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Celebrate love a little longer...
Crash a stranger’s wedding!
FEAST at the museum
Third Thursday: We Do February 21, 8–11 p.m. $10 in advance, $15 at door
FEAST February 23, 6–9:30 p.m. $100
Everyone knows the best part of a wedding is being a guest. Grab a date and celebrate a stranger’s wedding in the museum! We'll have a wedding cake and a DJ. This is your chance to dust off that old bridesmaid's dress.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a new kind of date night: a gourmet meal at the museum hosted by a local chef, access to the galleries, and a special appearance by the Carnegie International curator.
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FIRSTSHOT BY JARED WICKERHAM
A wintry scene along the Ohio River
FEB. 6-13, 2019 VOLUME 28 + ISSUE 6 Editor-In-Chief LISA CUNNINGHAM Associate Publisher JUSTIN MATASE Director of Operations KEVIN SHEPHERD Managing Editor ALEX GORDON Senior Writers RYAN DETO, AMANDA WALTZ Staff Writers HANNAH LYNN, JORDAN SNOWDEN Photographer/Videographer JARED WICKERHAM Digital Media Manager JOSH OSWALD Editorial Designer ABBIE ADAMS Graphic Designers MAYA PUSKARIC, JEFF SCHRECKENGOST Marketing and Promotions Coordinator CONNOR MARSHMAN Senior Sales Representative BLAKE LEWIS Sales Representatives KAITLIN OLIVER, NICK PAGANO Office Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Advertising Sales Assistant TAYLOR PASQUARELLI Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, GAB BONESSO, LISSA BRENNAN, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA, CRAIG MRUSEK, CHARLES ROSENBLUM, JESSIE SAGE, STEVE SUCATO Interns JANINE FAUST, XIOLA JENSEN Office Administrator RODNEY REGAN National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP.
GENERAL POLICIES: Contents copyrighted 2019 by Eagle Media Corp. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Pittsburgh City Paper are those of the author and not necessarily of Eagle Media Corp. LETTER POLICY: Letters, faxes or e-mails must be signed and include town and daytime phone number for confirmation. We may edit for length and clarity. DISTRIBUTION: Pittsburgh City Paper is published weekly by Eagle Media Corp. and is available free of charge at select distribution locations. One copy per reader; copies of past issues may be purchased for $3.00 each, payable in advance to Pittsburgh City Paper. FIRST CLASS MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Available for $175 per year, $95 per half year. No refunds.
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! a g o T ! a g o T ! a To-g SAT U R DAY , M A RC H 2 • 7 : 3 0 P M JCC Squirrel Hill Campus • 5738 Forbes Avenue • Dinner and drinks • Dancing to the music of The Lava Game and DJ Scottro • Late night party with the Bill Henry Band • Silent Auction at the Campus Bookstore • Raffle—Win some bling or a fancy ride Valet Service Provided Forbes Avenue Entrance Attire: Show Your School Spirit
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CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM
The University of Pittsburgh
THE BIG STORY
STUDENT UNION
Debate over unionized graduate students comes to Pitt BY JANINE FAUST // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
S
INCE THE NATION’S first graduate student union was formed in Wisconsin in 1969, a debate has raged over whether those unions are good for colleges. Now, the debate has come to the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt’s Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC), which formed in 2016, cites higher wages, more academic freedom, and other needs as motivation to unionize. These graduate students believe their paid teaching and research duties qualifies them as employees, which grants them the right to unionize. In these cases, universities, including Pitt, often argue that grads are simply students, not employees, and that a union would have a negative impact on graduate education — including the studentfaculty relationship. But students and faculty at other universities say grad unions have had no effect on that relationship, and have even been beneficial. Studies show the same. Overall, there’s little solid evidence that one of university administrators’ most common arguments is true.
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According to University of Rhode Island professor Sean Rogers, an author of a 2013 Rutgers University study on the subject, the argument that grad unions negatively affect mentoring relationships has no basis in fact. “Ever since [the ’70s], the board and courts have just regurgitated those doomsday predictions without any sort of evidence,” he says. “When grads have a union, everything doesn’t go to crap. In fact, in some cases it gets better.” Currently, the GSOC is awaiting a state labor board ruling on Pitt’s case against them. Pitt administrators are challenging GSOC’s petition to vote on whether or not to unionize. Hearings were held in October 2018; this spring, the board will decide if the grads are employees who can vote to unionize in the future. Besides employee status, opponents of grad unions usually claim that the student-faculty relationship will suffer under unionization. Yale’s president has written that a grad union would make the teacher-student relationship “less productive
and rewarding.” Northwestern University created a graphic for faculty detailing what unionization could lead to, including less flexibility with scheduling. Former Pitt provost Patricia Beeson wrote in 2017 that the “unique relationship” grads have with faculty mentors is not suited to unionization. Pitt also puts an emphasis on the mentoring aspect of that relationship in an online FAQ. “The mentoring, support, and advising provided to students engaged in [research and teaching] are critical for their success and are different than an employment relationship,” the University says. A 2000 University of Wisconsin-Madison study found 90 percent of faculty members at unionized universities didn’t believe grad unions inhibited faculty’s ability to teach students and 88 percent thought it didn’t negatively affect mentoring relationships. The 2013 Rutgers University study found that grads at unionized universities reported similar student-teacher relationships as in non-unionized environments. Though the differences were not significant, some positives, such as advisors viewing grads
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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.NEWS.
TOO MUCH
TAKEOUT
At about $200 a month, Pittsburgh spends the second most on takeout of any city in the U.S. BY RYAN DETO RYANDETO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
P
ITTSBURGHERS BRAG about a lot
of things: the Steelers, getting ranked in national magazines, etc. Now they have a new distinction to gloat about: takeout. According to health and wellness platform Vitagene, Pittsburgh spends the second most on takeout of any city in the U.S. Only Seattle tops the Steel City, where residents spend an average of $199 a month on takeout dining. (Seattleites spend $210 a month). While this might provide an explanation of how all those pizza shops without seating have stayed in business,
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this new data might not be a cause to celebrate. Pittsburghers may be spending too much of their dough on pizza. For example, Pittsburghers spend more than San Franciscans on takeout, despite the fact that San Francisco’s median household income is more than double that of Pittsburgh. This gives Pittsburgh the rare distinction of spending large amounts of dollars on takeout, as well as spending a large percentage of personal income on takeout. Pittsburghers spend 5.3 percent of their yearly income on take-
out. Only cities with very low median incomes, like Detroit and Cleveland, spend higher percentages of their income on takeout. According to census figures, Pittsburgh residents’ median household income is about $44,000. Pittsburghers could also save the second-most amount of any city if residents here substituted takeout meals with home-cooked ones. Vitagene factored in average costs of groceries and found Pittsburghers could save $1,366 a year. That alone could raise city residents’ median income by 3 percent.
Follow senior writer Ryan Deto on Twitter @RyanDeto
For comparison, San Franciscans would only increase their median income by 1.3 percent if they swapped out takeout for home-cooked meals. “Take-out is a great option for those days when you’re working late or in a pinch, but the cost of those lazy nights adds up quickly, and generally, the options you’re reaching for are less healthy!” reads the Vitagene blog about takeout spending. Similar cities to Pittsburgh, like St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Baltimore, all spend under $2,000 a year on takeout. Pittsburghers spend an average of $2,388 a year. Pittsburgh is a clear outlier among comparable Rust Belt cities, as it spends similar amounts to much wealthier cities. It’s difficult to determine what about Pittsburgh contributes to such high takeout spending. Pittsburgh is one of the most economically and racially unequal cities in the country, and food deserts align with low-income and Black neighborhoods. And maybe college students are spending an outsize portion on takeout, since Oakland has limited options for full-service grocery stores. But maybe Pittsburghers are just lazy and don’t want to cook after they get home from work. Either way, it’s something to chew on.
•
as competent professionals were found more at certain unionized universities. Destinee George, the president of the Temple University Graduate Student Union, agrees — she sees her union’s presence as helpful for both students and faculty, as it can prevent unnecessary issues. “I see it as a positive relationship. Because when graduate students have issues with their mentors or department heads ... we can represent them or help them determine if something’s even worth bringing up,” she says.
“WHEN GRADS HAVE A UNION, EVERYTHING DOESN’T GO TO CRAP. IN FACT, IN SOME CASES IT GETS BETTER.” Pitt officials did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Janet Barnes-Farrell is a psychology professor at the University of Connecticut and an inactive member of UConn’s faculty union. She says when UConn’s grad union was established, many faculty members were afraid the mentoring environment would become too ruleoriented and combative. But there haven’t been any difficulties in her department since. Barnes-Farrell says the union has helped the faculty reflect on how they treat graduate students and decide to clearly outline the demands and expectations of research and teaching assistants. “Going from a non-union environment into a union environment can be scary,” she says. “But the relationship between union and faculty doesn’t have to be adversarial to the extent that it’s a collaborative environment.” Pitt’s GSOC agrees that faculty should not worry about a grad union presence on campus, stating on its website that no graduate employee would support contract provisions that might harm the work of an advisor or principal investigator. According to GSOC, “By giving graduate students real power and a direct channel to the administration, our union will allow advisors to focus on research and mentoring their graduate students rather than on dealing with employment issues like health care, timely payment, and parental leave.”
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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.VOICES.
A BLACK AMERICAN FAMILY Told in Four Generations BY TERENEH IDIA CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
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ALKING UP THE STAIRS of my father’s house, you’re greeted with black and white photographs from various historical moments — recognizable people and places. The Negro League Baseball teams of the 20th century, jazz great Ahmad Jamal as a child, and Sarah Vaughan sipping champagne with the Nicholas Brothers. However, when you reach the top landing, there are images of people whose names do not come readily to mind. If you ask, some are unknown even to my father. Most are unnamed
Fagan family memorabilia
—unknown cousins, aunts, uncles from the 1800s and early 1900s. Photos rescued from shoe boxes found under beds and in basements. In an attempt to uncover some of the mystery, I read a 20-page handwritten account from my paternal grandmother entitled “The True Life Story of Helen Fagan Mosley Poole,” and interviewed
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her only son, my dad, Thaddeus Gilmore Mosley, Jr. Helen Fagan was born on June 7, 1903, in Thurmond, West Virginia, the daughter of Rosa Lee Graves and Richard Fagan, a former slave and civil war veteran. Rosa and Richard were married on September 10, 1902, in Warfield, Virginia. Rosa Lee Graves was said to have been a secretary in New York or New Jersey. To use my dad’s words, he is not sure how she “ended up in West Virginia married to a coal miner.” In the early 1900s, Thurmond was a small but thriving coal mining town of 300 people, named after Confederate soldier Captain W.D. Thurmond. He died in 1910 in the town that bore his name, which means my great-grandparents and grandmother were in Thurmond while Captain Thurman lived. Rosa and Richard had two other children, Floyd and James. Rosa Lee died in 1908, cause unknown. Richard Fagan continued to work in the coal mines and hired women to care for the children while he was at work. In my grandmother Helen’s words: Some worked out, others did not, one woman “dranked and smoked too much ... My father didn’t like that.” The children had other caregivers, including a stint living in Warfield, Virginia with their grandparents - my great great grandparents — where they attended the Episcopal Saint James School. Richard Fagan wanted the family back together and found a way when he was invited by his brother, Robert Fagan, to a plot of 68 acres he owned
in Weedville, Pennsylvania. There, the two brothers and their families worked on the farm, during the years of World War I. In 1918, the influenza pandemic that claimed the lives of 50 million worldwide and 675,000 in the United States also took the lives of Robert Fagan and Floyd Fagan, uncle and brother to my grandmother Helen. By then, Richard Fagan had remarried. Helen did not get along with her stepmother. Helen wrote that she was “very mean” and favored the children from a previous marriage over her stepchildren.
