December 4, 2019 - Pittsburgh City Paper by Pittsburgh City Paper

Which local politicians, along with County Exec. Rich Fitzgerald, are hungry for fracking growth? PGHCITYPAPER.COM DEC. 4 -11, 2019

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

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DEC. 4 -11, 2019 VOLUME 28 + ISSUE 49 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 JOSIE NORTON, JEFF SCHRECKENGOST Events and Sponsorship Manager BLAKE LEWIS Senior Account Executive JOHN CLIFFORD Sales Representative KAITLIN OLIVER Operations Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Events and Marketing Coordinator BRYER BLUMENSCHEIN Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, LISSA BRENNAN, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA, CHARLES ROSENBLUM, JESSIE SAGE Interns JOIE KNOUSE, ELISE LAVALLEE Office Administrator RODNEY REGAN National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP.

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COVER PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM PACKAGING DESIGN: ABBIE ADAMS READ THE STORY ON PAGE 6

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

PGHCITYPAPER.COM CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM // PACKAGING DESIGN: ABBIE ADAMS

THE BIG STORY

FRACKING FIGHT

Where do Allegheny County’s elected officials stand on the battle over fracking and cracker plants? BY RYAN DETO // RYANDETO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

ITTSBURGH’S ECONOMIC path forward has reached a fork in the road, politically speaking. Two factions are wrestling over the future of the natural-gas and petrochemical industries in the region, and whether to support their growth or to transition away. Currently, a petrochemical cracker plant is being built in Beaver County by oil giant Shell. The plant will refine natural gas fracked from all over Southwestern Pennsylvania into pellets, which can be used to make plastic products. The development has led other oil and gas companies to strongly consider the nearby Ohio River Valley as a location to build several more cracker plants. However, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto recently spoke out in opposition to future cracker plants in the region, becoming the most prominent politician in the area to do so. Peduto said the economic vitality of the region will be hurt down the line by the pollution created by an alley of cracker plants, and will make the region unattractive to the tech companies and workers Peduto is trying to recruit. (In September, thousands of workers at Amazon, Google, and Apple protested and called for serious action to address climate change.) This assertion was met swiftly by a rebuttal from another prominent local official, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. He supports the build-out of the petrochemical industry and claimed natural-gas has done wonders for the regional economy. Fitzgerald said the jobs created through these industries are necessary for areas outside of city centers and office parks. According to a recent paper from the Journal of Urban Affairs, Pittsburgh added about 7,000 fracking jobs from 2009-2016, and those numbers have

increased slightly since then. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says Pittsburgh has also been steadily growing its construction employment ﬁgures since 2009, including adding about 8,000 jobs since 2016, which was likely helped along by the thousands of workers needed to build the cracker plant in Beaver County. If more cracker plants were to be built, those numbers would continue to go up. Although some politicians say the natural-gas industry can be clean and that we don’t have to choose between jobs and the environment, there is a price to pay. The Beaver County cracker plant alone is permitted by the state to emit 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, the equivalent of adding more than 480,000 cars. More cracker plants would mean more emissions; Pittsburgh already has some of the worst air quality in the nation. This also doesn’t factor in the large quantities of methane emissions produced by fracking. Methane is over 25 times more potent of a greenhouse gas than CO2. Peduto is more interested in maintaining the region’s growth in tech, research, and white-collar jobs. From 2009-2016, Pittsburgh gained more than 26,000 positions in these combined categories, growing at a rate of more than 21 percent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, thousands more of these white-collar jobs have continued to be added to Pittsburgh’s economy. Other progressives from the region go even further than Peduto and think Pittsburgh should get behind the Green New Deal, a plan that would provide large-scale federal investments to build renewable energy plants and upgrades to the nation’s electricity grid. Green New Deal proponents say it would provide millions of jobs while working to address climate change and air quality. CONTINUES ON PG. 8

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

FRACKING FIGHT, CONTINUED FROM PG. 7

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

The site of the Shell ethane cracker plant under construction in 2018 in Monaca

With this split occurring between leaders over whether to continue to support fracking or start to transition away from it, Pittsburgh City Paper sought to determine just where Allegheny County’s elected officials stood on the issue. CP contacted and retrieved statements from 62 elected officials that represent the county; the ones that have a say on policy related to business and energy, or those with big enough bully pulpits to effect change. Currently, there are 11 elected officials that outright support pursuing future cracker plants, compared to nine that oppose new plants in the region. For eight of the politicians who provided statements

to CP, it was unclear how they felt about fracking and if they supported creating more cracker plants. The majority of elected officials, 34 state, county, and Pittsburgh city politicians, didn’t provide a statement, or declined to issue one. Five of the nine Pittsburgh City Councilors didn’t offer a statement on cracker plants or fracking, despite the fact that four of them voted to ban fracking within city limits in 2010. Their answers, or non-answers, are listed below and have been edited for length and clarity.

State (5 SUPPORT, 3 OPPOSED, 4 UNCLEAR, 18 NO WORD)

Gov. Tom Wolf (D-York) — Supports In a November KDKA interview, Wolf talked about his support for future cracker plants and the continuation of the natural-gas industry. Wolf said plastic created by the cracker plants could be manufactured into light-weight materials for cars. Claimed the cracker plant in Beaver County would lead to cleaner air

READ THE FULL LIST OF RESPONSES ONLINE AT PGHCITYPAPER.COM

and water, despite the fact it is permitted to emit 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. Said banning fracking wouldn’t help the transition to renewable energy, despite the fact that natural-gas and renewables are direct competitors in the energy market. Supports a severance tax on natural-gas drillers to pay for statewide infrastructure improvements.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman — Unclear Fervently supports Wolf’s Restore PA plan to institute a severance tax on fracking companies. Said that plans for a second cracker plant should be discussed in a way that “actually incorporates the real life experience” of cracker plant workers, and says environmental concerns can be CONTINUES ON PG. 10

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FRACKING FIGHT, CONTINUED FROM PG. 8

FRACK CHECK Where do Allegheny County’s elected officials stand on the future of cracker plants and fracking?

addressed with regulation. “Let’s have an honest conversation about a path forward and not declaring an enemy of what the other might be.” During a 2016 run for U.S. Senate, Fetterman supported a moratorium on fracking in Pennsylvania. Said this past support doesn’t conﬂict with current stance because he called for a moratorium until environmental concerns could be addressed, and now believes they have been.

industries and the family-sustaining jobs they provide,” said Turzai in a statement.” While jobs in technology and renewable energy are vital to the current and future prosperity of our region, we should not repeat the mistakes of our past by relying on those industries alone.” Voted in 2012 for the $1.6 billion state incentive package to support the current Beaver County cracker plant.

House Speaker Mike Turzai

(D-Swissvale) — Opposes

(R-Marshall) — Supports

Since starting her campaign in 2018, Lee has opposed the fracking industry and the build-out of cracker plants in the region. Voiced opposition to fracking proposals at the Edgar Thomson Steel Facility in Braddock. Has decried “environmental racism” of the region,

Bemoaned Peduto’s comments and said the current cracker plant is supplying thousands of jobs during its construction and is rehabilitating a formerly industrial site. “As a statewide leader, I will ensure that we remain welcoming to these

State Rep. Summer Lee

Follow senior writer Ryan Deto on Twitter @RyanDeto

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in which Black communities are disproportionately affected by the pollution of heavy industry. Supports the Green New Deal.

County (3 SUPPORT, 3 OPPOSED, 11 NO WORD)

Allegheny County Councilor Sam DeMarco (R-North Fayette) - Supports Called Peduto’s comments reckless and supports the build-out of the petrochemical industry. “These new facilities are expected to create dozens of spinoff plants in the vicinity, all of them bringing jobs and ﬁnancial security to the region.” Said the natural-gas industry has played an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He is calling on other regional leaders and state leaders to denounce Peduto’s comments.

Incoming Allegheny County Councilor Bethany Hallam (D-Ross) - Opposes When asked if she supports future cracker plants, Hallam replied “absolutely not.” Said that it’s “important to start preparing our local union workers for jobs in renewable energy.” She is also opposed to fracking. “No one should have to choose between well-paying jobs and a safe, healthy environment.”

