week. The annual event, sponsored by Campari, invites bars around the world to feature negronis and donate a portion of the sales to a charity of their choice. From June 5-11, stop by any of more than two dozen Pittsburgh bars to drink for a good cause (see the full list at negroniweek.com). In addition to classic negronis, many bars are featuring their own unique twists. Hidden Harbor will sling Kingston negronis made with Jamaican rum; Pork & Beans will serve up frozen negronis; and Pizzaiolo Primo has prepared a six-month barrel-aged boulevardier for the festivities. And true to its Italian roots, Grapperia will serve up at least a halfdozen variations on the classic. Participating bars are supporting a variety of local and national organizations, including Autism Speaks, PAWS and Rainbow Kitchen. So do your good deed and drink a few negronis next week. You’ll be glad you did.
LIKE LOVE, THE NEGRONI IS COMPLEX AND STIMULATING.
I N F O@ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
This week on Five Minutes in Food History: Bartender Max Stein, of Hidden Harbor, is back to deliver more tiki history about the origins of the Mai Tai cocktail. www.pghcitypaper.com
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One Bordeaux, One Scotch, One Beer
4744 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield DRINK: Penicillin INGREDIENTS: Famous Grouse scotch, lemon, honey, ginger, Famous Grouse Black float, candied-ginger garnish OUR TAKE: Citrus-driven with a spicy ginger back, this penicillin feels like a light sipper for soothing both summer colds and nerves. The scotch adds a little bit of woody intensity and rounds out the tart and spice.
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Bubbles rosé cider, Rhinegeist $8/10-ounce pour Cincinnati-based brewery Rhinegeist expanded sales into Pittsburgh early this spring, and boy, are we some lucky SOBs. Its ciders are perfection, with Bubbles reigning as its resident queen. Light, refreshing and tart with just the right amount of sweetness, this jewel-toned beauty is perfect for warm-weather sipping. RECOMMENDED BY CELINE ROBERTS
Bubbles rosé cider is available on draft at Grapperia, in Lawrenceville.
CITY PAPER COLORING SPECTACULAR ART BY VINCE DORSE NEWS
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BARELY AFLOAT {BY AL HOFF}
IT’S ABOUT 15 MINUTES WORTH OF MATERIAL STRETCHED OUT TO TWO HOURS
Ahoy! The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise sets sail for the fifth time, and it’s a voyage you should make only if you are a very, very big fan who can cheerfully overlook a boat-full of problems. This outing, directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, is subtitled Dead Men Tell No Tales, and if only that were true! First we’ve got Capt. Salazar (Javier Bardem), who is dead and a mean ghost, griping about how he’s cursed. (There is another cursed dead man with something to say, but it’s kind of a spoiler.) Then we re-up with saucy pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who is dead drunk. And here comes not quite-dead-yet Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush).
He’s back: Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp)
In a jumble of a plot, two young people — Henry (Brenton Thwaites) and Carina (Kaya Scodelario) — set out in search of Poseidon’s magical trident, which can dispel all curses cast at sea. This pursuit also loops in the three aforementioned sea captains (plus another captain representing the British navy), and it’s a cavalcade of CGI-heavy attacks — on land, on sea, on deck and underwater — all accompanied by a blaring symphonic score. Fourteen years ago, we were amazed that Disney had made a relatively entertaining movie out of a boring amusement-park ride, and Depp’s preening, quippy Sparrow was a fresh take on the narrow presentation of pirates. But now Depp’s shtick has gone very stale; his antecedent is no longer rock star Keith Richards, but some clapped-out bit comic repeating tired one-liners at a faded Catskills resort. (Depp’s committed to this franchise as a star vehicle, whereas Bardem and Rush could do any number of more worthy projects; I like to think they’re just socking away cash for retirement.) It’s no spoiler to say that the magical trident does indeed stop the tiresome nonsense plaguing the Caribbean. We can only hope its power extends to the executive offices at Disney, and that this past-its-sell-bydate franchise can also find a peaceful death. In 3-D, in select theaters
We’re running very slowly: Kelly Rohrbach, Alexandra Daddario, Ilfenesh Hadera, Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and Jon Bass
BEACH TRIP {BY AL HOFF}
DID WE NEED a comic re-boot of the already silly lifeguards-solve-crimes TV show Baywatch? No, but here we are, thanks to director Seth Gordon, who tries to steer this flopping fish of a comedy ashore. It’s technically summer at the megaplex, so let’s examine whether you should spend your vacation cash on this.