“THERE ARE IMAGES OF PEOPLE WHOSE NAMES DO NOT COME READILY TO MIND.” Meanwhile, in nearby Elbon, Pennsylvania lived Fleming Mosley. Originally from Alabama, Fleming was said to have attended Hampton University but had to drop out because his father passed away and he had to take care of his family. One day, Mr. Mosley, as my grandmother Helen always called him, visited the Fagan Farm in Weedville with his three sons. It was there that she met her future husband, Thaddeus Gilmore Mosley.
•
To be continued next week.
Follow featured contributor Tereneh Idia on Twitter @Tereneh152XX
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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THIS WEEK ONLINE AT PGHCITYPAPER.COM
SCREENSHOT TAKEN ON MONDAY AFTERNOON
WHAT’S BEHIND THOSE “UNHEALTHY AIR QUALITY” WARNINGS IN PITTSBURGH? The Pittsburgh region has experienced several inversions over the last several days, trapping industrial pollutants closer to the surface.
JENSORENSEN
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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CP PHOTOS: JARED WICKERHAM
Dave English acts out puppet karaoke at BOOM Concepts.
MUSIC.
LOVE THE FELT YOU’RE IN BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
C
ONFESSION TIME: everyone secretly
loves karaoke. Whether it’s belting it out in the car or jamming in the shower, singing is a liberating activity. Getting in front of an audience and vocalizing, however, is a different story. BOOM Concepts is trying to make the act more approachable by adding puppets to the equation. The Garfield community art space is hoping people of all walks of life, specifically the Black community, can come together, have fun, and feel comfortable in their own skin.
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“There are people that have great inhibitions, who use puppets as sort of an effigy, or a step, to put something between them and the audience,” says Dave English, one half of the Puppet Karaoke team and President of the Puppetry Guild of Pittsburgh. “There are kids that won’t talk to you, but through a puppet will say all kinds of shit. There’s that, layered with karaoke. So, you go up, and you’re singing, and maybe you can’t sing very well, but if you do it in a goofy voice, and you’re hidden behind
this blind, and the puppet is what everyone is focused on, there’s a lot more flexibility to it.” English’s Puppet Karaoke partner is Darrell Kinsel, co-founder of BOOM Concepts. The two have been talking about collaborating for some time, but they first needed to find an inter-
PUPPET KARAOKE
section of their practices – puppets and performance art. After Thomas Agnew, BOOM’s cofounder, hosted a successful Autotune Karaoke event in June through Jenesis magazine (which Agnew also founded), Kinsel began thinking of other ways to put a twist on the activity.
6-9 p.m. Wed., Feb. 13. BOOM Concepts, 5139 Penn Ave., Garfield. $5. BYOB. facebook.com/boomconcepts
“An explosion of energy, raw emotion, and irresistible storytelling.” THE CHICAGO SUN TIMES
WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS? ¿DÓNDE NOS SENTAMOS EN EL AUTOBÚS?
19 DE ENERO – 24 DE FEBRERO DE 2019
JAN. 19 – FEB. 24, 2019 WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
BRIAN QUIJADA “This year being our fifth year at BOOM Concepts, we wanted some new interesting, funny programming during the weekday,” says Kinsel. “I had seen some examples of puppet karaoke online, and [English] and I were throwing some links back and forth. I was like ‘let’s do it.’ The benefit of having your own space, we can set whatever the parameters are.”
“WE DIDN’T WANT TO RUN JUST ANOTHER KARAOKE PROGRAM.” Puppet Karaoke on Feb. 13 will be the first in an ongoing series. Every eight weeks BOOM plans to host the event. The first iteration will be love-song themed given its proximity to Valentine’s Day. Along with pre-made puppets on site, attendees can make and take home their own sock puppets. “We just want people to enjoy themselves and try something different,” says Kinsel. “It’s not a long, all-night thing, its 6-9, something you can shoot to after work, grab a bottle, and you don’t have to stay the whole time.” Kinsel and English plan to emcee the event together, with puppets of course. Since both are prominent members of
the arts community and collaborating on this project, their aim is for everyone to feel welcome. “Like many arts organizations and clubs in Pittsburgh, [the Puppetry Guild] is not as diverse as we could be,” says English. “So, what a great opportunity to mix up me and my puppet nerds, at a place like BOOM, that attracts a younger and more diverse crowd.” “Doing it at BOOM, it’s Black. We really want to be inviting and engaging Black people with all confidence. [Puppet Karaoke] is something different, and you don’t normally associate puppets with Black culture,” says Kinsel. “We want to be engaging Black audiences with this activity. With [the event] being hosted at BOOM, and with [English] being the President of the Puppet Guild, we hope to have people of all identities feeling safe to come and sing.” Just like the crowd, the music lineup is expected to be a melting pot. Elevated on stage, hidden behind a curtain with only a puppet showing, attendees can sing trap puppet songs, R&B puppet songs, rock ballads, or even Elton John. There are no restrictions on genre. “Who knows, the white lady from the ‘burbs in her 50s is going to come and rock, blow our minds,” says English. “Then some 25-year-old from Garfield. That’s something I really enjoy about puppetry, is when there’s a diverse audience and everyone’s cheek to jaw, elbow to elbow, and you just get lost in the puppet show, that’s fun.”
DIRECTED BY
CHAY YEW
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SOUTH SIDE
•
Follow staff writer Jordan Snowden on Twitter @snowden_jordan PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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SCOTT, OAKLAND
JOHN, EAST LIBERTY
Mac Miller. Definitely Mac Miller. I just heard a lot of really good things about him as a person, and people I know who knew him said he was just, like, a really good guy.
Randy Baumann from the WDVE Morning Show. Because he’s a really funny guy, and the stories he has about people around the city would last for hours.
TERESA, SOUTH OAKLAND
JOHN, BELLEVUE
The ghost of Mr. Rogers. He’d be a ghostly spirit in his heavenly form, and he’s Mr. Rogers.
It would have to be a cross between Rick Sebak and you ... Rick for the stories that he can tell me, and you for the same reason except the stories would be WAY different.
Guys … In no way do I think I’m a local celebrity, but it’s nice to be tthought of one for a fictional, claustrophobic situ situation. As for me, I’d choose my third cousin Kevin Sousa. Cook up some grub, fam! Follow featured contributor Gab Bonesso on Twitter @gabbonesso
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH HIGHLIGHT BY LISA CUNNINGHAM LCUNNING@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
Photograph from Njaimeh Njie’s 2018 Emerging Artist of the Year exhibition
GREGORY PORTER
Preserving history through photographs The iconic black-and-white photographs left behind by Charles “Teenie” Harris are an important key to preserving the history of Pittsburgh’s Black communities. Originally a photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the oldest and most popular Black newspapers in the United States, Harris not only documented news events, but captured slice-of-life moments, ensuring that Pittsburgh’s Black neighborhoods and people were remembered. In Pittsburgh today, there’s another African-American photographer making history for the next generation: Njaimeh Njie, named Emerging Artist of the Year in 2018 by Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, is a photographer, filmmaker, and multi-media producer. Njie’s photographs conjure similar scenes to the iconic ones by Harris: black-andwhite images that introduce us to the struggles, and joys, of Black people in Pittsburgh. • Pittsburgh City Paper is celebrating Black History Month throughout February. Visit pghcitypaper.com every day this month for new stories.
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PGHCITYPAPER.COM
.FOOD REVIEW.
VIVO KITCHEN BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
C
“
ONTEMPORARY American” res-
taurants typically sit in a gray area, ping-ponging between traditional and trendy with no surprises and little innovation. And while Vivo Kitchen in Sewickley identifies itself as “contemporary American,” the restaurant offers many surprises. Dishes seem to be created with no culinary map in mind, delivering a medley of ideas. But traveling the menu, plates range from expected to inspired. Entrees explode with taste and desserts sing delicious songs. Vivo Kitchen boomerangs all over the place and returns with bright, simplistic dishes that carry comforting flavor. Entering its 19th year of service, Vivo Kitchen has been a key part of Sewickley’s dining scene since 2011, after moving from its original location in Bellevue. Head chef/owner Sam DiBattista managed to maintain momentum through the decades, delighting with an accessible, straightforward menu. Vivo is almost hidden amongst businesses on Sewickley’s main drag. An unmarked, grandiose iron gate leads to the entrance. The walkway passes through the patio, a raging fire luring frigid diners with the promise of warmth. The dining room is snug. Tall windows look toward the courtyard, teasing the possibility of summer days. Exposed spherical lights hang in straight lines from the ceiling, barely adding visibility to the dark room. The front is illuminated with an eccentric, bundle-of-grapeslooking chandelier. Walls are sparse, hosting a few pieces of art made from sliced book bindings. DiBattista divides his menu into two groups: small plates and main dishes.
CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM
Branzino with lemon, lime, and green onion
VIVO KITCHEN
432 Beaver St., Sewickley. Tue.-Thu., 5-9 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 5-10 p.m. vivokitchen.com.
It was an intimidating list I eventually narrowed down to three selections: charred shishito peppers, duck breast skewers, and Australian lamb chops. My server expertly staggered the courses. First out were the peppers, an
unexciting wooden plate piled with charred shishitos and dusted with salt. It worked only with the right bite of salt, blackened pepper, and oil. Duck breast skewers followed, two thin strips of duck lightly covered with curry. This dish, a complete 180 from the peppers, released an irresistible bouquet of cinnamon and cumin. The winter-spiced curry matched well with the earthy duck breast. My main course, lamb chops, were cooked a true medium rare, cutting like
FAVORITE FEATURES: Pinup Poster
Paint Tray Olive Oil
Eight-Ounce pours
Vivo’s interesting decor is not limited to the dining room. A pinup poster sits nonchalantly in the bathroom, the room’s only wall decoration. Somehow, it works.
Like many restaurants, Vivo serves bread and olive oil after diners order. But they serve the olive oil in a graded dish, like a mini version of paint-roller trays or steps into a wading pool.
Wine is no joking matter. Instead of a standard five ounce pour, wine drinkers at Vivo Kitchen are treated to three more ounces.
butter. Each chop was covered with a char crust, the bitter balance to a housemade pomegranate molasses. Seasonal sides, broccolini and radicchio, balanced the down-to-earth lamb. Nothing was over-seasoned. Flavors danced around each other, for a polished, robust plate. At every step of my meal, Vivo Kitchen kept getting better. I finished with a salted caramel cheesecake. By itself, the cheesecake was thick, creamy, and slightly sour, topped with a deep brown caramel. Sea salt studded the top, relieving the bitterness and allowing sugar to meet the sharp topping. Though I’m still unsure of how to correctly categorize Vivo Kitchen — contemporary American seems unfitting — it’s clear the restaurant knows how to keep diners interested. And it seems to only be getting better with age.
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Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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SCOBY SNACKS BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM Disclaimer: This article was written under the influence of alcoholic kombucha.