City 3 OPPOSED, 3 UNCLEAR, 5 NO WORD

Pittsburgh City Councilor Deb Gross (D-Highland Park) — Opposes Said she is happy to join Lee, Innamorato, Peduto, and Prizio in opposing future cracker plants. Gross questioned just how many jobs related to the cracker plant have been filled by locals, especially city residents. “Let us not trade our wealth and health to prop up a dying industry for someone else’s benefit or the profits for their corporate shareholders.” Said Pittsburgh can create clean energy and light manufacturing jobs, especially when tapping into research at area universities and the skills of the local trade unions.

Pittsburgh City Councilor Corey O’Connor (D-Squirrel Hill) — Unclear A statement from O’Connor’s ofﬁce said the councilor is “committed to working towards a just transition from fossil fuels to build a more sustainable economy.” But he didn’t want to comment on proposed CONTINUES ON PG. 12

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

FRACKING FIGHT, CONTINUED FROM PG. 11

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

The plastic pellets created at cracker plants

development outside of Pittsburgh, out of respect to the deliberations of residents and local leaders in those locations.

Pittsburgh City Councilor Erika Strassburger (D-Shadyside) — Opposes Tweeted in November that she opposes the

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build out of the petrochemical industry: “A clean energy future CAN provide good labor jobs. Don’t tell me it’s not possible.” Rejects the notion that cracker plants are clean and tweeted that emissions associated with the cracker plant in Beaver County alone will negate Pittsburgh’s entire climate action plan.

JENSORENSEN

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

.RESTAURANT REVIEW.

PIE FOR BREAKFAST BY MAGGIE WEAVER MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

IE FOR BREAKFAST is the kind of diner that makes you want to be a regular. It has all the trimmings of a cozy A.M. joint: tall booths and a long, stainless-steel bar, friendly servers, who, if you frequent the counter enough, will remember your order down to the smallest detail. There’s also bottomless coffee. The homestyle Oakland eatery is the third restaurant from Trevett and Sarah Hooper, owners of nearby eateries Legume and Butterjoint. Pie for Breakfast is, as Trevett Hooper told Pittsburgh City Paper before the restaurant’s opening in 2018, “ultra-American.”

PIE FOR BREAKFAST 200 N. Craig St., Oakland. pieforbreakfastpittsburgh.com

There’s nothing fancy about the restaurant’s menu. For the most part, it’s standard diner fare: plates of eggs, toast, bacon, buttermilk pancakes, steak and eggs, omelets, biscuits, and gravy. But Pie for Breakfast throws a few surprises in the mix. The menu’s biggest egg combo comes with a side of braised greens, any plate can be paired with mujadara (a lentil dish), grits are matched with black-eyed peas, and all is not lost for vegans, who can enjoy the Vegan Delight, a mix of mujadara, black-eyed peas, cucumber salad, and pickled beets. Pie for Breakfast is also one of the city’s few everyday diners that offer booze with breakfast. Add a beer to your morning routine or start your day out with one of their coffee cocktails. Not

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Clockwise from top: chocolate mousse pie, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, kielbasa with eggs and home fries, and vinegar pie at Pie For Breakfast

into alcohol? Grab a juice, soda, or something else from their full espresso bar. I stuck with a basic plate — eggs over easy, home fries, toast, greens, and bacon — during a morning visit to the restaurant. From the ﬁrst bite, it was clear that their menu simplicity was misleading; ﬂavors were built around the bare-boned, rural Appalachian cuisine, but the execution was anything but provincial. My eggs yolks ran freely with a quick poke of handmade salt-rising toast (a

dense, strong-flavored loaf used first by early Appalachian settlers). The bacon, unlike strips from diners, wasn’t bathed in a layer of grease. A thick layer of crust — presumably from heavy-handed use of butter — lined the massive homefries. (Somehow, Pie for Breakfast managed to keep its potatoes fluffy, an impressive accomplishment based on the size.) The greens were packed with so much flavor I almost couldn’t make sense of what I was tasting. Pie by the slice, however, is the first

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thing on the restaurant’s menu for a reason. They make fantastic pie. The rotating selection is a mix of classic flavors (think apple, vinegar, chocolate mousse) and trendy slices (s’mores, cookies & cream). Though the pie fillings were fantastic, it was the crust that won me over. It wasn’t a pointless, throwaway piece of pastry. There was actual flavor in it, matched with a flake to rival every age-old, generation-passed pie crust recipe. My piece of pumpkin was one of the fluffiest I’ve ever had, and a slice of chocolate chess (a heavenly combination of cocoa, butter, sugar, and evaporated milk) had me in a sugary daze for hours. If there’s one takeaway from Pie for Breakfast, it’s that everyone should be eating pie for breakfast. It’s only fitting when the final question from any server is, “Do you want any pie?”

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AST LIBERTY’S Commerce Bar got national attention last week when Forbes magazine published a feature on the new speakeasy. It provoked a strong response locally when social media feeds in Pittsburgh blew up in protest to the article, citing quotes from owners Adam and Diana Kucenic saying that Pittsburgh “didn’t have that many places that specialized in cocktails.” Many were quick to point out that East Liberty’s history of gentrification, particularly when it comes to restaurants moving in under the false assumption that similar cuisine wasn’t already available. There’s also no shortage of cocktail bars in East Liberty, including The Whitfield, Wallace’s Whiskey Room, and, most notably, Lorelei, which not only shares the same block of South Highland avenue with The Commerce, but also two of its staff: Cat Cannon and Cecil Usher, longtime Pittsburgh bartenders and the team behind the local consulting firm Mindful Hospitality Group, which is helping establish The Commerce’s drink program.

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While the comments in Forbes got the speakeasy off to a rocky start, Cannon and Usher’s pedigree and reputability in Pittsburgh also speak volumes. (Both Cannon and Usher have held high-level positions in the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild Pittsburgh chapter and worked in esteemed drink programs for years.) So how are they approaching their new project? “We wanted to help create a culture there,” says Usher. “We didn’t want to just come in, lay a plan down, and leave. We wanted to groom and grow and put something down that we want to stay.” Cannon and Usher determined everything top to bottom, from hiring staff, choosing glassware, and designing the cocktail list, to how the bartenders

PHOTO: COURTESY OF COMMERCE BAR

interact with guests about the concept and drinks. Aside from the front door, “speakeasy” wasn’t an inspiration for Cannon and Usher’s design choices. Instead, the duo looked to what would create an immersive guest experience. There’s no password needed to enter Pittsburgh’s speakeasy. You just have to know where to ﬁnd it, which can be tricky. Technically, Commerce Bar’s address is the same as Bird on the Run (which is also owned by the Kucenic with its own share of controversy in the past), but if you visit the Highland Avenue restaurant, you won’t ﬁnd a speakeasy. Commerce Bar is located directly behind the fried chicken joint, designated by an unmarked door; hit the Goodwill collection area and you’ve gone too far. The cocktail menu is split in half — one part classic, Prohibition-era drinks and one part in-house creations. Commerce’s classics section dates drinks back to another era, featuring cocktails like the “corpse reviver no. 2” (1930) and an “improved whiskey cocktail” (1876). An opposing bill of cocktails pokes fun at Pittsburgh with names like “read the meter” and the “Fort Duquesne old fashioned.” Cannon and Usher call the list “familiar drinks in new and inventive ways. … More than an era.” The duo continues, “We wanted to pay homage to a city and neighborhood with a rich drinking history that also, took off around the era of ‘The Golden Age of Cocktails.’”