Seven Reasons to See Baywatch
Seven Reasons Not to See Baywatch
❂ Everybody is very fit. ❂ The bathing suits are tiny. ❂ The ladies have big boobs. ❂ The men also have big chests. ❂ There is slow-motion boob-bouncing. ❂ Zac Efron’s abs have abs. ❂ “There’s more to the job than just
❂ The action is relocated to Florida, which just doesn’t have the same great seaside scenery as California. It looks like a mall with sand outside. ❂ The film can’t pick a lane between winking parody, action comedy and cut-and-paste crime story. ❂ It’s about 15 minutes worth of
swimming.” (See Reasons 1-6.)
A HOFF@ PGHC ITY PA PE R.CO M
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BAYWATCH DIRECTED BY: Seth Gordon STARRING: Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron
material stretched out to two hours. ❂ Comedian Hannibal Buress is wasted in a small unfunny role. ❂ It offers more male-based wishfulfillment, where the shlubby guy effortlessly scores the hot chick. ❂ Ohmigod, stop with the gay-panic jokes! Note to Baywatch: If you’re so uncomfortable with male sexuality, maybe, for starters, don’t make a movie starring two barely dressed hot guys. ❂ Getting bumped up to an R rating means more witless profanity and some comic male nudity. If there was a union for show-biz testicles, it would be filing for overtime pay. A HOF F @ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
are in unpacking all that it subverts, as well as processing its indictment of how things are not OK in a “post-racial” America. June 2-8. Row House Cinema (AH)
FILM CAPSULES CP
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THE STEPFORD WIVES. Of course, this creepy tale about men’s domination of women, by confining them to subservient roles in the domestic sphere, came out just as the seeds of the women’s liberation movement were beginning to bear fruit. In Bryan Forbes’ 1975 slow-burner thriller, a couple moves to a small suburban enclave, where everything seems perfect. Or perhaps, too perfect, particularly among the women, who are all beautiful and devote themselves to cooking, cleaning and pleasing their men. Needless to say, there are some terrible secrets to be uncovered. Katharine Ross and Paula Prentiss star. June 2-8. Row House Cinema
NEW CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE. In brief: Two students hypnotize their school principal into thinking that he is the unlikely superhero Captain Underpants. David Soren directs this animated comedy. Starts Fri., June 2 CHUCK. In the 1970s, New Jersey heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner was the pride of Bayonne; they called him the “Bayonne Bleeder.” In 1975, he even booked a title bout with Muhammad Ali, and went 15 rounds. The scrappy working-class pugilist was reputedly the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone’s iconic Rocky Balboa. Now Wepner gets another go at the proverbial 15 minutes of fame in this bio-pic from Philippe Falardeau. Liev Schreiber plays Wepner, with a comic braying brio, who narrates his significant years — from the high point of landing the Ali match through his post-ring lowlights (carousing, domestic strife, troubles with the law). There are not many twists and turns — this is the classic rags-to-ring-to-retirement trajectory, as foreshadowed by clips of Wepner’s favorite movie, Requiem for a Heavyweight. Most of the entertainment comes from the 1970s costumes and sets, and a notable number of recognizable actors lumbered with bad hairstyles and polyester pants. Elisabeth Moss portrays Wepner’s long-suffering wife; Ron Perlman is his manager; Michael Rapaport plays his brother; Jim Gaffigan is his buddy; and Naomi Watts does a turn as a nobullshit bartender. “Real-life Rocky” is a cheat description, but in this case, it’s likely true — and the various later chapters don’t play as well, or as dramatically. But if you like little oddball slices of (mostly) forgotten history and don’t mind a shaggy story, this is a fun smallish movie. Through Thu., June 1. Harris (Al Hoff) CHURCHILL. Jonathan Teplitzky’s World War II political drama depicts British leader Winston Churchill (Brian Cox) in the critical 96 hours leading up to D-Day. Starts Fri., June 2. Hollywood THE WEDDING PLAN. Jerusalem bride-tobe Michal (Noa Kooler) is all set to get married. She and the groom are sampling options for the wedding feast when he tells her he’s changed his mind. Michal is stunned — and disappointed: After all, she’s already well into her 30s, and finding suitable mates in her Orthodox Jewish community isn’t that easy. But she decides not to cancel the wedding — set for a month or so in the future — trusting that God will provide another groom. Rama Burshtein’s dramedy takes its time getting to the wedding date. Michal fusses; goes out on some dates arranged by matchmakers; and makes a trip to a sacred religious spot in Ukraine, where she meets a very cute Israeli pop star. But Michal, who is a mix of modernity (she runs her own business, expresses her opinions) and tradition (she is devout, and wants a similar husband and family), isn’t ready to rush to the altar with just any man. The film eschews the standard sentimental or silly set-ups that mark most cinematic romantic quests; Burshtein takes Michal’s desires and her unique dilemma seriously. Such respect may make
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the film less “entertaining” for some viewers, but those with the patience for a quieter story about making it to the altar should find Michal relatable and worth rooting for. In Hebrew, with subtitles. Manor (AH)