C
AN YOU GET buzzed from drinking kombucha? This question started as a joke in the Pittsburgh City Paper office. The fermented tea found in Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and pretty much any grocery store is known for being ever-soslightly alcoholic. But most commercialized kombucha has a maximum alcohol content of 0.5 percent, meaning there are no age restrictions for purchasing the beverage. As the known kombucha drinker in the office, and wondering if that low amount of alcohol could get you buzzed before feeling disgustingly sick or full, I volunteered as tribute. Luckily for me, some Pittsburgh kombucha companies offered some seriously alcoholic kombuchas. I headed to Red Star Kombucha in Market Square to see what was possible. From previous research, I knew that they sold kombucha with a higher ABV than what is available in stores. Red Star, unlike commercial kombucha, needs a liquor license to operate. Customers must be 21 to purchase. Once there, I chose Red Star’s Clover Queen Ale. Its alcohol content is 4.5 percent, the highest available for purchase there. I headed back to the office ready to drink. Upon arrival, Maggie Weaver, CP’s office coordinator and food writer, told me that she was sent samples of Wild Tonic’s Jun Kombucha. Fermented and bottled in Cottonwood Ariz., the company plans
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to open a shop in Pittsburgh in 2019. Jun kombucha is made by fermenting honey, tea, and SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast, which is also used to make regular kombucha). The result is a smoother, less vinegary taste. Wild Tonic’s Jun Kombucha came in both 5.6 percent and 7.6 percent. “Game on,” I thought. We started with a few of Wild Tonic’s 5.6 percent beverages. They were silky and didn’t feature the classic fizz and bubble found in store-bought kombucha. We then moved onto Red Star’s Clover Queen to see the difference between jun kombucha and regular kombucha, before moving onto the 7.6 percent drinks. Fifteen minutes in, I had to take my flannel off (I was wearing it over a turtleneck) because my armpits were sweating—my number one indicator that my sobriety is diminishing. Thirty minutes in, our editor came into the office kitchen to kindly tell us to settle down, our noise level was disrupting the entire floor. An hour in, I found myself writing this very article, body slightly wavy, but mentally alert as ever (thanks to the caffeinated tea aspect). The kombucha buzz I received was slightly heady and giddy, but about an hour later, I felt sobered up and energized. So yeah, kombucha can get you buzzed (or even drunk) if you choose the right one. I’m going to go drink some water now.
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DINING OUT
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SUPERIOR MOTORS
1211 BRADDOCK AVE., BRADDOCK 412-271-1022 / SUPERIORMOTORS15104.COM Thoughtfully prepared food, drawing inspiration from Braddock, its people, its history and its perseverance. The cuisine best represents the eclectic style which has become a trademark of Chef Kevin Sousa. Fine dining in an old Chevy dealership with an eclectic, farm-to-table menu and a community focus.
TOTOPO MEXICAN KITCHEN AND BAR
660 WASHINGTON ROAD, MT. LEBANON 412-668-0773 / TOTOPOMEX.COM Totopo is a vibrant celebration of the culture and cuisine of Mexico, with a focus on the diverse foods served in the country. From Oaxacan tamales enveloped in banana leaves to the savory fish tacos of Baja California, you will experience the authentic flavor and freshness in every bite. We also feature a cocktail menu of tequila-based drinks to pair the perfect margarita with your meal.
Work yourself into a lather. Rinse. Repeat.
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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PHOTO: ILSE BING
Cancan dancers, Moulin Rouge, 1931
.ART.
SURREAL WORLD BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
P
HOTOGRAPHY FLOURISHES most signifi-
cantly when a new piece of technology is invented to make it easier and cheaper to capture fleeting scenes. It happened when smartphones became commonplace, enabling most people to have a high-quality camera at all times. At the beginning of the 20th century, the invention and growing popularity of portable film cameras gave rise to an influx of photographers, especially in the artists’ haven of Paris. A new exhibit at The Frick Pittsburgh, Street Photography to Surrealism: The Golden Age of Photography in France, 1900-1945, includes pieces from over a dozen artists whose work within that period captured a thriving, beautiful, and messy era bookended by world wars. “There was the devastation of World War I, and
a lot of people flocking to Paris who were bohemian types, who wanted a less conventional life, who were interested in art, literature, music,” says Sarah Hall, chief curator and director of collections at The Frick. “But it’s also this idea of the 20th-century city, that it’s exciting. They find beauty in the ugliness.” The exhibit, which opens on Feb. 9 and runs through May 5, features mini-collections of several influential photographers, including Eugène Atget, Brassaï, and Ilse Bing. Each of them captured a unique aspect of the city and left an indelible mark on the medium. Atget, one of the early pioneers of documentary photography, captured fleeting architecture and street life, permanently documenting impermanent fixtures of the city, like an erotic sculpture hidden
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY TO SURREALISM: THE GOLDEN AGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN FRANCE, 1900-1945 Sat., Feb. 9-Sun., May 5. 7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze. Free. thefrickpittsburgh.org
under a church pew or rows of eerie corsets hanging on mannequins in a shop window. Along with his peers, Atget captured a different kind of surrealism than what we might recognize today. Modern surrealism often involves a piece of art that alters reality into something strange or disorienting. But for the artists featured in Street Photography to Surrealism, it was more about finding the surreal in the real: warped reflections in a window, a peeling poster of Greta Garbo, a man’s head stuck in a utility hole. Hall describes the city as “a dreamscape of odd collisions.” While the works span from 1900-1945, most of the photos are from the mid-1930s in between wars when Paris was a hotbed for nightlife of various degrees of beauty and seediness. Hungarian-born Brassaïcapturedthedirty,dangerous,andunderground aspects of the city, often literally. His subjects include the nighttime work of cesspool cleaners and a portrait of two men who robbed him. He also had a knack for gaining access to brothels and sex workers, CONTINUES ON PG. 24
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PHOTO: EUGÈNE ATGET
Boulevard de Strasbourg, Corsets, 1912
capturing women’s figures at work and, more importantly, as willing participants. “He’s making friends with these people, he’s making an alliance with them, he’s collaborating,” says Hall. At the time, the women in these photos, often completely nude, were seen as low-ranking members of society, but Brassaï captures them with glamorous dignity. Although Hall notes there are only four women whose photographs appear in the exhibit, they often appear as both anonymous subjects and known muses. American expat Man Ray, for example, had an array of women he photographed, many who were artists, like photographer Dora Maar (whose work also appears in the exhibit), known for her inspiration to Picasso, and Meret Oppenheimer, whose surreal work is in MoMA. The era of the exhibit could best be summed up in work of Ilse Bing, whose life and photography embodied both the liveliness and transience of the period. German-born Bing was known as “Queen of the Leica” for her extensive use of the
camera, which even appears in selfportraits. She captured dreamlike images of Cancan dancers and a fortune-telling booth as well as more pedestrian scenes like a street puddle or kids by a river. Her work was published and commissioned by famous magazines, but Bing was Jewish, and in 1940 she spent six weeks in a camp before making her way to the United States. A friend shipped her photo prints, but Bing couldn’t afford all the customs fees and had to choose which of her collection to keep. Many of her original works were lost. Bing represents the significance of the creative output during this period. After World War I, Paris existed as a haven for artists, many coming from elsewhere, who sought to capture both the weird and familiar. These photographers had more freedom of movement than ever before with their new cameras, but the period wasn’t meant to last. Many fled or were interned, and even if they made it out alive, that feeling of freedom was gone.
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Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny
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TOP 5
NPR TINY DESK PERFORMANCES BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
Daughter’s Tiny Desk performance
ANDERSON .PAAK & THE FREE NATIONALS Before watching this performance, listen to any Anderson .Paak song to get a baseline of what he sounds like via recording. Not only does his voice sound that same live, his personality commands the stage Tiny Desk area. His presence is energy-giving, and take notice of his hands: while singing, he plays a different drum beat in each. So much raw talent.
TASH SULTANA The pure passion emanating from Tash Sultana is enough on its own, but paired with her insane looping ability – she sings in addition to playing and layering every sound heard in her music – takes this Tiny Desk performance to the next level. It’s fluid, captivating, and intoxicating.
DAUGHTER Daughter may have made this top 5 under unfair conditions. I’ve loved the band since I first heard “Youth” (the song they open with in this performance). Singer Elena Tonra’s voice is both haunting and alluring. Goosebumps form every time I watch this.
ST. PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES Soul and funk, Paul Janeway standing on top of a table singing at the top of his lungs, and wearing golden shoes. Everything in this video equates to an effortlessly flawless execution of a unique and enchanting Tiny Desk performance. Just wait until Janeway belts out those high notes.
presents KARAMO BROWN “of Neflix reboot of Queer Eye”
MARCH 1, 2019 | 7 P.M.
T-PAIN Surprise! T-Pain has a beautiful voice under all that auto-tune. This performance made the top 5 simply for its shock factor. The information on YouTube reads, “Somewhere along the way; somebody got it twisted. ‘People felt like I was using [autotune] to sound good,’ says T-Pain, in an interview that will air on All Things Considered. ‘But I was just using it to sound different.’”
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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.THEATER.
BACKSTAGE BY LISSA BRENNAN CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
NAME: Aaron Tarnow, Squirrel Hill WORK: Technical Director, Arcade Comedy Theater WHAT DOES THE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR DO? Manage staff, run shows, maintain inventory, figure out what needs to be done and do it.
DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL FOR THIS? I minored in drama at [Carnegie Mellon University], focusing on lighting design. I also did a lot of extracurricular improvoriented work, and that was my real boots-on-the-ground work. HOW OFTEN DO YOU PRODUCE NEW SHOWS? Every day. EVERY DAY? Sometimes more than once. It’s a different show every night. WITH THAT VOLUME, HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE TO GET THESE TOGETHER? If it’s a longer running show, I go to rehearsals maybe a month in advance. More often I’m meeting the performer for the first time about an hour before curtain. THAT’S INSANE. We have so many shows we’re running through, there’s going to be a second, different show starting 15 minutes after one ends. The nature of the beast is that even with the more rehearsed shows, it tends to be very by the seat of your pants. FOR THE PEOPLE THAT YOU’RE MEETING AN HOUR IN ADVANCE, THEY CAN’T HAVE MUCH FOR YOU TO DO? People tend to think their shows are more simple than they are. We will often get people that are like, “Oh, I’m just doing a cabaret,” then get there with “nine different songs I need you to play at these exact times in the script.” WHAT DO YOU DO THEN? Work fast.
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CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM
Aaron Tarnow
WHAT IN YOUR WORK HERE ARE YOU PARTICULARLY PROUD OF? Big pride around the opening of [Arcade’s new location Downtown]. I got to be involved designing it on the ground floor, through building it into more of a functional theater that would be better for sketch. I got to see that through from originally drafting the theater to handson building it, and now that’s how the theater looks in perpetuity which is super exciting for me. WHAT ABOUT SPECIFIC SHOWS? My work with the Justin and Jerome Experience, a monthly kind of Dadaist sketch comedy show. That’s where I really dove into making software — to do things it’s not really intended to do, and that’s where I get really excited.
HOW DID YOU INCORPORATE THAT MOVING FORWARD? I’ve had the opportunity to continue into “You’re The Next Contestant,” which is an Arcade-created show that reappears monthly, or bi-monthly, or whenever they do it. WHAT IS THE CONCEPT FOR THAT? It’s a staging of a ’70s game show, live, of course, incorporating the audience. I’ve had this great opportunity to recreate the visuals of these old gameshows and make them functionally interactive. I start watching old episodes, do research, try to recreate the visual theming. It has to flow live on stage as if I knew what they were going to say, as if I was prepared.
SO IT’S NOT JUST THE ACTORS MAKING THINGS UP AS THEY GO ON, IT’S YOU AS WELL? Absolutely, I’m improvising just like they are. Typically in a theatrical environment, the person running the show would be reading along with the script. You see something is coming up, get ready, and hit the button. Repeat, repeat, from start to finish. I have the button, but not something pre-programmed to happen when I hit it, and no script to follow. YOU HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, AND THEN YOU KEEP RUNNING? It’s very rapid fire. That’s why I like the job. What really attracts me to theater is that it’s so fleeting. Improv is the ultimate expression of that, for all of us.