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.FOR THE WEEK OF DEC. 5

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “My greatest asset is that I am constantly changing,” says Sagittarian actress and activist Jane Fonda. This description may not always be applicable to you, but I think it should be during the coming weeks. You’re primed to thrive on a robust commitment to self-transformation. As you proceed in your holy task, keep in mind this other advice from Fonda. 1. “One part of wisdom is knowing what you don’t need anymore and letting it go.” 2. “It is never too late to master your weaknesses.” 3. “If you allow yourself, you can become stronger in the very places that you’ve been broken.” 4. “The challenge is not to be perfect. It’s to be whole.” P.S. And what does it mean to be whole? Be respectful toward all your multiple facets, and welcome them into the conversation you have about how to live.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You can’t escape your past completely. You can’t loosen its hold on you so thoroughly that it will forever allow you to move with limitless freedom into the future. But you definitely have the power to release yourself from at least a part of your past’s grip. And the coming weeks will be an excellent time to do just that: to pay off a portion of your karmic debt and shed worn-out emotional baggage.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian playwright August Strindberg didn’t have much interest in people who “regurgitate what they have learned from books.” He was bored by stories that have been told over and over again; was impatient with propaganda disguised as information and by sentimental platitudes masquerading as sage insights. He craved to hear about the unprecedented secrets of each person’s life: the things they know and feel that no one else knows and feels. He was a student of “the natural history of the human heart.” I bring Strindberg’s perspective to your attention, my dear one-of-a-kind Aquarius, because now is a perfect time for you to fully embody it.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “It’s no fun being in love with a shadow,” wrote Piscean poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. And yet she indulged profusely in that no-fun activity, and even capitalized on it to create a number of decent, if morose, poems. But in alignment with your astrological omens, Pisces, I’m going to encourage you to fall out of love with shadows. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to channel your passions into solid realities: to focus your ardor and adoration on earthly pleasures and practical concerns and imperfect but interesting people.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In composing this oracle, I have called on the unruly wisdom of Vivienne Westwood. She’s the fashion designer who incorporated the punk aesthetic into mainstream styles. Here are four quotes by her that will be especially suitable for your use in the coming weeks. 1. “I disagree with everything I used to say.” 2. “The only possible effect one can have on the world is through unpopular ideas.” 3. “Intelligence is composed mostly of imagination, insight, and things that have nothing to do with reason.” 4. “I’m attracted to people who are really true to themselves and who are always trying to do something that makes their life more interesting.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “I’m drowning in the things I never told you.” Famous make-up artist Alexandra Joseph wrote that message to a companion with whom she had a complicated relationship. Are you experiencing a similar sensation, Taurus? If so, I invite you to do something about it! The coming weeks will be a good time to stop drowning. One option is to blurt out to your ally all the feelings and thoughts you’ve been withholding and hiding. A second option is to divulge just some of the feelings and thoughts you’ve been withholding and hiding — and then monitor the results of your partial revelation. A third option is to analyze why you’ve been withholding and hiding. Is it because your ally hasn’t been

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receptive, or because you’re afraid of being honest? Here’s what I suggest: Start with the third option, then move on to the second.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I’ve got some borderline sentimental poetry to offer you in this horoscope. It may be too mushy for a mentally crisp person like you. You may worry that I’ve fallen under the sway of sappy versions of love rather than the snappy versions I usually favor. But there is a method in my madness: I suspect you need an emotionally suggestive nudge to fully activate your urge to merge; you require a jolt of sweetness to inspire you to go in quest of the love mojo that’s potentially available to you in abundance. So please allow your heart to be moved by the following passage from poet Rabindranath Tagore: “My soul is alight with your infinitude of stars. Your world has broken upon me like a flood. The flowers of your garden blossom in my body.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Try saying this, and notice how it feels: “For the next 17 days, I will make ingenious efforts to interpret my problems as interesting opportunities that offer me the chance to liberate myself from my suffering and transform myself into the person I aspire to become.” Now speak the following words and see what thoughts and sensations get triggered: “For the next 17 days, I will have fun imagining that my so-called flaws are signs of potential strengths and talents that I have not yet developed.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): An interviewer asked singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen if he needed to feel bothered and agitated in order to stimulate his creativity. Cohen said no. “When I get up in the morning,” he testified, “my real concern is to discover whether I’m in a state of grace.” Surprised, the interviewer asked, “What do you mean by a state of grace?” Cohen described it as a knack for balance that he called on to ride the chaos around him. He knew he couldn’t fix or banish the chaos — and it would be arrogant to try. His state of grace was more like skiing skillfully down a hill, gliding along the contours of unpredictable terrain. I’m telling you about Cohen’s definition, Leo, because I think that’s the state of grace you should cultivate right now. I bet it will stimulate your creativity in ways that surprise and delight you.

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Poet Juan Felipe Herrera praises the value of making regular efforts to detox our cluttered minds. He says that one of the best methods for accomplishing this cleansing is to daydream. You give yourself permission to indulge in uncensored, unabashed fantasies. You feel no inhibition about envisioning scenes that you may or may not ever carry out in real life. You understand that this free-form play of images is a healing joy, a gift you give yourself. It’s a crafty strategy to make sure you’re not hiding any secrets from yourself. Now is a favorable time to practice this art, Virgo.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In accordance with current astrological omens, here’s your meditation, as articulated by the blogger named Riverselkie: “Let your life be guided by the things that produce the purest secret happiness, with no thought to what that may look like from the outside. Feed the absurd whims of your soul and create with no audience in mind but yourself. What is poignant to you is what others will be moved by, too. Embrace what you love about yourself and the right people will come.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “I swear I became a saint from waiting,” wrote Scorpio poet Odysseus Elytis in his poem “Three Times the Truth.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, you may be in a similar situation. And you’ll be wise to welcome the break in the action and abide calmly in the motionless lull. You’ll experiment with the hypothesis that temporary postponement is best not just for you, but for all concerned.

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

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

THE LOCAL 913: THE AFFORDABLE FLOORS BY LIZ FELIX // LIZ@WYEP.ORG

Longtime Pittsburgh music fans are already very familiar with The Affordable Floors. In the mid ’80s and early ’90s, the band was a breakout star in a vibrant Pittsburgh music scene, where keyboardists and songwriters Harvey Coblin and Kirk Botula describe packed local shows every weekend across the city. The Affordable Floors thrived in that scene, getting commercial radio airplay with the song “Wedding Ring” and attracting the attention of major labels (they would eventually sign with MCA, but the relationship, like many between up-and-coming bands and major labels, eventually fell apart.) Because the group had two keyboardists, it was called STAY UP-TO“synth pop,” DATE WITH THIS but Coblin says MCA never quite WEEK’S LOCAL described what MUSIC NEWS they do and that WITH CP MUSIC the Floors’ sound evolved over time. WRITER JORDAN Now, after SNOWDEN 23 years, The AND WYEP Affordable Floors EVENING MIX are continuing that evolution. HOST LIZ FELIX The band has a Listen every new EP and is preparing to Wednesday play at the at 7 p.m. on Thunderbird Café 91.3FM WYEP and Music Hall in Lawrenceville on Fri., Dec. 20. Of the reunion, Botula says, “It’s really fun to be in conversation together again because our music was always very conversational. I’m really grateful to be able to have the opportunity to work with these guys.” It’s a very different feeling for Botula and Coblin than the time when the fallout from their label deal made playing music together less enjoyable. Their new optimism shines through on the title track to their EP, “Every Broken Heart Will Mend.” Botula calls it “a hopeful song. Each verse deals with people dealing with loss or pain, and it’s a song saying, ‘Look, it’s going to be okay.’” •

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP PHOTO: ERIN ALLPORT

Drauve

.MUSIC.