should never meet — and do — is the spine upon which writer-director Edgar Wright and his co-writer and star Simon Pegg hang many gags and clever asides. For every obvious gross-out joke or pratfall, the pair lay a landmine for a brilliant pay-off in the chaotic last reel (I laughed hardest when co-star Nick Frost simply asked, “Pub?”). There’s a busload of British TV and film thespians onboard, and the homages run the gamut from Agatha Christie and The Wicker Man to such stone-cold classics as Point Break and Bad Boys 2. At nearly two hours, it’s a trifle self-indulgent, but what beloved shoot-’em-up — and BBC mystery series — isn’t? Lock and load, lads. June 2-8. Row House Cinema (AH)
WONDER WOMAN. In Patty Jenkins’ actioner, we learn about the warrior princess (Gal Gadot) who makes a splash fighting evil in the 20th century as Wonder Woman. In 3-D, in select theaters. Starts Fri., June 2
REPERTORY AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron star in Vincente Minnelli’s Technicolor 1951 musical comedy about an American painter who attracts the attention of an heiress. Singing, dancing and romance abound! 7:30 p.m. Wed., May 31. AMC Loews Waterfront. $5 INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED SHORTS PROGRAM AND WORKSHOP. Catch a program of animated short films from around the world. Then, if inspired, try making an animated film of your own, using tablets, apps and the stop-motion animation technique. The screenings and workshop are offered in conjunction with the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Noon-3 p.m. daily Fri., June 2-Sun., June 11. Harris. Free HOT FUZZ. This affectionate and obsessive 2007 pop-culture comedy spoofs a pair of genres heretofore never combined: the Englishvillage murder cozy and the gun-heavy American high-octane cop-buddy actioner. That the twain
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GET OUT. Being black while in white spaces is the core fear of Jordan Peele’s recent horror thriller, an assured, smart and provocative debut. And that fear is on the mind of Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), who’s packing to spend the weekend with the parents of his newish white girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams). It’s a modern Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, where things get creepy in the country. Back in the city, Chris’ buddy, Rod (LilRel Howery), functions as an audience stand-in; Rod calls Chris out for sticking around, for trusting this odd family, and he unspools increasingly baroque conspiracy theories about what might be really going on. Rod is also the source of the film’s laughout-loud moments. Peele knows the genre well, employing tropes like malfunctioning phones and locked basements. Get Out follows the standard trajectory, from weekend at isolated house that starts kinda weird to the frantic final reel where the bodies pile up. You can watch Get Out as a basic slow-burn horror thriller, but the big rewards
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THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. Sofia Coppola’s dreamy, unsettling 1999 drama is set in suburban Detroit in the 1970s. There, a group of teenage boys grow obsessed with five sisters, who are kept sheltered by their religious parents. Kirsten Dunst, Kathleen Turner and James Woods star. June 2-8. Row House Cinema THE ARTIST’S GARDEN: AMERICAN IMPRESSIONISM. This new documentary from Phil Grabsky examines the four-decade period that represented the Impressionist art movement in America. While influenced by European practioners, American artists found inspiration and intent celebrating gardens and natural beauty, as the country was rapidly urbanizing. The film features works from the exhibition The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887-1920. Following the 2 p.m. Sat., June 3, screening, Paula Witkowski, docent at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, will present a slideshow highlighting American Impressionist works in that museum’s collection, as well as speaking on Pittsburgh-born painter Mary Cassatt. For those catching the 4 p.m. screening, arrive at 3:30 p.m. to hear Witkowski’s talk. 2 and 4 p.m. Sat., June 3; and 4 p.m. Sun., June 4. Hollywood DOLLAR BANK CINEMA IN THE PARK. The Secret Life of Pets, Sun., June 4 (Schenley Plaza); Mon., June 5 (Highland Park); Tue., June 6 (West End/Elliott Overlook); and Thu., June 8 (Brookline). Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Wed., June 7 (Schenley: Flagstaff Hill). Films begin at dusk. 412-255-2493 or www.citiparks.net. Free FREEDOM TO MARRY. Eddie Rosenstein’s recent documentary charts the decades-long fight to win marriage rights for gay couples, culminating in 2015’s landmark Supreme Court decision that guaranteed same-sex marriage. The film features two of the keep-it-steady lawyers — Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry, and Mary Bonauto, an attorney with GLAD — who help craft and deliver the winning argument. Freedom also includes stories of gay couples whose fates depend on this decision. The hard work of the lawyers matters, but history shows that marriage equality has also been a battle won from the ground up, by changing individual minds over the years until a majority of Americans support the issue. Screens at 7 and 9 p.m. nightly. Mon., June 5-11. Harris. Free THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. The witty words simply fly in this 1940 drawing-room comedy set amongst the wealthy of Philly’s Main Line. A socialite has left her playboy first husband behind and plans to remarry somebody more suitable, only to have her ex — and the tabloid press — turn up during the week of her wedding. George Cukor adapts Phillip Barry’s stage play, with the dream cast of Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant. 7:30 p.m. Tue., June 6. Tull Family Theater, Sewickley
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“WE SHOW PEOPLE THAT WE CAN PLAY FOOTBALL.”