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“You’re saying, I’m going to play with [music]. I’m going to be in it and manipulate it and add accents where there aren’t any, or drop out and let the music carry on a few notes,” says Porter. “You can’t hear me, but I’m going to be a visual musician.” Porter teaches this technique by imitating instruments with the body, training dancers to engage with the music like a traditional musician. “It’s a lot of articulating motion, not deciding movements,” says Porter. “If I put my hand above my head and my arm out to the side, that’s a movement. You’re really thinking, how can I treat my motion in a way that it sounds like something?”
.DANCE.
GUIDING SMOKE BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
B
EFORE 2018, Second Saturdays at
The Space Upstairs had unchoreographed spontaneity and energy unlike any venue in the city. These events were built around improvisation and interaction, giving the performances an unpredictable, organic air. It was about engaging with a moment, being present, confident, and open to possibilities. They were an integral part of Pittsburgh’s dance scene. As Pearlann Porter, the mind behind Second Saturdays said, “It wasn’t bar culture, it wasn’t a club, it wasn’t a concert venue, it’s not somewhere you saw music or dance performed. It was between casual and deliberate. You knew you were watching something evolve live.” And after a year-long break, Second Saturdays is back. The series focuses on connection and Porter is using a network of dancers and musicians already part of the Second Saturday family. Feb. 9 marks the first of three shows in the spring featuring the sounds of local group slowdanger. Second Saturdays are founded on post-jazz improvisation, which for Porter, refers to her background in tap. A good tap dancer has a conversation with feet through beats, patterns, and pauses.
SECOND SATURDAY AT THE SPACE UPSTAIRS
Sat., Feb 9. 8 p.m. 214 N. Lexington Ave., Point Breeze. $10. thespaceupstairs.org.
PHOTO: ABBY GLEASON
Second Saturday at The Space Upstairs
Just like an improvisational jazz musician, tappers don’t dance to the beat, they tap to contribute sound.
Dancers at Second Saturdays don’t dance, they play. They’re not dancers, they’re visual musicians.
Second Saturdays are orchestrated by Porter, but she acts more like the event’s invisible host. To her, it’s like “guiding smoke.” She reads the room, feeling what the space needs. If a moment needs vibrancy, a strong presence, or an individual style, she picks dancers from the audience to join players on the floor. Porter never knows what a Second Saturday is going to be. They never truly begin, and they never end. “I know that something is going to happen and we’re all going to be honest about it,” she says. “There’s a sense that no one knows and we’re all comfortable not knowing. Let’s all not know together.”
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FEATURED ON INK MASTER :ANGELS
PYRAMID
TATTOO & Body Piercing
Jonah Winter
.LITERATURE.
PICTURING HISTORY
PYRAMIDTATTOO.COM
BRIDGEVILLE, PA
BY REGE BEHE // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
J
ONAH WINTER grew up in a Texas home filled with art. His parents were artists and it wasn’t unusual to have their peers, such as Claes Oldenburg or Andy Warhol, visit the family home. With experiences like that, it’s no wonder that Winter grew up to become an award-winning children’s writer. One of the pioneers of picture-book biographies for kids, he’s written about Pablo Picasso, Barack Obama, Frida Kahlo, and Roberto Clemente. He’s also a musician and writes poetry. Winter, who lives in “a small town in Pennsylvania,” – he’d rather not say exactly where, but it’s near Pittsburgh – will be a guest of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures: Words & Pictures series on Feb. 10. He recently answered questions for Pittsburgh City Paper via email.
KIDS SOMETIMES REBEL AGAINST THEIR PARENTS’ INTERESTS, BUT YOU SEEM TO HAVE EMBRACED THEIR LOVE OF THE ARTS. WHAT WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD LIKE? WAS IT AS IDYLLIC AS IT APPEARS TO BE? I hardly know how to respond! My child-
hood, idyllic? Uhm, in a word: no. I grew up in Dallas, Texas — or, “The City of Hate,” as it was known then — roughly a year before Kennedy was assassinated (and I was at the parade where he was assassinated, on my father’s shoulders). I went to a school in an extremely right-wing neighborhood where I was the only kid who was the son of liberal artist parents. In first grade, the teacher threatened to make me stand in the corner because I was wearing a “Peace” button. Another time, she threatened to bring some scissors to class to cut my hair — which was apparently long by the standards of the crew cuts that all the other boys wore. Grade school, middle school, and high school was just one long painful slog through a morass of bullying and
JONAH WINTER AT PITTSBURGH ARTS & LECTURES: WORDS & PICTURES
2:30 p.m. Sun., Feb. 10. Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $11. pittsbughlectures.org
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conformity and hateful, racist nonsense by kids who were supposedly “Christians.” THE RANGE OF YOUR SUBJECTS – FROM SUPREME COURT JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG TO DIZZY GILLESPIE – IS NOT EXACTLY STANDARD FARE FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS. WHAT’S YOUR PROCESS FOR CHOOSING PEOPLE TO PORTRAY? I’m afraid that these days RBG and Dizzy Gillespie are standard fare for children’s books. But it wasn’t when I was first starting out as a children’s book writer — in 1991 — with my picture book bio, Diego, (about Diego Rivera). Back then, “picture book biography” did not exist as a genre. Now it has its own section in book stores – and is by far the most popular type of children book, other than YA novels, being written today. It’s a crowded field. But when I decide to write a biography celebrating some important person, which I’m doing less and less these days, I choose someone whose life I admire and who had an impact on the world. For instance, I have a book on Thurgood
Marshall coming out this year. I also just came out with a book called Elvis is King! (with an exclamation point in the title! Yes!) This book came out of my lifelong love of Elvis, combined with my more recent love of the outsider artist, Howard Finster, whose depictions of Elvis approach that of sacred icon. I originally conceived of my story as a saint’s story —the “stations of the cross” of Elvis. But my editor put the kibosh on that approach, and now it’s a more straight-ahead, earnest (and not explicitly Christian) story of Elvis’ rise from extreme poverty and shyness to, well, Elvis! That being said, I’m now veering towards non-biographical topics and even fictional fables – and the biographies I’m now doing do not celebrate the people they’re about. YOU’VE COLLABORATED WITH YOUR MOM, THE ARTIST JEANNETTE WINTER, ON A FEW PROJECTS, INCLUDING THE THE SECRET PROJECT, ABOUT THE MANHATTAN PROJECT. WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF COLLABORATING WITH YOUR MOTHER? The best part of collaborating with my mother is that she is one of America’s most outstanding illustrators, and it’s an honor and a pleasure to have my books illustrated by such an amazing artist. When she agrees to illustrate a book of mine, I know it will be a special one. I know that she’ll surprise me through her interpretations of my text – and I will treasure that book forever. Some illustrators don’t have such a special sense of what can make a book sacred and perfect – but my mother does. From the time she was a child, she knew she wanted to be an illustrator and it shows. She’s always known what she wants her pictures and books to look like. It’s a definite and unyielding understanding of what makes a picture work, what makes a book work.
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Follow featured contributor Rege Behe on Twitter @RegeBehe_exPTR
BETWEEN THE LINES Samantha Baskind, author of The Warsaw Ghetto in American Art and Culture, will appear on Feb. 10 as part of the Beth Shalon Speaker Series. Baskind, a professor of art at Cleveland State University, is the author of Raphael Soyer and the Search for Modern Jewish Art and the Encyclopedia of Jewish American Artists.
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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.FILM.
SHORT BUT SWEET BY HANNAH LYNN HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
T
HE ANIMATED SHORT category at the Oscars offers a chance for riskier and more experimental movies to shine. The full-length animated feature category is usually reserved for the most popular animated features of the year, which certainly includes some incredible films, like Coco, and Shrek, but it also includes less honorable ones, like Kung Fu Panda 2 and The Boss Baby. In the compressed length, short filmmakers have more freedom. The 2019 nominations for Animated Short are a melancholic collection of mostly wordless meditations on the loneliness of parenthood, from divorce to Alzheimer’s. All of the nominated shorts, including live-action and documentary, will screen at Regent Square Theater starting Feb. 8. Bao, the most well-known of the shorts for its Pixar production and its in-theater appearance before The Incredibles 2, packs impressive emotional complexity. Directed by Chinese-Canadian Domee Shi, the story follows a human mother as she lovingly raises and cares for her dumpling son, who soon hits puberty and wants nothing to do with his mother. Her heartbreak reveals the relationship to be an allegory for the relationship with her human son. It encompasses the intricacies of the cultural differences between a Chinese immigrant mother and her Canadianborn son, as well as the general emptynest loneliness universal with motherhood. It’s a sad but sweet movie, made with obvious heartfelt dedication. Anthropomorphized animals work out their creature-specific problems in group therapy in Animal Behaviour. Directed by David Fine and Alison Snowden, the film is also the only one in the selection that’s not especially kid-friendly. A praying mantis complains about her 1,000 children and her inability to keep a man due to killing/eating him during sex. A bird recalls the childhood trauma of pushing his brother out of a tree. The group gets shaken up when an ape in denial about his anger issues barges in. The movie is a little too on the nose, giving each animal the exact ailment you might predict. It’s a fun premise,
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PHOTOS: SHORTSTV
Weekends
Late Afternoon
but doesn’t provide the human-insightin-animal-cartoons with the same skill as, say, Bojack Horseman.
OSCAR SHORTS
Opens at Regent Square Theater on Feb. 8.
Emily, an aging Irish woman struggling with memory loss drinks tea as she remembers brief flashes of her life in Late Afternoon, directed by Louise Bagnall. While reminiscing, her caretaker Kate packs up the room, periodically giving Emily objects that trigger her memory. The animation style is sparse but beautiful, as Emily’s happiest memories dissolve into each other, disappearing just as they come
together. The score is a twinge to the heart, underlining the bittersweetness of a woman who’s had a rich life but can’t remember most of it. Like many other featured shorts, One Small Step, directed by Bobby Pontillas and Andrew Chesworth, is about heartbreak in the relationship between parent and child. The Chinese-American film is a familiar story about Luna, the daughter of a cobbler who dreams of becoming an astronaut. As she gets absorbed in her schoolwork, Luna becomes more distant from her father, until his death sparks an awakening. The animation is typical cute fare, with big eyes and button noses. And while the story is nothing groundbreaking, it’s tender and heartwarming, and refreshing to see the rare story where a girl becomes an astronaut.
Bao
Rounding out the selections is Weekends, a slow-moving hand-drawn film that is the longest of the selection at 15 minutes. Directed by Trevor Jimenez and set in 1980s Toronto, centers around a young boy coping with his parents’ divorce, as he gets shuffled between his mom’s house in the country and his dad’s apartment in the city. It takes on a dreamlike quality as the boy’s favorite companion is a large wooden horse, which he sits atop, imaging he were on the roof of his dad’s building overlooking the city. As his parents fall in and out of new relationship, the boy learns to accept his life’s unpredictable changes. The animation is beautifully eerie and bleak, with the only words coming from “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits blasting from a car radio.
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.STAGE.
BIG FISH BY ALEX GORDON ALEXGORDON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
S
IXTY YEARS AGO, Ernest Hemingway
walked out of the film adaptation of his book The Old Man and The Sea. The story goes that Hemingway went to the movie with his friend and biographer A.E. Hotchner, hated what he saw, and asked his friend to write a better adaptation for the stage. Now at the age of 101, Hotchner along with his son Tim, have finalized the adaptation. On Feb. 1, the script finally came to life as the play had its world premiere at the Highmark Theater at Pittsburgh Playhouse. Pittsburgh City Paper spoke with director Ronald Allan-Lindblom to learn about the challenges and creative choices behind the production. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length. HOW LONG HAS THIS PRODUCTION BEEN IN THE WORKS? This has been a really quick [turnaround]. Our first reading of the script was on Nov. 2, believe it or not. This thing came together really quickly. It was the middle of December before we had our whole cast.