BEST IN SNOW BY JORDAN SNOWDEN JSNOWDEN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

ON’T BE FOOLED by the “Santa” in HughShows Secret Santapalooza IV. In

fact, Hugh Twyman, owner and creator of local music blog HughShows, is adamant that the 11 Pittsburgh acts featured during the free concert won’t be playing holiday music. “It’s like the anti-Christmas show in a way,” he says. “In past years, no one’s ever played a Christmas song except for Chet Vincent. His set was other people’s lyrics to Christmas tunes. He was having fun with it.” And that’s the point of the Secret Santapalooza, for Pittsburgh musicians and bands to have fun and mingle while local music fans get a taste of the city’s talent, all in one place. A similar model is used in the annual multi-day Deutschtown Music Festival, which was founded by Twyman, Ben Soltesz, and Cody Walters. “Deutschtown gets so many people,” says Twyman. “[But] many just go down because it’s a festival. The majority, I’m guessing, don’t go down for a speciﬁc band, but they discover bands.” Secret Santapalooza, however, offers something different. Along with short setlists of about four songs, every artist performs a cover from another Pittsburgh

act, whether that be from an old-school Pittsburgher, an underground band, or a high proﬁle group like Rusted Root. “One year Grand Piano did Stephen Foster’s ‘Camptown Races,’” says Twyman. “And I think we had Paul Luc and Clinton Clay [of The Commonheart], they did a band together and they did each other’s songs. It was great.” To add the secret element, the chosen covers aren’t revealed until the day of – for both attendees and Twyman. “I don’t want to know,” he says. “It’s loose and fun.” Secret Santapalooza started in 2014 (there was a two-year break after the ﬁrst three) as a charity concert for Karl Hendricks. At the time, Hendricks, the leader of local indie-rock band The Karl Hendricks Trio, was battling oral cancer, and the money raised from ticket sales went to his medical funds. After Hendricks’ passing, Twyman decided to make the show free, with donations taken at the door going to HughShows. “Bands were like ‘Hugh, why don’t we just give that money to you since you work promoting bands and music all year long?’” says Twyman. If there’s one thing Twyman is

PHOTO: JAY MANNING

livefromthecity

HUGHSHOWS SECRET SANTAPALOOZA IV 7 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Sat., Dec. 7. Kollar Club, 3226 Jane St., South Side. Free. hughshows.com

passionate about, it’s supporting local music. On July 18, 2014, exactly 10 years to the date that HughShows began, the day became Hugh Twyman Day in Pittsburgh. The City Council

of Pittsburgh awarded Twyman for his “commitment to the promotion of the arts and the ever-growing music community.” And this year, HughShows became the longest-running music blog

in Pittsburgh, going on 15 years. Initially, though, Twyman, wasn’t into local music at all. “I would see national shows, and I kind of ignored the locals for a couple years,” he says. “If they were opening for a show I wouldn’t even show up until the national act came on.” That changed in the late aughts when the local scene started to grow. Now, Twyman can’t remember the last time he covered a national group on his blog. “I’ve never had one on [HughShows TV], out of 50 episodes,” says Twyman. “There’s so much talent here. I want to use any platform I have to highlight it.” Twyman is doing just that with the diverse lineup at this year’s Secret Santapalooza: there are hip hop and soul players INEZ, Sierra Sellers, and livefromthecity; dream-pop groups The Real Sea, Drauve, and Honey Prism; rockers The Chad Sipes Stereo and The Pump Fakes; folk singer Lindsay Dragan; and newcomer, Ladylike, taking the stage for its ﬁrst-ever ofﬁcial gig. “The nice thing about it is they don’t play full 45-minute sets,” says Twyman. “It’s like a little sneak peek of what they’re about.”

•

Follow staff writer Jordan Snowden on Twitter @snowden_jordan

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

.STAGE.

GYM GIRLS BY HANNAH LYNN HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

YMNASTICS IS A sport that relies

on muscle memory, the feeling that the body remembers how to do something even if the brain doesn’t. For many gymnasts, a physical and emotional memory follows them long after they’ve left the sport. Multimedia artist Anna Azizzy practiced competitive gymnastics for nine years, in elementary through high school, and began reexamining their relationship with the sport in “For Retired Gymnast,” a video project for their thesis at Carnegie Mellon University. The 18minute experimental video casts Azizzy as every character in a group of young gymnasts, their moms, and their coach, using a green screen and deliberately clumsy animation. For their residency with New Hazlett Theater’s Community Supported Art (CSA) Performance Series, Azizzy expanded what they made at CMU with The Secret Life of Gym Girls¸ running Dec. 5-6. “While together at the gym, they are seemingly happy in their world. Apart, their queer and unusual desires are revealed,” reads the show’s description. The CSA program provides a platform for emerging artists in all mediums of performance, giving them mentorship and training for fundraising, marketing, production, and other tools of the trade. Azizzy was encouraged to apply for the program after taking part in H. Gene Thompson and Arvid Tomayko’s show Apart From Me during New Hazlett’s 2018 round of CSA shows. While working on the video in college, Azizzy started thinking about

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: ANNA AZIZZY

The Secret Life of Gym Girls

gymnastics in a more “mournful” way, watching gymnasts at the Olympics and feeling the loss of what they could no longer do. “It got me on a track of thinking about early expiration of women in so many industries,” says Azizzy. “Gymnastics is like a crazy example of that, an extra-exaggerated example of that ’cause you’re told that once you hit puberty, you become a teenager, you’re done for. You’re all used up or whatever, which is really sad.” “For Retired Gymnast” begins with 13-year-old Harper Frances lamenting her imminent expiration date and retirement from the sport. Gym Girls follows the same cast of characters Azizzy used in their thesis project, diving deeper into their secrets, shames, and desires, divided into vignettes about the gymnasts and their moms. “Using these characters has been

an extremely important way for me to process my life,” says Azizzy.

THE SECRET LIFE OF GYM GIRLS 8 p.m. Thu., Dec. 5 and Fri., Dec. 6. New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $25. newhazletttheater.org

In order to embody all the characters in the live show, Azizzy employs and interacts with the green screen on stage. In one scene, on-stage Azizzy plays a gym mom, with a double life as a professional wrestler, who wrestles with a digital-wrestler-Azizzy on the screen behind the stage. In “For Retired Gymnast,” the girls awkwardly gyrate to Britney Spears’ “Slave 4 U” in the bedroom of Harper Frances, who fantasizes about

avant-garde musician Meredith Monk. Gym Girls features music written by Azizzy for their album Lullabies for Retired Gymnasts, a melancholy collection of songs about a worn and changing mind and body, featuring sound design from Azizzy’s brother Jacob Rosati. On the track “Muscle Memory,” Azizzy sings, “The strength inside your back may make you crooked / But please never forget / The memory in your head / The memory of the pain you could weather.” The last scene of the show involves a monologue similar to what Azizzy would say to students while coaching gymnastics last year. “I would have to talk to them about fear and trusting that your muscles know what they’re doing even if your brain is freaked out and your heart is beating too fast,” says Azizzy. “You can still safely grow and learn new things.”

•

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O TWO STUFFED animals made by Chelsea Dunn of Faire Fauna are the same. Crafted from recycled fabrics and other materials, each one has its own look and personality. Faire Fauna made its local market debut in May at Show and Sell, a spring pop-up by Handmade Arcade. She brings her plush menagerie back to Handmade Arcade for its big holiday market, Dec. 6-7 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Pittsburgh City Paper spoke with Dunn about favorite toys, learning to sew, and more.

WHEN DID YOU START FAIRE FAUNA AND WHAT LED UP TO IT? I had always dreamed of learning how to sew. I’ve tried countless times in the past but every project failed miserably. When I moved to Pittsburgh [from Florida] three years ago, I was inspired by the creative community to start learning again. I watched YouTube vid-

eos and started out embroidering pieces of clothing and then had the idea to embroider little faces on stuffed animals. They brought me comfort whenever I was homesick or stressed out from living in an unfamiliar city. Fortunately, my super supportive friends and family encouraged me to keep making them and became my ﬁrst customers. Because of them, I created Faire Fauna to make little friends to be there when times are tough and to remind us we are loved and not alone. DID YOU HAVE A FAVORITE STUFFED ANIMAL GROWING UP? I loved all my stuffed animals so much I never could pick a favorite. My most vivid childhood memories involved me playing and talking with them. They were my best friends and a crucial part of me growing up. Every time I make a new doll, I think about the memories someone will create with the animal I’m making and

HANDMADE ARCADE PREVIEW PARTY: 5:30-8 p.m. Fri., Dec. 6. $20. EARLY BIRDIE SHOPPING HOUR: 10-11 a.m. Sat., Dec. 7. $15. MAIN EVENT: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat., Dec. 7. Free. David L. Lawrence Convention Center, 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown. handmadearcade.org

how they will remember them for the rest of their lives, like I do. DO YOU ONLY USE RECYCLED FABRICS? WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR MATERIALS FROM? Most of my materials were either scraps given to me from fellow crafty friends or bought at Pittsburgh‘s Center for Creative Reuse, a great resource for novice and advanced artists alike. I love using found materials because each piece of wellworn fabric is naturally comforting and already has a story to it. Fabric is such an underrated part of our lives and I wanted to give overlooked materials a new life and a chance to be appreciated. HAS ANYONE EVER ASKED YOU TO MAKE A CERTAIN CREATURE SPECIFICALLY FOR THEM? I would love to do a crazy commission. I am always pushing myself to be making something new and trying different animals. The weirdest thing I made was this doll with bunny ears and a duckbill and I’m still not sure what I was trying to do. I also did a family of little monkey people as an experiment and they came out so cute and people really liked them. I never know what my brain will come up with next.