HISTORY LESSONS This week in Pittsburgh Sports History {BY CHARLIE DEITCH} A look back at events that you’ve either forgotten about or never heard of in the first place. JUNE 3, 1985 The Pittsburgh Pirates draft normal-sized, pre-alleged-steroid-use Barry Bonds in the first round of the baseball draft. He would go on to win two of his seven MVP awards with the Pirates; later, with the San Francisco Giants, Bonds would become the Major League’s home-run king. JUNE 4, 2002 Then-Pirates General Manager Dave Littlefield made perhaps his worst decision as GM (and that says a lot) when he used the first overall pick in the draft to take a pitcher named Bryan Bullington. Littlefield passed on several players including Zack Greinke, Prince Fielder, Scott Kazmir, Nick Swisher, Cole Hamels, Denard Span and Matt Cain, all game-changers at some point in their careers. Bullington would notch one win in five Major League seasons before signing with Japan’s Tokyo Carp in 2011. JUNE 4, 2012 Apparently, the Pirates should not select a draft pick on June 4. This time, the Pirates used the eighth overall pick to choose Stanford pitcher Mark Appel. However, Appel returned to Stanford for his senior year, and the Pirates were out of luck. They passed on current superstars, including the Cubs’ Addison Russell and the Dodgers’ Corey Seager. JUNE 5, 1979 One of the University of Pittsburgh’s best football products of all time, Dan Marino, is drafted in the fourth round of the MLB Draft by the Kansas City Royals. Marino passed on baseball and played football at Pitt before joining the Miami Dolphins in 1983. Side note: The Royals drafted future Denver quarterback John Elway a few rounds later. JUNE 6, 2013 Penn Hills native and Denver Nuggets coach George Karl is fired less than a month after he is named NBA Coach of the Year. He’s the only NBA coach to hold this distinction. JUNE 7, 1986 AND 2005 AND 2010 This is the best day, historically, for drafting Pirates players. On this day, respectively, they drafted Jeff King, Andrew McCutchen and Jameson Taillon.
{CP PHOTO BY JORDAN MILLER}
Pittsburgh Rebellion quarterback Spencer Morgan moves upfield in a May 6 game against Atlanta.
NEW GAME {BY MARC WEEMS AND CHARLIE DEITCH}
T
O SAY the least, the Pittsburgh Rebel-
lion is not the football we’re used to in Pittsburgh — full pads, no-nonsense and hard-hitting men (the Steelers and Pitt Panthers) and women (the multi-championship-winning Pittsburgh Passion). The Rebellion is in its first season of play in the Legends Football League. You probably know it by another name, The Lingerie Football League. Lingerie football was invented as a sport in 2004, when a “Lingerie Bowl” was offered as a pay-per-view alternative to the Super Bowl halftime show. It became a 10-team league in 2009, and in 2013 the name was changed to the Legends Football League. This year there are eight teams, and the Rebellion is the newest entry. The team is 0-2 so far and will play its final home game June 10 at Highmark Stadium. For the athletes, the game is a way to play in a competitive sports league. “I actually got into the very first season back in 2009 or so,” Rebellion tight end/ defensive end Tracey Willmer says. “I used to live in Tampa. I played for the Tampa Breeze for three years. I had never played
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football before … it was the challenge of seeing what I was capable of.” But while this is tackle football, the league has not been without its controversy — mainly, the skimpy uniforms players wear. Early uniforms were simply sports bras and lingerie-type bottoms. The only protection was a set of modified shoulder pads and a hockey helmet. This year, however, the uniforms were modified in recognition of feelings that the uniforms were exploitive.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.lflus.com/pittsburghrebellion
“The uniform has been subject to a lot of discussion and at times controversy since the sport’s inception in 2009,” league spokesman Phillip Darnell said in a January press release. “The next major evolution of the on-field uniform has arrived, full-pants uniforms which will place more of the viewer’s attention on the athlete and sport as well as providing greater safety for athletes.” The Rebellion will debut the long-
pants version at its final home game; the midriff-baring tops remain. While some still have negative feelings about the league, the athletes and coaches say the sport is for real. “This may be lingerie football, but at the same time, these girls are learning how to use all sorts of techniques,” Rebellion offensive coordinator Jamont Kinds says. “They are learning quite a lot. This has everything to do with learning the game as well as technique. Every one of them is taking the time to learn the game the right way.” Adds Rebellion running back/cornerback Remy Olinzock: “I’d say this sport is very, very serious. These girls come from very athletic and very competitive backgrounds. These aren’t just girls that we find by accident.” Rebellion players say they’d like fans to come out and judge for themselves. “We can be strong, beautiful women who can play football,” Willmer says. “We show people that we can play football. Most people leave a game with a different attitude than when the game started.” I N F O@ P G HC I T Y PA P E R. C OM
[THE CHEAP SEATS]
TWO TEAMS, ONE CUP {BY MIKE WYSOCKI} GET READY to be tired of winning.
Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals is in the books, but it doesn’t matter. The Penguins will repeat this year because it’s a battle of a solid, proven winning organization against a team that is “just glad to be here.” JGTBH teams rarely win against proven champions. The Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers were glad to be in the past two Super Bowls, but the Broncos and Patriots had been there before. Last year, the San Jose Sharks were happy to make the NHL finals. The Steelers’ most recent two Super Bowl wins came against the Seahawks and the Cardinals, who were glad to be in their first championship game. The Penguins’ top four all-time scorers are Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and the Pens have won four Cups. Nashville’s top four all-time scorers are David Legwand, Martin Erat, Shea Weber and Kimmo Timonen, and this is their first final. Finding a reason to hate Nashville is tough. Sure, it’s the town where Bill Belichick was born and the home of Hee Haw. But it’s an incredibly vibrant town with an unmatched music scene, and it has a Johnny Cash museum. In this final it will be “the Athens of the South” versus “the Paris of Appalachia” in the finals of Canada’s national game. Of course, the football team in Washington and the baseball team in Cleveland should change their names. But so should the Predators. The negative connotation is too strong. Just Google the word “predator” and after a few pics of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, it starts getting weird. The city had three finalists for the new team’s moniker: “Ice Tigers,” “Attack” and “Fury.” But the owner went with the Predators. Kids want to grow up to be a Yankee, or a Steeler or a Celtic; nobody wants to be a Predator. Even saying “I’m going to catch a Predator … game,” is awkward, thanks to Chris Hansen. Former Pens favorite “Rill Dill James Nill” comes back to town to play against the team that traded him for Patric Hornqvist. Hornqvist, who has the unfortunate nickname of “Horny,” has a ring from last year, and going into the finals has seven playoff points this year. Peter Laviolette, the former coach of the Wheeling Nailers (a Pens farm team), is taking his third team to the NHL finals,
{CP PHOTO BY LUKE THOR TRAVIS}
Sidney Crosby holds the cup in last year’s victory parade.
having won it all with Carolina over a decade ago. But it’s an inexperienced Nashville team that will be overwhelmed by the pressure. The city of Pittsburgh awaits its sweet 16th world championship, while Nashville has an empty trophy case. The Titans came closest to a Nashville sports parade in 1999, losing a Super Bowl by one yard. The Penguins are celebrating their 50th year in hockey. Another Stanley Cup would bring the Pens’ total to five and put them in some elite company as an organization. In the past 50 years, only the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers have won more than four Stanley Cups. And if our president has taught us anything, it’s that those teams don’t really count because they’re not American. Out of 122 franchises in major sports, only 11 teams have won five or more championships in the past 50 years. The Penguins are poised to be the 12th. That’s 12 ultra-elite franchises in two countries, and the city of Pittsburgh will have two of them. Take that, everybody else on earth! (Except Boston.) That’s the company the Pittsburgh Penguins keep. The Predators, on the other hand, have never won anything; the company Nashville keeps is the Washington Nationals, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Sacramento Kings. In January, I predicted that the Penguins would win a second consecutive Cup and beat the Capitals, Blue Jackets and Bruins along the way. The Senators messed up a perfect prediction. When this win happens, the Pens will become the first team in hockey to win back-to-back since the Detroit Red Wings did it in 1997 and 1998. And, much to the delight of Penguins fans, that Detroit team kept both the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals from winning a Stanley Cup. Keeping those two teams solidly in the “just glad to be there” contingent.
IT WILL BE “THE ATHENS OF THE SOUTH” VERSUS “THE PARIS OF APPALACHIA.”
MI K E W YS O C KI IS A STA NDUP CO MEDI AN . FO LLO W HI M O N TWI TTER: @IT SMIK E WYSO C K I
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
FIDGET SPINNERS
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OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT
THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed bids will be received in the Office Of The Chief Operations Officer, Room 251, Administration Building, 341 South Bellefield Avenue until 11:00 A.M. prevailing time JUNE 13, 2017 and will be opened at the same hour for the purchase of the following equipment.