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Continues through Feb. 17. Highmark Theatre at Pittsburgh Playhouse. 350 Forbes Ave., Downtown. $10-25. pittsburghplayhouse.com
WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO THE PRODUCTION AND WHAT WAS YOUR PRIORITY IN ADDRESSING THEM? I knew I wanted to tell this story using multimedia. [Tim Hotchner] and I, we wanted to make this a visceral experience, not just recite Hemingway. Much like the two films that have been made, there’s third-person narration basically telling people what they’re seeing. What we wanted to do was to try to see if we could make — since Hemingway is a character in this — if we could make the audience have a visceral experience with the play, rather than an intellectual one.
PHOTO: JOHN ALTDORFER
Anthony Crivello as Santiago and Gabriel Florentino as Manolin
CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE USE OF VIDEO? The whole thing is set to video. The set is a semi-circle dock with a suspended skiff above it; then the background is nothing but these three gigantic sails which are kind of shaped as an abstract shape of a marlin. That’s how we create the environment, from Havana to Santiago’s dreams to the literal [scenes] on the ocean. I tried to make this as beautiful as it is poetic.
Hemingway — he was handed the handwritten draft by Hemingway, like “Here, what do you think of
this?” — and so to have that kind of resource and source material has been really remarkable.
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WHAT DOES ANTHONY CRIVELLO BRING TO THE LEAD ROLE? [Crivello] is physically a lot like the description of Santiago in the book. [Crivello’s] a brilliant actor, he’s a Broadway veteran, tons of credits, Tony Award-winner. That doesn’t go unnoticed. He throws himself into this role. It’s been a terrific collaboration with all the actors, and Simon — he’s in the band Cello Fury — he did all the compositions and performs in this. Between him and Tony, it really sets the tone of the piece. WHAT SURPRISED YOU IN THIS PROCESS? Working with A.E. Hotchner. He’s 101 years old. He was born in 1917. He is remarkable. To hear his stories about
Follow managing editor Alex Gordon on Twitter @shmalexgordon PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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IMAGE: WALNUT CAPITAL
Artist’s rendering of Walnut Capital’s proposal
.ARCHITECTURE.
INDECENT PROPOSAL BY CHARLES ROSENBLUM // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
T
RAVEL INTO Central Oakland along Forbes
Avenue and see an onslaught of new construction along the historic corridor. An oversized SkyVue building acts as something of a gateway, but not advantageously, as it crowds both the sidewalk and the skyline with its 14-story bulk. Though applauded by key community groups for its needed residential capacity and approved through the dutiful processes of zoning and planning, it’s still a discordant collision of ill-considered architectural motifs in cheap materials. None of these processes placed effective demands for real architectural quality. Can Pittsburgh and Oakland do better? With a new proposal for a mixed-use office building at Halket Street between Forbes and Fifth in Oakland adjacent to SkyVue, Walnut Capital is promoting design excellence as a desired feature
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rather than something to be avoided. In a Jan. 23 community meeting organized by Oakland Planning and Development Corporation (OPDC), principal developer Todd Reidbord affirmed, “We believe that we can design a better building, a more attractive building, one that creates more open space, [is] more people-friendly at the lower levels.” He was referring to development generally, not one specific example, but observers could hardly ignore the adjacent behemoth. The catch, not uncommonly for a booming market, is that the developers want three major zoning variances to make the proposed structure work. While current regulations limit buildings to 120 feet in height, Walnut Capital wants to build to 185 feet. Even with a profile that steps back in its upper stories, the building would still be 60 percent bulkier than current regulations allow, with
a floor-to-area ratio of 10:1 rather than the current 6:1 limit. Lastly, it would have 100 parking spaces, when current rules stipulate a minimum of 347. The building would have 280,000 square feet of rentable office space in 11 stories of offices (which are typically higher the residential floors), as well as up to 7,000 square feet of small retail storefronts on Fifth Avenue, to be stewarded by OPDC. Though no tenants announced or signed, Reidbord noted that the vitality of Oakland’s Innovation District justifies the planned office capacity. He commented that the reduced parking capacity, which numerous attendees lamented, is less of a concern for the transit and pedestrian intensive corridor. “It’s not possible to build parking for everyone who is going to work here. Nor would we want to.” Meeting attendees expressed skepticism. Lifelong Oaklander Carlino Giampolo said, “You
should have more compassion for our community. I don’t see any benefits for the long-term residents.” Others were more specific. Elana Zaitsoff, another longtime resident, expressed dismay at the loss of historic residential architecture on Fifth Avenue. Reidbord deflected to the new design, touting additional height as the chance for “a feature tower that will be kind of a landmark, so you know where you are going, but at the same time, it will respect the existing scale.” The three major zoning variances are on the Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing agenda for Feb. 7. Tim Schooley notes in the Pittsburgh Business Times that Walnut Capital has had good luck in getting substantial variances of this kind in its Bakery Square projects. Still, the building is still at least a year away from starting construction, says Reidbord.
CAN PITTSBURGH AND OAKLAND DO BETTER? The current designs, by Strada Architecture, reflect a very early stage of the process for zoning purposes only. Says Reidbord, “We’ll go back to the planning commission for a totally separate process for the façade, the glass, the open space requirements, the street level retail, all that kind of stuff.” Subsequent stages will determine if the development team and architects are seriously considering best design practices from competitive cities or just paying lip service to whatever drawings will get the project past the necessary review boards. Is this design, though even taller than SkyVue, better in its slimmer profile? Reidbord believes “it’s a more attractive building for the entire community,” but he does not have a consensus. Said Zaitsoff, “… you threaten us with this ugly building. It’s insulting.” The verdict will come from the people who engage in the process and comment publicly on the designs that they see before the building is completed, rather than wondering, after it is done, whether more public input could have made it better.
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Follow contributing writer Charles Rosenblum on Twitter @CharlzR PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH HIGHLIGHT BY AMANDA WALTZ AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
PHOTO: AMANDA WALTZ
Familiar Boundaries. Infinite Possibilities
Experience the immersive noise and weighty beauty of August Wilson Center’s Familiar Boundaries. Infinite Possibilities Walking into the August Wilson Center’s Familiar Boundaries. Infinite Possibilities exhibit, there’s no denying the powerful, intoxicating sense of demanding to be seen and heard. FAMILIAR The firstfloor gallery BOUNDARIES. immediately INFINITE immerses POSSIBILITIES guests in the Continues through looped audio March 24. 980 Liberty of Flying Girls, Ave., Downtown. Free open to the public. an installation and aacc-awc.org by architect and artist Peju Alatise that uses the innocent singing, giggling voices and images of female Nigerian children. Upstairs, music booms from Shikeith’s multi-channel video installation. The various paintings, sculptures, and other works invite guests to come closer and experience an array of colors, textures, and materials, to bask in the emotional weight of each piece. • Read more at pghcitypaper.com Pittsburgh City Paper is celebrating Black History Month throughout February. Visit pghcitypaper.com every day this month for new stories.
.STAGE.
DIARY DRAMA BY AMANDA WALTZ AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
W
HEN SUSAN STEIN bought the published diaries of Etty Hillesum for 50 cents at a yard sale in 1994, they had no way of knowing how much the work would impact them. It’s especially surprising given how they initially reacted to the work, an account of a 29-year-old Holocaust victim’s life up until she died in Auschwitz. “I didn’t like the diaries at first at all,” says Stein, an author and performer who served on the faculty of Princeton Day School in Princeton, N.J. teaching dramatic literature, playwriting, and the history and literature of the Holocaust. “I thought she was a drama queen. I thought she was really self-involved. She’s writing about who she’s going to sleep with that night.” Then something changed. “It shifted into as if she was sitting next to me whispering in my ear and inviting me into parts of myself that I had never visited,” says Stein. “I was suddenly in the presence of a very intimate friend, and I did not want to leave that experience, as disarming and sometimes uncomfortable and funny and wonderful and exciting and weird as it was.” Stein goes on to say, “I don’t think of myself as inhibited or judgmental, but I was judging her. And I’m not sure why. I think it invites us to look at ourselves as readers because it’s very different to read a diary. If there’s one place you get to be a drama queen, it’s your diary.” When they finished, they wondered why they had never heard of Hillesum and wanted to expose more people to her story. With the help of director Austin Pendleton, Stein began to adapt and perform the work, as well as other correspondences from Hillesum’s life, as a one-person show. Over the years, they read in front of audiences, taking feedback and reworking the script until it evolved into Etty, the show playing Feb. 7-10 at off the WALL Productions. “The [show] from 2009 is so different from the one now,” says Stein. Drawn entirely from Hillesum’s diaries and letters from 1941-1943, Etty delves into the intensely candid writings of a young Dutch woman. Though the
PHOTO: RICARDO BARROS
diaries were published in the 1980s, and, at one time, spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, Hillesum fell into obscurity as one the few female voices of the Holocaust, on par with the far more well-known Anne Frank. Even so, Stein sees both as “young, highly assimilated Jewish women who choose the resistance of writing to bear witness to their circumstances.”
ETTY
Thu., Feb. 7-Sun., Feb. 10. 25 W. Main St., Carnegie. $5-20. insideoffthewall.com
“They’re both great writers, and they’re both these sensual beings and products of the enlightenment, even though that enlightened Europe was not existing at that moment,” says Stein. But unlike Frank’s diary, which Stein says was heavily edited and censored, Hillesum remains “flawed and complicated and complex,” giving insight to the real inner lives of women at the time. “My play at best is a glimpse into this complex and remarkable sensibility of this young woman who is caught in these circumstances and this catastrophe, and even in that is committed to becoming herself, whatever that entails,”
says Stein. But, as Stein points out, Hillesum’s journey “goes against a conventional Jewish narrative for the Holocaust” by focusing less on the genocide, and more on the challenges women faced at that time. To help treat her depression, Hillesum participated in an unconventional form of therapy with a doctor whose questionable treatments included palmistry and wrestling with his patients, sometimes naked. She was a single, sexually active woman uninterested in marriage or having children at a time when such a thing was taboo. She self-aborted a pregnancy. Though Hillesum lived over 50 years ago, Stein sees a variety of parallels between her experiences and those of women now. “It’s really interesting doing the play in light of the #MeToo movement because women have really responded to it differently since last year,” says Stein. “We’re having different conversations.” The show also has become more meaningful in light of recent events. Stein recalls how, just days after the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, they did a standing-roomonly performance of Etty in California. “She’s surfacing now because we need her voice,” says Stein.
Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP
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•
PHOTO: AIMEE DIANDREA
PBT dancers Lucius Kirst and Alexandra Kochis in rehearsal
.DANCE.
(NOT) REPEATING THE PAST BY STEVE SUCATO // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
P
ITTSBURGH BALLET Theatre artistic
director Terrence Orr is taking another bet with the company’s new ballet adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. PBT already has three versions of the ballet in its repertoire dating back to 1987, with the last John McFall and Lauri E. Stallings’ interpretation performed by the company in 2008. For Orr, none of those prior productions quite gave Fitzgerald’s story its proper due. Enter Canadian choreographer Jorden Morris, whose reputation for clear storytelling made his Peter Pan and Moulin Rouge ballets hits for PBT in recent years. Set to an original score by film and stage composer Carl Davis, performed live by the PBT Orchestra, The Great Gatsby tells the tragic story of a mysterious Roaring Twenties socialite and his circle of friends, lovers, and enemies. The
world premiere ballet at the Benedum Center Feb. 8-17 also features refreshed sets and costumes by famed designer Peter Farmer that were used in PBT’s other Gatsby productions.
PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE PERFORMS THE GREAT GATSBY WITH THE PBT ORCHESTRA
Feb. 8-17. Benedum Center, 237 Seventh St., Downtown. $28-112. 412-456-6666 or pbt.org
“I started with the book and watched all the movie versions, purposefully staying away from other balletic versions as not to be influenced by them,” says Morris. The two-act ballet chronologically follows Fitzgerald’s novel, but what makes the production unique from is an added
“mirror” scene that abstractly reflects on Jay Gatsby’s past and reveals how he became Gatsby. In a somewhat unusual casting choice, Morris has entrusted the lead role not to one of PBT’s veteran principal dancers, but to fifth-year corps de ballet dancer Lucius Kirst. “He had the look and temperament for how I envision the character,” says Morris. A breakout role for the Los Angelesnative, Kirst says he definitely wasn’t expecting to be cast as Gatsby. “He is a hard character to portray because he is very reserved and aloof much of the time, so it is difficult to give the audience an idea of who he is without going against character,” says Kirst. He says he adopted a posture for Gatsby of a prim and proper socialite — a far cry from Kirst, a laid back, Jack White T-shirtwearing 26-year-old whose favorite local haunt is Baby Loves Tacos in Bloomfield.
But like Morris, Kirst says he developed his approach to Gatsby without having been in or seen any prior ballet versions of The Great Gatsby. Kirst says Morris’ use of slow adagio movement for the character’s choreography (he prefers athletic jumps and leaps) may be the most challenging aspect of the role for him. Most rewarding for him is the partnering sequences he does with principal dancer Alexandra Kochis who portrays Gatsby’s love interest, Daisy Buchanan. Audiences can see Kirst as Gatsby Feb. 8, 14 and 16 with Cooper Verona and Yoshiaki Nagano also taking on the role in alternate casts during the ballet’s run. Having viewed portions of a rehearsal of the production, audiences can expect a more contemporary ballet approach to go along with a 1920s period look, as well as a story full of drama, action, and a few surprises.
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Follow featured contributing writer Steve Sucato on Twitter @ssucato PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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Action Camp’s Maura Jacob {PHOTO: JEFF BEEDE} and Bengt Alexsander and Tarowsky {PHOTO: JD DAUER}
.MUSIC.
JUST A TEENAGE DIRTBAG, BABY BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
I
F ACTION CAMP were a person instead of a band, they would be full teenage angst, tears, and agony. “It’s kind of crazy, we’re at the point now where our band is technically in seventh grade,” says Bengt Alexsander, Action Camp co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist. To celebrate the step into teenhood, the trio is doing what they do best: putting on a show centered on doom and gloom. The anniversary show called Splatter Platters and Death Discs, takes place Sat., Feb. 9 at Club Cafe. Action Camp plans to cover a set of dark, pop or teenage tragedy songs from the ’50s and ’60s, which will be recorded live. “Looking at those songs through the lens of time, a lot of them don’t hold up,” says Alexsander. “They have an old-world view of gender roles and stuff like that, so it’s fun to musically take them apart and
look at it from today’s perspective. It was kind of the golden age of pop music. Pop music now, the way they’re formatted and written, a lot of those styles and rules of catchy pop songwriting come from that era, so you still see those styles now, but they started that.” Apart from an outdated viewpoint, some of the songs are extremely graphic, even by today’s standard. Take “Last Kiss” by Wayne Cochran, one of the songs Action Camp will perform. Cochran sings about waking up from a car crash with blood dripping from his eyes. Another planned cover, “Leader of the Pack” by The Shangri-Las, is a classic example of a teenage tragedy song that ends with a boy named Jimmy crashing his motorcycle and dying. “There’s one song that we’re doing called ‘Nightmare’ which is insane,” says Alexsander. “It’s by a group called The
Whyte Boots. It’s this made-up group, [and] is like The Shangri-Las on steroids. Basically, [this girl’s] boyfriend was getting hit on by some other girl, and her friends are like ‘Well you shouldn’t take that, get her.’ And the chorus is ‘Get her, get her, push her to the ground.’ It leads up to a fight, and she shoves the girl to the ground and punches her, and she kills her. Then the song stops, and she’s like ‘What should I do?’ and then all her friends are like, ‘Run!’” Adding to the dark themes of the ’50s and ’60s, Maura Jacob, Action Camp cofounder, vocalist, and bass player, came across Valentine’s cards from that era, and on Jan. 21 Action Camp began posting them, along with history lessons of Splatter Platter songs, to its social media pages. “There’s one that’s just a gun,” says Alexsander. “Like, why do these exist? And there’s really weird puns that are
SPLATTER PLATTERS & DEATH DISCS: ACTION CAMP TURNS 13 6-9 p.m. Sat., Feb. 9. Club Cafe, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $6. clubcafelive.com
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equally as dark, so it’s kind of easy to find one that just matches with every song. We ended up finding a Valentine that ties into [‘Nightmare.’] It’s a girl laying on the ground with a black eye and another girl standing over her with boxing gloves on.” While some may compare Action Camp’s sound and see an evolution from light electronic to doom metal, Alexsander says their music was always bittersweet. In 2014, Action Camp released PA, in which the songs centered around disasters in Pa. “There was still like a dark element to our stuff, but I don’t know how apparent it is to everyone else. [Jacob] and I always bonded over stuff like this. It doesn’t even feel like mortality or anything but is fun to celebrate by doing a show that’s all about people dying in their teen years, tragic deaths before they lived life up until where we lived. If I was an irresponsible teenager, I could have already had an irresponsible teenager that died in a car crash now.”
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
37
.FOR THE WEEK OF FEB. 7.
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Twitter wit Notorious Debi Hope advises us, “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assho--s.” That’s wise counsel for you to keep in mind during the next three weeks. Let me add a few corollaries. First, stave off any temptation you might have to believe that others know what’s good for you better than you do. Second, figure out what everyone thinks of you and aggressively liberate yourself from their opinions. Third, if anyone even hints at not giving you the respect you deserve, banish them for at least three weeks.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Climbing mountains has been a popular adventure since the nineteenth century, but there are still many peaks around the world that no one has ever ascended. They include the 24,591foot-high Muchu Chhish in Pakistan, 23,691-foot Karjiang South in Tibet, and 12,600-foot Sauyr Zhotasy on the border of China and Kazakhstan. If there are any Aries mountaineers reading this horoscope who have been dreaming about conquering an unclimbed peak, 2019 will be a great time to do it, and now would be a perfect moment to plan or launch your quest. As for the rest of you Aries, what’s your personal equivalent of reaching the top of an unclimbed peak?
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself” was a featured track in the movie 8 Mile, and it won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003. The creator himself was not present at the Oscar ceremony to accept his award, however. He was so convinced his song would lose that he stayed home. At the moment that presenter Barbra Streisand announced Eminem’s triumph, he was asleep in front of the TV with his daughter, who was watching cartoons. In contrast to him, I hope you will be fully available and on the scene for the recognition or acknowledgment that should be coming your way sometime soon.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): While enjoying its leisure time, the peregrine falcon glides around at 50 miles per hour. But when it’s motivated by the desire to eat, it may swoop and dart at a velocity of 220 miles per hour.
(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): AQUARIUS Can you sit on your own head? Not many people can. It requires great flexibility. Before comedian Robin Williams was famous, he spontaneously did just that when he auditioned for the role of the extraterrestrial immigrant Mork, the hero of the TV sitcom Mork and Mindy. The casting director was impressed with Williams’ odd but amusing gesture and hired him immediately. If you’re presented with an opportunity sometime soon, I encourage you to be inspired by the comedian’s ingenuity. What might you do to cinch your audition, to make a splashy first impression, to convince interested parties that you’re the right person?
Amazing! In accordance with your astrological omens, Gemini, I propose that we make the peregrine falcon your spirit creature for the next three weeks. I suspect you will have extraordinary speed and agility and focus whenever you’re hunting for exactly what you want. So here’s a crucial question: what exactly do you want?
their wives have orgasms. I bring this to your attention in order to sharpen your focus on how crucial it is to communicate clearly with your closest allies. I mean, it’s rarely a good idea to be ignorant about what’s going on with those close to you, but it’ll be an especially bad idea during the next six weeks.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Now and then the sun shines and rain falls at the same time. The meteorological name for the phenomenon is “sunshower,” but folklore provides other terms. Hawaiians may call it “liquid sunshine” or “ghost rain.” Speakers of the Tangkhul language in India imagine it as “the wedding of a human and spirit.” Some Russians refer to it as “mushroom rain,” since it’s thought to encourage the growth of mushrooms. Whatever you might prefer to call it, Cancerian, I suspect that the foreseeable future will bring you delightful paradoxes in a similar vein. And in my opinion, that will be very lucky for you, since you’ll be in the right frame of mind and spirit to thrive amidst just such situations.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A study by the Fidelity financial services company revealed that in 43 percent of all couples, neither partner has an accurate knowledge of how much money the other partner earns. Meanwhile, research by the National Institute of Health concludes that among heterosexual couples, 36 percent of husbands misperceive how frequently
Torre Mayor is one of the tallest skyscrapers in Mexico City. When workers finished its construction in 2003, it was one of the world’s most earthquake-proof buildings, designed to hold steady during an 8.5-level temblor. Over the course of 2019, Virgo, I’d love to see you erect the metaphorical equivalent of that unshakable structure in your own life. The astrological omens suggest that doing so is quite possible. And the coming weeks will be an excellent time to launch that project or intensify your efforts to manifest it.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Multitalented Libran singer and actor Donald Glover uses the name of Childish Gambino when he performs his music. How did he select that alias? He used an online random name generator created by the rap group Wu-Tang Clan. I tried the same generator and got “Fearless Warlock” as my new moniker. You might want to try it yourself, Libra. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to add layers to your identity and expand your persona and mutate your self-image.
The generator is here: tinyurl.com/yournewname. (P.S.: If you don’t like the first one you’re offered, keep trying until you get one you like.)
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “Salvator Mundi” sold for $450 million in 2017. Just twelve years earlier, an art collector had bought it for $10,000. Why did its value increase so extravagantly? Because in 2005, no one was sure it was an authentic da Vinci painting. It was damaged and had been covered with other layers of paint that hid the original image. After extensive efforts at restoration, the truth about it emerged. I foresee the possibility of a comparable, if less dramatic, development in your life during the next ten months, Scorpio. Your work to rehabilitate or renovate an underestimated resource could bring big dividends.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): We can behold colors because of specialized cells in our eyes called cones. Most of us have three types of cones, but a few rare people have four. This enables them to see far more hues than the rest of us. Are you a tetrachromat, a person with super-vision? Whether you are or not, I suspect you will have extra powerful perceptual capacities in the coming weeks. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you will be able to see more than you usually do. The world will seem brighter and deeper and more vivid. I urge you to deploy your temporary superpower to maximum advantage.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): There are two kinds of minor, boring little tasks. One is when you’re attending to a detail that’s not in service to a higher purpose; the other is when you’re attending to a detail that is a crucial step in the process of fulfilling an important goal. An example of the first might be when you try in vain to scour a permanent stain on a part of the kitchen counter that no one ever sees. An example of the second is when you download an update for an existing piece of software so your computer works better and you can raise your efficiency levels as you pursue a pet project. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to keep this distinction in mind as you focus on the minor, boring little tasks that are crucial steps in the process of eventually fulfilling an important goal.