•

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

PHOTO: JONATHAN ARYEH WAYNE

NOW:PLAYING

.DANCE.

INTO THE LIGHT BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

OR THE LATEST Pillow Project show, NOW:PLAYING, it’s not the dancing that’s choreographed. In this case, it’s the lighting doing the heavy lifting. Lights provide structure to the piece as ﬁve dancers are free to move as they please. But while the show continues the company’s post-modern jazz style of “improvography” – a portmanteau combining improvisation and choreography – its journey to Kelly Strayhorn Theater was hardly off the cuff. “This has been a long time coming,” says Pillow Project founding artistic director Pearlann Porter, who also directs the show along with John Lambert. NOW:PLAYING makes its world premiere Dec. 7-8. Porter started developing NOW: PLAYING in 2013 by using projectors on each side of the stage to provide what she calls a “playground” for the dancers. The idea, she says, differs from conventional uses of theatrical projection and lighting, as images are usually cast on the back wall of a stage. “I wanted to preserve the idea of a fully ink-black background and the

dancers being the only thing illuminated in space,” says Porter.

NOW:PLAYING AT KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER 8 p.m. Sat., Dec. 7. 8 p.m. Sun., Dec. 8. 5941 Penn Ave., East Liberty. $10-15. pillowproject.org

She adds that the approach makes the show “kind of a bizarre thing to look at.” Because of the way the light hits them, you may only see the upper body of one dancer, while the lower half of another dancer moves below them (this becomes even stranger when considering that each dancer wears different pairs of shoes). At one point, a single dancer is completely illuminated while beset by a ﬂurry of disembodied hands belonging to the other dancers. With no technical or professional lighting background, Porter had to explore the unfamiliar territory of technology in order to make her vision work. Even so, she wanted the concept – which

involves four projectors playing at once – to be “as analog as possible.” As a result, some of the projections are surprisingly low-tech, varying from a single band of light to footage of smoke curling from incense Porter burned in her home and shot with her smartphone camera. It all unfolds over three sections, each meant to convey a different but linear theme. The first one erupts in chaos, with dancers moving to an original score by PJ Roduta, whose composition included adding drums to the sounds of tearing into the strings in a piano. The second section goes for simplicity with stripped-down jazz music consisting of two instruments, a saxophone, and upright bass. The third section finds a balance between the first two by going for a more structured, orderly tone. While it took years to develop, Porter feels that the risk paid off and is confident audiences will see something totally different from previous Pillow Project shows. “This isn’t a modern piece or contemporary piece,” says Porter. “To me, this is a new idea in jazz dance.”

Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

•

.LITERATURE.

RICHARD POWERS ON THE OVERSTORY BY REGE BEHE CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

NE OF THE pleasures of reading

Richard Powers’ The Overstory is its vibrant descriptions of Pacific Northwest forests, Midwest farmlands, and most of all, trees. When an interviewer tells Powers — who appears Dec. 9 as a guest of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures Ten Evenings series — that the book is filled with arboresque rabbit holes that devour time, he laughs. “That describes my life for the last seven years,” Powers says. “I just find the subject matter to be inexhaustibly interesting and delightful. What you’re describing is how my days were going when I was writing the book.” The Overstory (Norton) earned Powers the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2019. The spellbinding story of nine characters whose lives become entwined, The Overstory is a meditation on the fragility of the natural world. The mid-section of the story takes place in the 1990s and early 2000s, when environmental groups tried to stop logging companies from deforesting large swathes of land in the Pacific North-

PHOTO: DEAN D. DIXON

Richard Powers

PITTSBURGH ARTS & LECTURES PRESENTS: RICHARD POWERS 7:30 p.m. Mon., Dec. 9. Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $15-35. pittsburghlectures.org

west. Some protestors were labeled ecoterrorists, and Powers admits to initial reservations about protests that resulted in violence. “I think when I ﬁrst started the book, I had a vague memory of ecological resistance and maybe not great sympathy for people who did step over that line and resorted to violence of one kind or another,” Powers says. “But the more I read and saw, the more interested I was in telling a story that could show where an ordinary person, a non-political person, might be so moved by the perpetual unexamined violence against the living world that is sanctioned and supported and accepted

by society as a whole, that it might ﬁnally drive them over the tipping point and turn an ordinary person into one who might think this is a desperate situation, so deeply damaging to all of us, that resistance needs something more.” The cast of characters includes three singular women. Mimi Ma is an engineer who leaves a comfortable job when the Willamette Valley Ponderosa pines in front of her ofﬁce are removed in the middle of the night. Olivia Vandergriff is a self-indulgent college student turned inspirational muse for a group of ragtag environmentalists. And Patricia Westerford overcomes childhood hearing and

speech impediments to conduct groundbreaking research on how trees are inexorably linked to each other. These three women are so central to The Overstory that when Powers was given three options for the audiobook version of the novel, he rejected all of them because they were male voices. “It had to be a woman’s voice, [Suzanne Toren], because the heart and soul of the book is driven by these female characters,” Powers says. “The characters are very different, and they are not in any sense attempts to be representative. They are particularized according the ways the world opens to them.” There is a sense of impending disaster throughout The Overstory, the sturdiness of centuries-old redwoods and Douglas ﬁrs helpless against the onslaught of mankind’s follies. When asked where he ﬁnds hope, Powers replies that it’s “a deep and complicated question and I think about it every day.” There are no easy answers, but one thing he’s clear on is “not to hope for the wrong things,” he says. “I don’t think I have much hope for the perpetuation of the current world, the forms of behavior and societal norms we currently practice. And I’m not sure that we should hope for them. Because much of what we do has always been negligent of the future. “If you’re going to have to hope for something, you have to hope that passes away into something else. ... I don’t hope for the endurance and the continuance of this culture of private meaning, of commodity-mediated individualist human exceptionalist meaning. I do hope for a transformation from a culture based on commodity to a culture based on community.”

•

Follow featured contributor Rege Behe on Twitter @RegeBehe_exPTR

PRESENTS

The 5th Judicial District of Pennsylvania and Allegheny County

blogh.pghcitypaper.com

Work yourself into a lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Pretrial Services urges you to enjoy your weekend out in Pittsburgh but

make the right choice,

don’t drink & drive.

A HOLIDAY TRADITION

TICKETS START AT JUST $17! TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED AT WASHSYM.ORG, 1-888-71-TICKETS, OR AT THE DOOR. FREE PARKING. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WASHSYM.ORG OR CALL 724-223-9796

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 8 P.M. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 3 P.M. TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL 231 PARK AVENUE, WASHINGTON, PA 15301 The WSO has received funding for its 2019-2020 season marketing project from the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency, Inc.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

SEVEN DAYS OF CONCERTS WE WANT THE FUNK WEEKEND FRI., DEC. 6 Put those funk records back on the shelf. This Saturday and Sunday, funk legends The Fatback Band, The Ohio Players, and Average White Band are bringing the sweet sounds of the ’70s and ’80s to the August Wilson African American Cultural Center for We Want the Funk Weekend. On Friday, hear disco club hits such as “I Found Lovin’” and “Backstrokin’” from The Fatback Band and No. 1 Billboard singles “Fire” and “Love Rollercoaster” from The Ohio Players — the latter of which harbors an urban legend. (The scream featured in “Love Rollercoaster” is rumored to be there for a few reasons: someone was murdered while the song was being recorded and the sound was captured in the track; it’s the agonizing scream of Ester Cordet, who was photographed nude for the Honey album cover and badly burned by the honey used in the shoot; or, a rabbit was killed outside of the studio while recording, and its scream was picked up on the song.) Anyway, Average White Band can erase those dark thoughts on Saturday, with the instrumental classic “Pick Up the Pieces” or the smooth “A Love of Your Own.” 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $48.75-79. aacc-awc.org

FULL LIST ONLINE

PHOTO: GEMS/REDFERNS

pghcitypaper.com

THURSDAY DEC. 5 HOLIDAY UN NATALE ITALIANO HOLIDAY CONCERT. Heinz History Center. 7 p.m. Strip District. CORNELL GUNTER’S COASTERS, THE DRIFTERS, THE PLATTERS. The Palace Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Greensburg.