CALCULATORS General Information regarding bids may be obtained at the Office of the Purchasing Agent, Service Center, 1305 Muriel Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. The bid documents are available on the School District’s Purchasing web site at: http://www.pghboe.net/pps/site/default.asp Click on Bid Opportunities under Quick Links. The Board of Public Education reserves the right to reject any and all bids, or select a single item from any bid. Leon Webb Purchasing Agent We are an equal rights and opportunity school district. Parent Hotline: 412-622-7920 www.pps.k12.pa.us
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ACROSS 1. Time for growth 6. Leave the coverage area 10. Total shithole 13. Relaxes 14. Wrist bones 15. “Well, well, well” 16. Beef on social media 18. Popular shrub 19. Boy’s name in a tongue twister 20. Make the NBA playoffs more interesting, say (what? I’m the only one?) 21. Go against the grain 23. Vietnamese noodle soups 25. Ren ___ (LARPers spot) 27. 19th Amendment topic 32. Burdened (with) 33. Soft ball company? 34. Concealed carry org. 35. Gorge oneself with, briefly 36. “Crazy” singer 38. Three weeks in a van with the band, likely 39. Word of sharing 40. Fill up 41. Hairstylist’s creations 42. What something
that needs no explanation can do 46. “___: Covenant” 47. Small bit 48. His #2 was retired by the Yankees 50. “Led Zeppelin ___” 51. Milky gem 55. Playwright Ensler 56. “Amen, brother!” 60. Christmastime purchase 61. You are here 62. Hiking spot 63. They loop The Loop 64. Time to act 65. “Arrowsmith” author
DOWN 1. Emo rocker Wentz 2. Fumbles for words 3. Risk territory 4. Pitchers in the 8th inning, likely 5. Attendance fig. 6. Big number 7. Mine production 8. Big cricket fan on “The Simpsons” 9. Muffin top’s location 10. Healthy frying option 11. Quaker’s pronoun 12. Pained expression 14. Salad vegetable 17. Poetically black 22. Go wrong 24. Pecker
25. Mobil material 26. Colin Kaepernick’s do 27. Roll into a ball 28. They’ll make your dogs smell better 29. Contemptuous smile 30. Bad-tempered 31. Contents of some farm share boxes 32. Going places in Manchester? 36. Place to get free wifi and a latte 37. Kind of collar 38. In direct competition 40. Avoided, as an issue
41. Forensic cop show 43. Dogfish Head selection 44. “Here’s hoping” 45. “So much ___” (“I agree,” on the web) 48. Barcelona big kahuna 49. ___ losers (terrorists, to Trump) 50. Very small 52. Part of the boat above water 53. Q5 maker 54. Subtraction word 57. Consumed 58. Celestial altar 59. Big-eyed raptor {LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS}
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FOR THE WEEK OF
Free Will Astrology
05.31-06.07
{BY ROB BREZSNY}
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “The most intense moments the universe has ever known are the next 15 seconds,” said philosopher Terence McKenna. He was naming a central principle of reality: that every new NOW is a harvest of everything that has ever happened; every fresh moment is a blast of novelty that arises in response to the sum total of all history’s adventures. This is always true, of course. But I suspect the phenomenon will be especially pronounced for you in the near future. More than usual, you may find that every day is packed with interesting feelings and poignant fun and epic realizations. This could be pleasurable, but also overwhelming. Luckily, you have the personal power necessary to make good use of the intensity.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Nobody likes to be scrutinized or critiqued or judged. But we Crabs (yes, I’m one of you) are probably touchier about that treatment than any other sign of the zodiac. (Hypersensitivity is a trait that many astrologers ascribe to Cancerians.) However, many of us do allow one particular faultfinder to deride us: the nagging voice in the back of our heads. Sometimes we even give free rein to its barbs. But I would like to propose a transformation of this situation. Maybe we could scold ourselves less, and be a bit more open to constructive feedback coming from other people. Starting now.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The lion’s potency, boldness and majesty are qualities you have a mandate to cultivate in the next three weeks. To get in the righteous mood, I suggest you gaze upon images and videos of lions. Come up with your own version of a lion’s roar — I mean actually make that sound — and unleash it regularly. You might also want to
try the yoga posture known as the lion pose. If you’re unfamiliar with it, go here for tips: tinyurl. com/lionpose. What else might help you invoke and express the unfettered leonine spirit?