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
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HARTWOOD ACRES MANSION FEBRUARY 14, 11:00 AM-2:00 PM $33 for residents $41 for non-residents
WED., FEBRUARY 20 BROTHER BIRD
Purchase tickets by Feb. 9 at alleghenycounty.us/ specialevents or 412-767-9200
6:30 P.M. SMILING MOOSE UPSTAIRS SOUTH SIDE. All-ages event. $10-12. 412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com. With special guest As Ladders.
WED., FEBRUARY 20 THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA 7:30 P.M. BENEDUM CENTER DOWNTOWN. $45-150. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.
SUN., FEBRUARY 24 LE BUTCHERETTES
WED., FEBRUARY 20 MIKE STUD 8 P.M. FOXTAIL SOUTH SIDE. All-ages event. $22.50-150. 412-651-4713 or ticketfly.com. With special guests Honors, Ernest K, & TJ Mizell.
THU., FEBRUARY 21 I AM & SLEDGE 6:30 P.M. SMILING MOOSE UPSTAIRS SOUTH SIDE. All-ages event. $10-12. 412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com. With special guests Place Blame & Edorra.
THU., FEBRUARY 21 AMERICA 8 P.M. BYHAM THEATER DOWNTOWN. $50.25-250. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.
FRI., FEBRUARY 22 COLOR ME BADD 8 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WARRENDALE. $28-40. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com. With special guests Jordan York & Bigler Bros.
FRI., FEBRUARY 22 STRUTTER 8:30 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE SOUTH HILLS. $16-18. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com. With special guests The M80s & Capsized.
SAT., FEBRUARY 23 BRUCE IN THE USA 8 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE WARRENDALE. $23-38. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com. With special guest The Redlines.
REX THEATER SOUTH SIDE
SAT., FEBRUARY 23 INTERSECTIONS: MOONCHILD
SUN., FEBRUARY 24 LE BUTCHERETTES
8 P.M. TRUST ARTS EDUCATION CENTER DOWNTOWN. $35. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.
8 P.M. REX THEATER SOUTH SIDE. All-ages event. $15-18. 412-381-1681 or greyareaprod.com. With special guest Stars at Night.
SAT., FEBRUARY 23 PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY 8 P.M. BYHAM THEATER DOWNTOWN. $10-65. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.
SAT., FEBRUARY 23 E5C4P3: THE JOURNEY TRIBUTE 8:30 P.M. CRAFTHOUSE SOUTH HILLS. $18-20. 412-653-2695 or ticketfly.com.
SAT., FEBRUARY 23 THE ARTE TEDESCO BAND 8:30 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFE STATION SQUARE. $12-15. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.
SUN., FEBRUARY 24 HISTORY OF THE ALLEGHENY COUNTY PARKS WITH PARK RANGERS 6 P.M. SOUTH PARK COTTAGE SOUTH PARK. Free event (registration required). Alleghenycounty.us/parkprograms.
MON., FEBRUARY 25 IN FLAMES 6:30 P.M. REX THEATER SOUTH SIDE. All-ages event. $38-99. 412-381-1681 or greyareaprod.com. With special guests All That Remains & All Hail The Yeti.
VALENTINE’S DAY & South Park Ice Rinks! SKATE North
MON., FEBRUARY 25 SOUTH PARK ICE SHOW 7 P.M. SOUTH PARK ICE RINK SOUTH PARK. Free event. 412-833-1499.
TUE., FEBRUARY 26 ERIC JOHNSON AND THE FABALOUS A-TEAM 5 P.M. BACKSTAGE BAR AT THEATER SQUARE DOWNTOWN. Free event. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org.
TUE., FEBRUARY 26 ELVIS DEPRESSEDLY 6:30 P.M. SMILING MOOSE UPSTAIRS SOUTH SIDE. All-ages event. $12-15. 412-431-4668 or ticketfly.com. With special guests The Cordial Sins & Niights.
FOR UPCOMING ALLEGHENY COUNTY PARKS EVENTS, LOG ONTO WWW.ALLEGHENYPARKS.COM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 7:30-9:00 PM COUPLES OF ALL AGES BUY ONE ADMISSION, GET SECOND ADMISSION OF EQUAL OR LESSER VALUE FOR FREE ALLEGHENYCOUNTY.US/SPECIALEVENTS PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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CALENDAR FEBRUARY 7-13
PHOTO: MATT DAYAK
^ Fri., Feb. 8: Killer of Sheep
THURSDAY FEB. 7 ART
Pittsburgh Glass Center has teamed up with Monmade, a local organization celebrating makers of specialty goods in and around Pittsburgh, for an exhibit that will make you want to redecorate your entire home. Come admire handmade furniture, lighting, and textiles for the pieces of artwork they truly are in Modern Meaning, the second annual design exhibition held at East Liberty’s nonprofit glass studio. If lucky, you’ll also get to witness some live hot-glass demonstrations. Continues through Sat.,
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Feb. 19. 5472 Penn Ave., Garfield. Free. pittsburghglasscenter.org
Cox. 8 p.m. 3577 Bigelow Blvd., Polish Hill. $10. 3577studios.com
MUSIC
FRIDAY
It’s tough for music journalists to write about ambient artist Lucrecia Dalt without talking about her background in geology, and who could blame them? Dalt’s music doesn’t exactly sound like rocks and soil, but there’s a natural, atonal, arrhythmic quality to it. On top of those harder-to-pin-down sounds are spoken-word poetry and incidental melodies, producing a mesmerizing, strange sound that’s hard to turn off. Dalt’s latest, Anticlines, would probably sound very good played outdoors, but in the meantime, see her perform at 3577 Studios with Jesse Stiles and Margaret
FEB. 8 ART
Everyday should have some fun! That’s the mindset by the local group throwing the Fun-A-Day art show. It’s meant to showcase all the artistic projects that people have been making as part of Fun-A-Day’s initiative to combat the winter blues. Pittsburghers have committed to have some fun each day throughout January and at the art show at AIR: Artists Image Resource on the North Side, and
now they can show off their work. The family-friendly show runs on Friday and Saturday. 6 p.m. Also 3 p.m. Sat., Feb. 9. 518 Foreland St., North Side. Free. funadaypgh.com
STAGE
Pittsburgh puppeteer Dave English and Austin-based puppeteer Will Schutze combine their talents for The Dragon of Polish Hill. Staged at the Glitter Box Theater, the live show uses puppets, music, and video to tell the tale of Stanley Onion, the oldest man in Polish Hill who also happens to be made of onions. Cultures collide when he meets Willy James, a new Polish Hill resident and Pittsburgh’s hottest new rabbit-eared performance artist. Expect plenty of fun weirdness
PHOTO: RUBBER PENCIL DEVIL, 2018, CARNEGIE MUSUEM OF ART
^ Sun., Feb. 10: Tam O’Shanter Drawing Session
and original music by Pittsburgh-based band The Upholsterers. 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. 460 Melwood Ave., Oakland. $5. theglitterboxtheater.com
by playwright Melda Beaty, it follows four elderly black women, old enough to have lived through segregation, sitting on a porch while musing about a day they thought would never come. Continues through Sun., Feb. 17. 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 4060 Allequippa St., North Oakland. $15-20. newhorizontheater.org
MUSIC
From the Ariel Pink/Animal Collective/Paw Tracks camp comes John Maus, a composer with a similarly eccentric style anchored by pop know-how. His production has an unpolished, bedroom vibe, but that’s kind of a short sell. These songs are packed with great details and the production is more down to earth than lo-fi. If you’re on the fence, start with his mesmerizing, heartsick track “Hey Moon.” Catch Maus at Spirit with Nick Nicely. 7 p.m. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $20. spiritpgh.com
MUSIC
Tapping into the ancient and the new, the Beijing-based ensemble Sounds of China is recognized across the country for bringing attention, understanding, and appreciation of traditional Chinese music and culture. By blending Chinese instruments – erhu, liuqin, xun, pipa – with electric guitars, synthesizers, and a drum kit, artistic director and composer Ma Jiuyue leads an electric and refreshing performance full of vigor that defies expectations. On Feb. 8 the Byham Theater is where East meets West. 7:30 p.m. 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $25-30. trustarts.org
PARTY
PHOTO: JOHN COLOMBO
^ Sat., Feb. 9: One Night Stand
MUSIC
Fans of political hardcore punk should not miss Pittsburgh veterans Killer of Sheep at Gooski’s. The latest album, 2017’s Scorned, is packed with fast, hard-hitting protests about police brutality, white supremacy, and capitalism. So if those are things that piss you off, make sure to get out for this one. If this is the first you’ve heard of the band, start with “Lest We Forget” or “PAWNS.” 9 p.m. 3117 Brereton St., Polish Hill. $5. killerofsheep1.bandcamp.com/
SATURDAY FEB. 9
THEATER
Election day 2008 feels like a lifetime ago. It was much more optimistic time, politically, where people could feel a palpable positive change in the air (unlike today’s stale, heavy air). Front Porch Society, at New Horizon Theater, Inc., is set in small-town Mississippi on the day of Barack Obama’s first election. Written
If you’re not sure what to wear to Attack Theatre’s annual fundraiser, the modern dance company has created a Pinterest board to inspire you: the thigh-high boots, glitter, studs, pink wigs, and leather jackets are begging you to party like a rock star at One Night Stand. Take the stage for a live band karaoke set in the Ace Hotel gym; donate to the next tier and move onto the hotel ballroom for dinner. Big spenders can party like true legends in the hotel rooms upstairs. (Just don’t trash ‘em.) Dance all night to help keep this great local company dancing for the rest of us all year long. 6 p.m. 120 S. Whitfield St., East Liberty. $125-400. attacktheatre.com
MUSIC
Enjoy a night of exceptional local music when Mr. Smalls Theatre presents Pittsburgh’s Very Own, a quarterly series curated with some of the city’s top talent. The all-ages show represents Pittsburgh’s CONTINUES ON PG. 42
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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CALENDAR, CONTINUED FROM PG. 41
7 DAYS
OF CONCERTS BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
PHOTO: LAURA PARTAIN
Andrew Combs
THURSDAY Harry Jay, Miette Hope, Cypress Music, The Summercamp 7 p.m. Ethik Clothing Co., South Side. facebook.com/thesummercampmusic
FRIDAY Legendary Album Series: Bob Marley
PHOTO: TODD ROSENBERG
7 p.m. The Rex Theater, South Side. rextheater.net
SATURDAY Skellism *Final Cruze Event* 8 p.m. Cruze Bar, Strip District. facebook.com/cruzebar
SUNDAY Trio Cassatt 3 p.m. Heinz Memorial Chapel, Oakland. heinzchapel.pitt.edu
MONDAY Erin Rae, Andrew Combs 7 p.m. Club Cafe, South Side. clubcafelive.com
TUESDAY Hinder, Soil 6 p.m. Crafthouse Stage & Grill, Overbook. crafthousepgh.com
WEDNESDAY Dan Getkin and the Twelve Six 9 p.m. Arsenal Bowl, Lawrenceville. arsenalbowl.com
MORE CONCERT LISTINGS ONLINE
AT PGHCITYPAPER.COM 42
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^ Fri., Feb. 8: Sounds of China
SUNDAY
rap and hip-hop scene with performances by songwriter/rapper and first hip-hop artist signed to Misra Records, Mars Jackson, and Benji., one of NPR’s Slingshot: 20 Artists to Watch In 2019. Expect more greatness with musician Isaiah Small and neo-soul artist Clara Kent. 7 p.m. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $10. mrsmalls.com
FEB. 10
FUNDRAISER
Sate your early- to mid-afternoon appetite while contributing to a good cause when The Big Idea Bookstore hosts a brunch fundraiser for Steel City Organizing for Radical Community Health (SCORCH), a group that provides free medical support to communities and at protests. Presented as part of a continuing series, the event includes all vegetarian/mostly vegan fare with gluten-free options. Those interested can also get info on upcoming street medic training with SCORCH. 11 a.m.–2 p.m. 4812 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. $8-15 suggested donation. thebigideapgh.org
MUSIC
The eternal winter question: risk the cold to go out to a show or stay at home in your pajamas? It’s the best of both worlds at Cozyfest 2k19 where guests are encouraged to show up in PJs while listening to the heartwarming songs of three incredible folk bands. Pittsburgh’s Ferdinand the Bull and Her Ladyship are joined by Nashville’s South for Winter for a comfy gathering at Unity Center of Pittsburgh. Yes, it’s a religious center, but a hip one, we swear — the kind that does Reiki and embraces the LGBTQ community. Does it get cozier than that? Don’t forget to pack a thermos with your slippers. The show is BYOB. 7 p.m. 5343 Kincaid St., Garfield. $10. Search Facebook for “Cozyfest 2k19”
COMEDY
Looking for a good laugh from some respectable comedians? Don’t worry, Louis C.K. isn’t included in this lineup. Opus One Comedy is presenting a night featuring the city’s finest comics, including Garrett