The Fatback Band

PUNK

ROCK

COUNTRY

REGGAE

PILE, CALYX, BIG BABY. The Mr. Roboto Project. 7 p.m. Bloomfield.

NIGHT RANGER. Roxian Theatre. 8 p.m. McKees Rocks.

THE BEAGLE BROTHERS. The Park House. 9 p.m. North Side.

BUMPIN UGLIES. Rex Theater. 8 p.m. South Side.

DREAMERZ (RELEASE PARTY). Ethik Worldwide. 7 p.m. South Side.

BLUES

METAL

CLASSICAL

BLUES

NATO COLES, NIGHTMARATHONS. Howlers. 8 p.m. Bloomfield.

THE SAUCE BOSS. Moondog’s. 8:30 p.m. Blawnox.

GREYWALKER, PLASMID. 222 Ormsby. 8 p.m. Mount Oliver.

CHATHAM BAROQUE. Hicks Memorial Chapel. 8 p.m. East Liberty.

MISS FREDDYE. Portogallo Peppers N’AT. 8 p.m. Braddock.

ROCK

PUNK

RAP/HIP HOP SKI MASK THE SLUMP GOD. Stage AE. 6:30 p.m. North Side.

JAZZ

MULTI GENRE SPIRIT FIRST FRIDAY. Spirit. 9 p.m. Lawrenceville.

FOLK

CHRIS JAMISON. The Strand Theater. 7 p.m. Zelienople.

ROGER HUMPHRIES. Con Alma. 8 p.m. Shadyside.

THE TILLERS, SHELF LIFE STRING BAND. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

CLASSICAL

ROCK BAILEN. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.

THE HOMELESS GOSPEL CHOIR. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 8 p.m. Millvale.

PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. City of Asylum. 7 p.m. North Side. CHATHAM BAROQUE: CAPRICCIO STRAVAGANTE. St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church. 7:30 p.m. Millvale. PHOEBE ROBERTSON. Kresge Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Oakland.

ELECTRONIC ILL.GATES. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

POP AARON CARTER. Hard Rock Cafe. 8 p.m. South Side.

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

FRIDAY DEC. 6

HUNTY LYTES. Club Cafe. 10 p.m. South Side.

ELECTRONIC LOCAL SESH. Hot Mass. 12 a.m. Downtown.

HOLIDAY

SOLD. 3577 Studios. 9 p.m. Polish Hill.

MICHAEL CARD. Memorial Park Church. 7 p.m. Allison Park.

HIP HOP/R&B

OAK RIDGE BOYS. The Palace Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Greensburg.

STEVIE B. The Boiler Room. 9:30 p.m. Downtown.

A BIG BAND CHRISTMAS. Ingomar United Methodist Church. 7:30 p.m. Wexford.

ABJO (SOULECTION). The Smiling Moose. 10 p.m. South Side.

ALTERNATIVE/INDIE KALI MASI. The Smiling Moose. 6:30 p.m. South Side.

SATURDAY DEC. 7 HOLIDAY HANDEL’S MESSIAH CONCERT SERIES. Calvary United Methodist Church. 4 p.m. North Side. EDGEWOOD SYMPHONY HOLIDAY CONCERT. First Presbyterian Church of Edgewood. 7:30 p.m. Edgewood.

KING CATFISH. 222 Ormsby. 8 p.m. Mount Oliver. BILL TOMS & HARD RAIN, 8TH STREET ROX. Moondog’s. 8 p.m. Blawnox. OCEANS TO ASH, TRANSCENDENCE. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 8 p.m. Millvale. VERTIGO GO. Full Pint Wild Side Pub. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

SWITCHER (RECORD RELEASE). The Mr. Roboto Project. 7 p.m. Bloomfield.

SUNDAY DEC. 8 ALTERNATIVE/INDIE SO SENSITIVE, SWAMPWALK, METACARA. The Government Center. 8 p.m. North Side.

RIVER CITY BRASS’ CHRISTMAS BRASSTACULAR. The Palace Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Greensburg.

JOE GRUSHECKY & THE HOUSEROCKERS. Club Cafe. 6:30 p.m. South Side.

COMMON HOLLY. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.

A PETER WHITE CHRISTMAS. MCG Jazz. 6 p.m. North Side.

ELECTRONIC SULLIVAN KING. Roxian Theatre. 8:30 p.m. McKees Rocks.

MINGLE JINGLE ROCKIN WITH KRIS KRINGLE. THIS IS RED. 5 p.m. Homestead.

ANNIE ERREZ. Brillobox. 9 p.m. Bloomfield.

LUCARELLI JAZZ. President’s Pub. 5 p.m. Washington.

HIP HOP

JAZZ

MIKES DEAD, RYAN OAKES. The Smiling Moose. 6:30 p.m. South Side.

CHRISTOPH IRNIGER PILGRIM QUINTET. City of Asylum. 6 p.m. North Side.

R&B/SOUL CAUTIOUS CLAY. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville. CHANTAL JOSEPH. Con Alma. 10 p.m. Shadyside.

HOLIDAY

Holding On

SECRET EYES WED., DEC. 4 On Nov. 1, Pittsburgh melodic alt-rock band, Secret Eyes, released its sophomore album Holding On, a follow up to 2015’s Comatose. Now, the group is celebrating with a CD release show at Mr. Smalls Theatre. Holding On comes after signing with InVogue Records in June, in which “Buried Like Diamonds,” the first track on the 13-track release, dropped shortly after. Since the album drop came before the release show, you have the chance memorize the lyrics and sing all the words along with the band. 6 p.m. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $15. mrsmalls.com

CLASSICAL

METAL

ROCK

SEA INTERLUDES. Heinz Hall. 7:30 p.m. Downtown.

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, AENIMUS. The Smiling Moose. 6 p.m. South Side.

THE SPILL CANVAS. Rex Theater. 7 p.m. South Side.

COUNTRY

JAZZ

JON LADEAU, KINGSLAND HOLLER. THIS IS RED. 7 p.m. Homestead.

ANTON DEFADE. Backstage Bar. 5 p.m. Downtown.

METAL M.O.D. CLASSIC, SKARHEAD, WHITETHRASH. Cattivo. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

ROCK BLACKTOP MOJO. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville. SEPTEMBER MOURNING. Hard Rock Cafe. 7:30 p.m. South Side. THE STOLEN. The Smiling Moose. 6:30 p.m. South Side. GOALKEEPER, BLOOM. The Mr. Roboto Project. 7 p.m. Bloomfield.

ELECTRONIC SKELETON HANDS, BRING HER, KY VÖSS. Brillobox. 9 p.m. Bloomfield.

MONDAY DEC. 9

BLUES COERY HARRIS, TODD ALBRIGHT. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.

TUESDAY DEC. 10 FUNK THANK YOU SCIENTIST. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 7:30 p.m. Lawrenceville.

BLUES HOT TUNA. The Palace Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Greensburg.

POP

ROCK

ANDREW MCMAHON. Roxian Theatre. 8 p.m. McKees Rocks.

TURNOVER. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 7 p.m. Millvale.