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “What does it matter how many lovers you have if none of them gives you the universe?” French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan posed that question. I invite you to put it at the top of your list of hot topics to meditate on. In doing so, I trust you won’t use it as an excuse to disparage your companions for their inadequacies. Rather, I hope it will mobilize you to supercharge your intimate alliances; to deepen your awareness of the synergistic beauty you could create together; to heighten your ability to be given the universe by those whose fates are interwoven with yours.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): From my study of the lost prophecies of Nostradamus, the hidden chambers beneath the Great Pyramid of Cheops and the current
get your yoga on!
astrological omens, I have determined that now is a favorable time for you to sing liberation songs with cheeky authority … to kiss the sky and dance with the wind on a beach or hilltop … to gather your most imaginative allies and brainstorm about what you really want to do in the next five years. Do you dare to slip away from business as usual so you can play in the enchanted land of what-if? If you’re smart, you will escape the grind and grime of the daily rhythm so you can expand your mind to the next largest size. “On some hill of despair,” wrote poet Galway Kinnell, “the bonfire you kindle can light the great sky — though it’s true, of course, to make it burn you have to throw yourself in.” You may not exactly feel despair, Scorpio. But I suspect you are in the throes of an acute questioning that makes you feel close to the edge of forever. Please consider the possibility that it’s a favorable time to find out just how much light and heat are hidden inside you. Your ache for primal fun and your longing to accelerate your soul’s education are converging with your quest to summon a deeper, wilder brilliance.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
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A typical Capricorn cultivates fervent passions, even to the point of obsession. Almost no one knows their magnitude, though, because the members of your tribe often pursue their fulfillment with methodical, business-like focus. But I wonder if maybe it’s a good time to reveal more of the raw force of this driving energy than you usually do. It might humanize you in the eyes of potential helpers who see you as too strong to need help. And it could motivate your allies to provide the extra support and understanding you’ll need in the coming weeks.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In accordance with the astrological omens, I invite you to carry out a flashy flirtation with the color red. I dare you to wear red clothes and
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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “If you want a puppy, start by asking for a pony,” read the bumper sticker on the Lexus SUV I saw. That confused me. Would the owner of a Lexus SUV be the type of person who didn’t expect to get what she really wanted? In any case, Pisces, I’m conveying a version of this bumper-sticker wisdom to you. If you want your domestic scene to thrive even more than it already does, ask for a feng shui master to redesign your environment so it has a perfect flow of energy. If you want a community that activates the best in you, ask for a utopian village full of emotionally intelligent activists. If you want to be animated by a focused goal that motivates you to wake up excited each morning, ask for a glorious assignment that will help save the world.
You’re in a phase when you have the power to find answers to questions that have stumped you for a while. Why? Because you’re more open-minded and curious than usual. You’re also ready to be brazenly honest with yourself. Congrats! In light of the fact that you’ll be lucky at solving riddles, I’ve got three good ones for you to wrestle with. 1. Which of your anxieties may actually be cover-ups for a lazy refusal to change a bad habit? 2. What resource will you use more efficiently when you stop trying to make it do things it’s not designed to do? 3. What blessing will you receive as soon as you give a clear signal that you are ready for it?
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red jewelry. Buy yourself red roses. Sip red wine and savor strawberries under red lights. Sing Elvis Costello’s “The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes” and Prince’s “Little Red Corvette.” Tell everyone why 2017 is a red-letter year for you. For extra credit, murmur the following motto whenever a splash of red teases and pleases your imagination: “My red-hot passion is my version of high fashion.”
Life is in the mood to communicate with you rather lyrically. Here are just a few of the signs and portents you may encounter, along with theories about their meaning. If you overhear a lullaby, it’s time to seek the influence of a tender, nurturing source. If you see a type of fruit or flower you don’t recognize, it means you have a buried potential you don’t know much about, and you’re ready to explore it further. If you spy a playing card in an unexpected place, trust serendipity to bring you what you need. If a loud noise arrives near a moment of decision: Traditionally it signifies caution, but these days it suggests you should be bold.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Your body is holy and magic and precious. I advise you not to sell it or rent it or compromise it in any way — especially now, when you have an opening to upgrade your relationship with it. Yes, Taurus, it’s time to attend to your sweet flesh and blood with consummate care. Find out exactly what your amazing organism needs to feel its best. Lavish it with pleasure and healing. Treat it as you would a beloved child or animal. I also hope you will have intimate conversations with the cells that compose your body. Let them know you love and appreciate them. Tell them you’re ready to collaborate on a higher level. Your imagination is the single most important asset you possess. Listen to the podcast: http:// bit.ly/YourProphecy
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}
I’m a middle-aged homo trying to figure out Grindr. Is it impolite to go on Grindr if you’re not looking for an immediate hookup? My preferred form of sexual relationship is the friend-with-benefits situation. I go on Grindr looking to make friends who could, at least potentially, be sex partners, but I like to do the friend thing before the sex. I’ve had guys call me an asshole because I exchanged messages with them for 20 minutes and then didn’t come right over and fuck them. Do they have a point? Does logging into a hookup app like Grindr imply openness to an immediate sexual encounter? TALKING ONLINE REPULSES SOME OTHERS
Always be up front about your intentions, TORSO. The best way to do that is by creating a profile — on Grindr or elsewhere — that clearly describes what you want and what you’re up for. Because good partners (sexual or otherwise) communicate their wants clearly. Adding something like this to your profile should do it: “My preferred form of sexual relationship is the friend-with-benefits situation. I go on Grindr looking to make friends who could, at least potentially, be sex partners, but I like to do the friend thing before the sex.” Grindr is an app designed and marketed to facilitate hookups, but some people have found friends, lovers and husbands on the app (usually after hooking up first). So being on a hookup app doesn’t automatically mean you’re looking for “right now,” and it certainly doesn’t obligate you to fuck every guy you swap messages with. But if you’re not clear in your profile or very first message about what you’re doing there, TORSO, guys looking for a hookup on that hookup app will be rightly annoyed with you. (The time and energy he sunk into you could have been sunk into someone looking for right now.) If you are clear, guys seeking instacock have only themselves to blame for wasting their time on you.