PHOTO: JOHN APSEY PHOTOGRAPHY
^ Sat., Feb. 9: Ferdinand the Bull
Titlebaum, host of comedy podcast It’s Nice to See He’s Working, and selfdescribed “hip dad” Ed Bailey. Other local funny people set to grace the stage at Club Cafe include James J. Hamilton, Amanda Averell, Holly Price, Cassi Bruno, Shannon Norman and James Phelps. Seating and standing room space is limited. 10 p.m. 56 S. 12th St., Southside Flats. $10 in advance for 21 years and over. clubcafelive.com
ART
Artist Alex Da Corte’s piece Rubber Pencil Devil in the Carnegie International is a structural work depicting a neon house with seasonal holiday decorations adorning the windows on each side of the house, like glowing pumpkins. The side representing Valentine’s Day features two pink and glowing Cupids, hearts in hand. Join the Carnegie Museum of Art and Da Corte for a Tam O’Shanter Drawing Session to explore whatever sketching, doodling, or writing the holiday might bring. The class
^ Mon., Nov. 5: Tastebuds
PHOTO: RICHENA BROCKINSON FOR LIONESSPHOTOGRAPHY
^ Sat., Feb. 9: Rita Gregory, Kevin Brown, Karla Payne in Front Porch Society
is meant for both “those who draw and for those who don’t.” 2 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $8-10. cmoa.org
MONDAY FEB. 11 CONTEST
Watch Shakespeare’s timeless writings come to life at the preliminary rounds of Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest. The contest has it all: sword fights, drawn-out monologues, drunken squabbles, and, of course, love scenes. Students from grades 4-12 compete under the guidance of a coach to win a spot in a showcase of finalists on Feb. 18. 8 a.m. The O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. ppt.org
TALK
Carnegie Mellon University kicks off its Celebrating the Life & Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. event with a keynote lecture by Dr. Khalil Muhammad. A professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, Dr. Muhammad’s work examines the broad
intersections of race, democracy, inequity, and criminal justice in modern U.S. history. During the event, he will lead a talk entitled “Race, Inequality, & the American Democracy” in the McConomy Auditorium. 4:30 p.m. 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Free. cmu.edu
FOOD
Each liter of falernum, a delicious liqueur from Maggie’s Farm Rum, contains the zest of nine limes. That’s a lot of zest for one distillery. So, they’re asking for your help. Join enthusiastic zesters at the Strip District location and get rewarded with free cocktails. BYOM (microplane), though Maggie’s Farm will have plenty to go around. Tickets are $8 in advance and will be refunded or put toward a bottle of your choice on site. 6:30 p.m. 3212a Smallman St., Strip District. $8. maggiesfarmrum.com.
TUESDAY FEB. 12 TALK
It was 2014 and DeRay McKesson was working as a school administrator in
Minneapolis when he saw protests and violence break out in Ferguson, Mo. This sparked him to take a weekend trip to Ferguson to help in any way he could. McKesson ended up moving there, quitting his job, and beginning an unplanned career as an activist. He is now the host of award-winning podcast, Pod Save the People, the co-founder of Campaign Zero, a policy platform to end police violence, the author of On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope, and was named one of Time’s 30 Most Influential People on the Internet and placed #11 on Fortune’s World’s Greatest Leaders list. PublicSource brings him to Pittsburgh to talk about his work, his book, and the Black Lives Matter movement. 7 p.m. Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $10-$100. publicsource.org
TRIVIA
Did you know that Magic Mike is loosely based on Channing Tatum’s experience as a dancer before he made it as an actor? Did you know that Channing Tatum financed part of the film himself? Did you know there are 19 minutes worth of male stripping in the movie? These are the kind
of burning questions that might be asked during Magic Mike Trivia at Zone 28. Every fact about Magic Mike is a fun fact, so brush up on that horny knowledge and put it to the test with other like-minded weirdos. 7 p.m. 2525 Freeport Rd., Harmar. zone28.com
WEDNESDAY FEB. 13 EVENT
Speed and quality are probably the two most desirable traits in today’s society, whether in online delivery services, desperate interviewees, or, of course, software development. Pittsburgh’s Code & Supply is hosting Keith Monahan, of QA consulting company Rivers Agile, as he explores to what degree speed and quality assurance in software can actually be assured through automatic and manual testing. Attendees are also encouraged to debate the topic and contribute their thoughts to Pittsburgh’s testing community. 7 p.m. 5648 Friendship Ave., East Liberty. Event is free and open to the public. meetup.com/Pittsburgh-Code-Supply •
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER
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Flea Market & Consignment Shop Sat & Sun 2/9 & 2/10, 9AM-2PM, indoors, 2nd fl of Farm Mkt (next to Home Depot). 344 Sheridan Ave 15206. Antiques, Chinaware, Stained Glass, Framed Pictures, Computer, and More Visit our Vendor-Space Available. 412–301-1234 email: attic2fl@comcast.net
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OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT
THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Room 251, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on February 19, 2019, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:
PGH FULTON PREK-5 Waterproofing and Loading Dock Rehabilitation General Prime PGH. LINDEN K-5 Finish Floor Replacements General and Asbestos Abatement Primes PGH. MORROW PREK-4 Elevator Addition General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes PGH. OLIVER CITYWIDE ACADEMY Masonry Restoration General and Asbestos Abatement Primes PGH. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT CENTER Restroom Renovations General, Plumbing, Mechanical, Electrical and Asbestos Abatement Primes Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on January 21, 2019 at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual. We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.
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GRAPHIC R E N G I S E D Pittsburgh City Paper is seeking a Graphic Designer to join its Art Department. QualiďŹ ed candidate must possess: • Strong communication and organizational skills. • Strong design skills with knowledge of InDesign, Photoshop & Illustrator. • Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline oriented atmosphere.
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ACROSS
1. Classic font 6. Leg up 11. Polar vortex city, for short 14. Indian metropolis 15. Cooler name 16. Babe, by another name 17. Weed sold in a London suburb? 19. Antlered grazer 20. Banned pollutant initials 21. Like chocolate chip cookies just out of the oven 22. Without thinking 24. Group that routinely has hits? 26. Untouched 27. People of China’s capital engages in fisticuffs? 33. Some dice rolls 36. It can help you get rid of your shit 37. Tierra Whack song 38. Picks up the check 39. Krispy Kreme purchase 40. Type of bean 41. Snack food company whose mascot is a girl wearing a red bow 42. Rattan weaver 43. “The Highwayman” poet, whose name is two opposite words 44. Nomad from
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DOWN
Pac-Man ghost 18. Desert in the Silk Road 23. Four terms of Spanish 101? 25. Brit. awards 26. “Kids” band 28. Ken of “The Hangover” movies 29. Not external 30. Prefix to surgeon 31. Gutter spot 32. Mud bath rooms 33. Urge (on) 34. “None for me, thanks” 35. Scandal during John Adams’s presidency, with “The” 39. Ophelia or
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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEB. 6-13, 2019
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PEEPSHOW A sex and social justice column
KICKY KINKS BY JESSIE SAGE // PEEPSHOWCAST@GMAIL.COM
Dear Jessie, From what I have seen online, I have the sense that foot fetishism, including smelling feet and tickling, is quite common in men. Is it? Is it more common in men than in women? What triggers these desires in a man? Max Dear Max, While I do not have any stats about what percentage of men have foot fetishes, I can say that in my experience in the sex industry, in both clip production and in phone sex, it is quite common. My foot fetish videos tend to outsell my less fetish-y content, and I get a lot of calls from men interested in foot worship. As someone who is infinitely curious about what turns people on, I asked all of my foot fetish clients what it is about feet, in particular, that does it for them. While folks express their desires differently, most of them said very similar things. My thoughts on this reflect their answers and are by no means definitive of all foot fetishists. Most of my clients said that their foot fetishes are very intimately con-
nected to their desire to surrender to a female domme. Some are more specific, saying that the feet are the lowest part of the body and that getting below the feet to worship them is a sign of utter submission. This seems to square with foot fetish porn that is often shot at an up angle, making the POV lower than the feet. It doesn’t
OFTEN, THIS DESIRE TO BE DOMINATED IS COUPLED WITH A DESIRE TO BE HUMILIATED. seem to be a coincidence that many dommes also shoot their pictures and clips at that angle, towering over the viewer, while cam models and conventional porn performers tend to look directly at the camera or shoot at a down angle (which is more flattering, but also less imposing). Often, this desire to be dominated is coupled with a desire to be humiliated, which is present in foot fetishism
as well (though there are also folks who prefer more sensual foot play). I have had clients who were interested in hearing me talk about how dirty my feet were, and in one case, how dusty. Smelling dirty feet and/or licking them clean can be a sign of submission. I had one client who used to lick the bottom of his wife’s shoes when she was out of town, and then recounts to me how humiliated he felt by the act. This does seem to be more prevalent in men, and this makes a lot of sense to me in light of the above characterization. Kinks are often more powerful for people if they are in direct opposition to their general experience of the world. Something is only taboo when it isn’t what you are supposed to want. And in a world where men still are in positions of power, where they control most of the wealth, female domination becomes fetishized. Indeed, most of my clients who are interested in domination, be it via foot fetishism or other forms, are wealthy, high powered men. As long as we live in a patriarchy, I believe that this form of foot fetishism will always be more common in men.
•
Jessie Sage is co-host of the Peepshow Podcast, which addresses issues related to sex and social justice. Her column Peepshow is exclusive to City Paper. Follow her on Twitter @peep_cast.
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Peepshow Podcast, Ep. 41 This week on the Peepshow Podcast we bring on journalist EJ Dickson to talk about her recent article for Rolling Stone, “Waterboarding for Pleasure: When Kink Violates the Geneva Convention.” Most people associate waterboarding with the controversial military interrogation tactic both banned by the Geneva Convention and classified as torture by the United Nations. In her article, Dickson looks at the ways waterboarding is also used as a consensual sexual practice in both BDSM relationships and porn scenes. She talks to a Kink.com performer about her experiences being waterboarded for a scene and also to the CEO of Kink.com about the precautions they take in order to keep the performers safe. In the article, she also discusses the legal issues that come with this sort of edge play. In the podcast, we talk to Dickson about her personal reflections after interviewing folks who have participated in consensual waterboarding. Most notably, we talk about how important context is for understanding particular actions: the exact same scene can be torture or it can be supremely arousing, depending on the conditions under which it is enacted and the relationship between those involved. For more, listen to: peepshowpodcast. com/peepshow-podcast-episode-41
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“Have a vision. Be demanding.” Colin Powell
Black History Month
February 2019