KATE VOEGELE, TYLER HILTON. Club Cafe. 7 p.m. South Side.

HOLIDAY REVEREND HORTON HEAT’S HOLIDAY HAYRIDE. Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. 7 p.m. Warrendale.

WEDNESDAY DEC. 11 WORLD KENIA ASHBY. City of Asylum. 7 p.m. North Side.

REGGAE ZACH DEPUTY. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 8 p.m. Lawrenceville.

METAL MORBID ANGEL, WATAIN. Rex Theater. 7 p.m. South Side.

HOLIDAY CEELO GREEN. Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. 8 p.m. Warrendale.

These listings are curated by Pittsburgh City Paper’s music writer Jordan Snowden and include events from our free online listings. Submit yours today at www.pghcitypaper.com/submitevent PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF LIFETIME

Mistletoe & Menorahs

AST YEAR, Pittsburgh City Paper staff watched a holiday movie every day of December, with a large bulk consisting of corny TV movies. As expected, nearly every one of these movies was about Christmas. It made me wonder what a cheesy Hanukkah movie would look like, one I laugh at as much as the Christmas ones. This year, both Hallmark and Lifetime rolled out Hanukkah movies (that are also about Christmas). Mistletoe & Menorahs (premieres Sat., Dec. 7 on Lifetime) tackles a classic holiday problem: Christmas-obsessed toy designer Christy (Kelly Jakle) is excited to impress a potential client at his holiday party, but becomes distressed when she learns that he’s Jewish and it’s a Hanukkah party (his name is David Berger, and the ﬁlm is set in New York). Now, Christy has only eight days to learn everything about Hanukkah and needs to ﬁnd a “Hanukkah tutor” STAT. Who among us has not experienced this predicament? Unfortunately, Christy doesn’t know a single Jew (or how to use Google, apparently), but her coworker remembers that her kid’s teacher is Jewish. Thank God! And it just so happens that Hanukkah teacher, Jonathan (Jake Epstein), desperately needs to learn about Christmas from Christy so he can

make a good impression on his girlfriend’s dad. (Who apparently loves Christmas so much he would scorn a Jew for not having a festive enough apartment?)

MISTLETOE & MENORAHS airs on Lifetime Sat., Dec. 7.

DOUBLE HOLIDAY airs on Hallmark Sun., Dec. 22.

You can see where this is going. Although these holiday students aren’t single, they are clearly going to end up together. Christy’s boyfriend Peter is a bro-y banker who hates all holidays, but especially the word “latke.” Jonathan’s gentile girlfriend is nice enough, but in one scene, while Jonathan is explaining Hanukkah, she quips, “Isn’t Hanukkah random?” Christy agrees, “So random.” When I heard this, my soul left my body. It’s easily the funniest description of the holiday I’ve ever heard, especially since Hanukkah is much less random than Christmas, with its sky deer and egg beverages. All of the non-Jews in the movie are bafﬂed, disgusted even, at the idea of putting sour cream on latkes (fried potato pancakes), despite the existence of sour cream on baked potatoes. Even so, Jonathan and Christy overcome their holiday barriers – like Jonathan never having heard of Secret Santa

(inconceivable) – and ﬁnd love. And just in time for the work-related Hanukkah party where Christy can show off her new Jewish boo and get the Jewish client. Hallmark’s version, Double Holiday (premieres Sun., Dec. 22), has a better grip on the holidays. It once again follows a work-holiday dilemma when Rebecca (Carly Pope) has to team up with the coworker she hates, Chris (Kristoffer Polaha), to impress a potential client by throwing a holiday party at their boss’ house. Rebecca does Hanukkah, Chris does Christmas, and both are up for the same promotion. They each have a fair grasp on each other’s holiday (Chris can make a latke, for example). There is more awkward blessing recitation and an analogy that compares a dying cell phone battery to the oil in Hanukkah’s origin story. Inconspicuously, both movies have a non-Jewish lead with a name very similar to Christ. Aside from Eight Crazy Nights and An American Tail, there are few Hanukkah movies, but that’s OK. I don’t need Hanukkah to be as big or as self-mythologizing as Christmas, and I certainly don’t need dozens of new holiday movies every year, but every now and then, it’s nice to watch my own holiday instead of someone else’s, even if it’s in the context of choking on my own laughter because someone made a Jewish character’s ringtone “The Dreidel Song.”

Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny

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PHOTO: AMANDA BAKER

Greywalker

.MUSIC.

STRAIGHT TO VINYL BY EDWARD BANCHS // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

AUL NEIL WAS looking for a way

to promote his projects with something unconventional, something that would really capture people’s attention. As the manager of 222 Ormsby, owner and operator of Katzulhu Productions, and a fan of the local punk and metal scene in general, Neil wanted to combine his intersecting passions into a single event where he could showcase all the talent Pittsburgh has to offer. The concept he landed on would be challenging but decidedly novel: he’d record a live show at 222 straight to vinyl. Naming the series Live From 222 Ormsby, Neil chose the punk band Crooked Cobras as his first act to record because he felt they are one of the better live bands in the city (the album was recorded earlier this year and is set for an early 2020 release). Feeling comfortable enough to pursue another act, he searched once again to find a suitable, well-rehearsed band for his next featured live recording and found Greywalker. The local melodic death metal heavyweights’ entry into the conversation comes by the dint of their two releases, Beyond All Mortals (2016) and Without Control (2018), as well as their energetic live performances. The quintet — Brian Howe on vocals, Evan Thornsen and Ricky Zimmerman on guitars, bassist Colt Dalmaso, and drummer Joey Solak — will record their Live From 222 Ormsby on Fri., Dec. 6 at 222 Ormsby in Mount Oliver. Noting there are no second takes on a live recording, Neil felt that the band was a great fit after meeting Howe, and calls Greywalker “an awesome, tight

band with good songs who I thought would be capable of doing it.” The challenge is not lost on the band, as Howe notes that he and his bandmates are ready to embrace the spirit of the night and the opportunity to showcase their live show. “I’m fully conﬁdent with dropping our ego to the side, and if it’s a little messed up here or there, it’s going to be what it is. It’s going to be more of an opportunity for people that are really fans of ours and friends of ours to have a cool artifact. It’s something different.”

GREYWALKER: LIVE AT 222 ORMSBY 8 p.m. Fri., Dec. 6. 222 Ormsby Ave., Mount Oliver. $10. greywalker.net

During the show, Thornsen says the band is not going to hold back, promising a ferocious set of familiar “hitters,” along with a few surprises. Recording live comes with a few challenges, notably outfitting the room for the night: 222 Ormsby was not built with recordings in mind. During the show, Neil and the venue’s sound engineer, Mark Bacjz, will record Greywalker’s performance through a portable mixing board directly to digital storage, mixing the edit from home with the band’s input before sending the final version to press. Greywalker fans can look forward to seeing the vinyl pressed and released during the first half of 2020, with a digital download available from Katzulhu Productions as well.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

.THEATER.