trouble maintaining casual and fun conversations despite my intentions. I come off as intense. I think I’m a pretty attractive person, but my dating life is starting to make me feel differently. I work out regularly and take good care of myself. How can I find a woman I jibe with? A LESBIAN OBVIOUSLY NEEDS EXCITEMENT
You’re doing all the right things — almost. You’re getting out there, you’re not shy about initiating conversation, and you’re moving on multiple fronts — online, club nights, LGBTQTSLFNBQGQIA+++ groups. Join a women’s athletic organization — join a softball league — and you’ll be moving on every lesbo front. That said, ALONE, I’m surprised this hasn’t popped into your extremely analytic head: If Y happens whenever I do X, and Y isn’t the desired outcome, then maybe I should knock this Y shit the fuck off. Your response to the mention of Harry Potter drips with what I trust is unintentional condescension. Don’t want women to think you’re administering a quiz? Don’t want women to get the impression you’re too intellectual for them? Don’t want to seem like someone incapable of keeping things casual and fun? Don’t administer quizzes, don’t subtly telegraph your disgust, and keep things casual by offering a little info about yourself instead of probing. (“I haven’t read the Harry Potter books, but I’m a huge Emma Watson fangirl. Who isn’t, right?”) And maybe go ahead and read Harry Potter already.
IF YOU ARE CLEAR, GUYS SEEKING INSTACOCK HAVE ONLY THEMSELVES TO BLAME FOR WASTING THEIR TIME ON YOU.
I’m a 25-year-old gay woman and I’ve been looking for a girlfriend for the past two years. I post on dating websites, go to the lesbian club, take part in the LGBTQ+ scene at my university, and put myself in places where I might meet women. But I’m worried that my persona deters women: I’m extremely analytic, a doctoral student and university instructor. Whenever I meet a girl, our conversation always goes in the same direction: She thinks it’s cool I work with literature and then brings up her favorite pop-culture novel like Harry Potter. I say something like, “I’ve never read Harry Potter, but people rave about it. What do you like about it? I took an online Harry Potter test once for a friend, and it said I was a Slytherin.” At this point, things change. The girl I’m speaking with gets flustered. She says something like, “Oh, I’m not good at describing things,” seemingly feeling pressured to give me an intellectual response, like I’m giving her a quiz. I’m not sure what to do about this. I am having
What have you always wanted to know about Pittsburgh?
I’m a married woman whose hot, hung husband is into “beautiful women and pretty boys” (his words — and he means boyish men of legal age, of course). It took a dozen years to get that out of him. I’d watched him drool over pretty male baristas and waiters, but it wasn’t until I found twink porn on his computer that he came out about his “narrow slice of bisexuality.” (Again, his words.) Now that it’s out — now that he’s out — he’s anxious to have a threeway with me and a femme guy. I’m up for it, but the pretty boys we’re finding online who are into my husband aren’t into me. My husband says he would feel too guilty doing it without me, which means he may not be able to do it at all. I want him to do it. It turns me on to think about. I don’t have to be there.
“WHY DOES PITTSBURGH HAVE AN H IN IT?” “IS A PARKING-SPOT CHAIR LEGALLY BINDING?” “WHAT IS SLIPPY?” Mike Wysocki has the answers. (well...sorta)
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HUBBY’S UNDERLYING BI BIOLOGICAL YEARNINGS
Let your hot, hung husband find a pretty boy he likes, HUBBY, then ask for the boy’s email or phone number or IG handle or whatever, and have a quick back-channel convo with him. Let him know your hot, hung husband (HHH) wants his ass and that you’ll be there — but only at the start. Once drinks have been served, the ice has been broken, and a little spit has been swapped (between him and HHH), tell him you’ll invent a reason to excuse yourself (your period, bad clams, whatever), leaving him alone with your HHH. Good luck! On the Lovecast, Rachel Lark and the Damaged Goods: savagelovecast.com.
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