BACKSTAGE

BY LISSA BRENNAN // CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Christy Fowler

NAME: Christy Fowler, Polish Hill WORK: Bar Manager / Event Bartender at Rex Theater HOW IS BARTENDING AT EVENTS DIFFERENT THAN A BAR OR RESTAURANT? It’s kind of wonderful. When it’s high volume, it’s not [the] high volume that most people think of — there’s a reason we serve everything in biodegradable plastic. It’s so fast because you want to get people right back to the show. Most bars, you’re there to entertain clientele, they want that interaction. There’s an hour between doors and show, and we do have a little bit of that, regular customers that we talk to and get to know, but it’s not quite the same. I tell people that this is the Shangri La of bar jobs — you’re here for a short amount of time, you do a lot of volume, and then you’re gone. You don’t have the customers that are upset, having a bad day, not happy to be there, drinking for whatever reason. They’re

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there for entertainment and excited about it. It makes for a really good experience for employees as well. DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE COCKTAILS? It’s mostly beer, Jack and Coke, gin and tonic. I’ve had people ask for legitimate cocktails, and it’s hard not to laugh because they’ll see easily at least 30 other people trying to get drinks. Does it look like I muddle? I don’t have time for muddling. DOES IT SLOW DOWN WHEN BANDS ARE ON? Certain shows, I know I am going to get killed straight through. Other ones, we’re only busy during set break, then while the band’s on, it’s almost dead. It’s strange, I’ve taught myself how to do ordering based on those kinds of things. DO YOU HAVE AN EXPECTATION OF THE GUESTS BASED ON THE BAND? Absolutely. You know based on genre if they’re going to be a heavy drinking

crowd, a quiet crowd, you have some crowds that are so polite it’s almost painful – that for whatever reason want to instinctively form lines. You have to call them up, “Heeeey, I can wait on several people at once, come on, it’s okay!” ARE THERE ONES YOU LOOK FORWARD TO MORE THAN OTHERS? Superbusy nights, not just because of money, but part of why I love this job so much is I also love chaos. There are crowds I look forward to, because I know they’re a challenge, meaning it’s going to be steady busy, not [that] they’re bad people, but it’s going to push me. I like that. But I also know the crowds that are super friendly. When I had to have emergency surgery, there was one particular crowd [where] several regulars found out how to contact me to check in on me. Those I absolutely love. HOW DID YOU START? I was kind of recruited. One of [Rex’s] bartenders who they needed for that

Friday night had quit; I happened to be behind the bar in another establishment that day and the then-owner came in and was in a panic trying to ﬁgure out what to do. He looked at me and said, “What are you doing Friday night?” Real intense like, and I’m like, “Uh, I don’t know where you’re going with this man, but … nothing?” That was ten years ago and I’ve been here ever since. When the owner changed I just kind of came with the building; I’m one thing they kept. WHAT’S THE BEST PART? This particular job has allowed me to cultivate a life and a lifestyle that genuinely makes me happy. I can be myself here and it’s appreciated. I don’t have to pretend to be someone else. I can take gaps of time [off] and travel; they don’t expect me to be here every day. I also like that it has almost forced me to get to know people outside of the social circles I normally travel in, and I’ve met a lot of really wonderful people over the years. And I love that.

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EARLY WARNINGS SPONSORED UPCOMING EVENTS FROM CITY PAPER’S FINE ADVERTISERS

WED., DEC. 18TH. BIG 104.7 COUNTRY CHRISTMAS FEATURING CHASE RICE 5 P.M. JERGEL’S RHYTHM GRILLE, WEXFORD. Under 21 with Guardian. $10.47-$12. 724-799-8333 or ticketfly.com.

WED., DEC. 18TH. 4TH ANNUAL WING-A-THON

FRI., DEC. 20TH. CELLO FURY & FRIENDS-HOLIDAY SHOW HARD ROCK CAFÉ, STATION SQUARE.

7 P.M. BIGHAM TAVERN, MT. WASHINGTON. All Ages. $25. 412-431-9313 or bighamtavern.com

WED., DEC. 18TH. HOLIDAY MARKET IN MARKET SQUARE 11 A.M. MARKET SQUARE, DOWNTOWN. All Ages. Free. 412-566-4190 or marketsquarepgh.com

THU., DEC. 19TH. WYEP’S LOCAL 913 LIVE: BRITTNEY CHANTELE 6:30 P.M. 91.3 WYEP. All Ages. Free.

THU., DEC. 19TH. A CHRISTMAS STORY POP-UP BAR

NORTH POLE 6 P.M. THE CANDLE LAB, LAWRENCEVILLE. All Ages. $55. 614-915-0777 or thecandlelab.com

FRI., DEC. 20TH. C STREET BRASS QUINTET 7 P.M. THE FRICK MUSEUM, OAKLAND. All Ages. Free. 412-371-0600 or thefrickpittsburgh.com

SAT., DEC. 21ST. MAD ELF VERTICAL FLIGHTS! 5 YEARS OF TROEG’S MAD ELF

All Ages. $20. 412-421-4447 or mrsmalls.com.

SUN., DEC. 22ND. MYSTERY TASTING LAB 1 P.M. WIGLE WHISKEY, STRIP DISTRICT. 21+ Event. Free. 412-224-2827 or wiglewhiskey.com

SUN., DEC. 22ND. TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA 2019

11 A.M. BEIRPORT, LAWRENCEVILLE. 21+ Event. Free. 412-904-4248 or bierport.com

3:30 P.M. PPG PAINTS ARENA, UPTOWN. All Ages. $66.25-$75. 412-642-1800 or ticketmaster.com.

4:30 P.M. DOUBLETREE PITTSBURGH, GREEN TREE. 21+ Event. Free. 412-922-8400

SAT., DEC. 21ST. A WILL AWAY

MON., DEC. 23RD FESTIVUS PARTY!

THU., DEC. 19TH. THURSDAY YOGA AT CMOA

6:30 P.M. BLACK FORGE COFFEE HOUSE, MCKEES ROCKS. All Ages. $13-$15. 412-291-8994 or blackforgecoffee.com

5 P.M. SIDELINES BAR & GRILLE, MILLVALE. 21+ Event. Free. 412-821-4492 or sidelinesbarandgrill.com

7 P.M. CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART, OAKLAND. All Ages. $5-$10. 412-622-3131 or cmoa.org.

SAT., DEC. 21ST. PENGUINS ON PARADE

THU., DEC. 19TH. NGHTMRE-THE PORTAL TOUR

11 A.M. PITTSBURGH ZOO&PPG AQUARIUM, HIGHLAND PARK. All Ages. $13-$15. 412-665-3640 or pittsburghzoo.org

TUE., DEC. 24TH CHINESE FOOD & MOVIES ON CHRISTMAS EVE

8 P.M. STAGE AE, NORTHSHORE. All Ages. $25-$100. 412-229-5483 or ticketmaster.com.

FRI., DEC. 20TH. CELLO FURY & FRIENDS-HOLIDAY SHOW 6 P.M. HARD ROCK CAFÉ, STATION SQUARE. Under 21 with Guardian. $10-$20. 412-481-ROCK or ticketfly.com.

FRI., DEC. 20TH. COOKIES AND CANDLES:

SAT., DEC. 21ST. BLOOMFIELD SATURDAY WINTER MARKET 11 A.M. BLOOMFIELD SATURDAY MARKET, BLOOMFIELD. All Ages. Free. 412-681-8800 or bloomfieldpgh.org

SAT., DEC. 21ST. YINZFEST PRESENTS: YINZMAS-A MERRY NIGHT OF PITTSBURGH MUSIC 5 P.M. MR. SMALLS THEATER, MILLVALE.

6 P.M. ROW HOUSE CINEMA, LAWRENCEVILLE. All Ages. $5-$25. 412-904-3225 or rowhousecinema.com

FRI., DEC. 27TH LOTUS AT STAGE AE! 7 P.M. STAGE AE, NORTHSHORE. All Ages. $39-$75. 412-229-5483 or ticketmaster.com.

TUE., DEC. 31ST NEW YEARS EVE W/ PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER & CREATIVES DRINKS 8:30 P.M. THE PENNSYLVANIAN, DOWNTOWN. 21+ Event. $75-$200.

FOR UPCOMING ALLEGHENY COUNTY PARKS EVENTS, LOG ONTO WWW.ALLEGHENYPARKS.COM PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

PHOTO: CITY THEATRE

Mrs. Rachel Claus, playing herself, begins the show with a monologue as Santa’s wife.

.STAGE.

THE SANTALAND DIARIES BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

HE CHRISTMAS SEASON is jam-

packed with corny, saccharine media beating its audience into holiday cheer submission. Even the most festive people could use a respite from the relentless positivity of it all. Enter, City Theatre’s production of The Santaland Diaries, a one-actor show based on David Sedaris’ essay of the same name, ﬁrst read on NPR in 1992.

THE SANTALAND DIARIES Continues through Sun., Dec. 22. City Theatre, 1300 Bingham St., South Side. $35-50. citytheatrecompany.org

Like its source material, the show offers a sardonic perspective on the holiday season, told from the point of view of David (played by Shua Potter), a 30-something man depressed to ﬁnd himself working as an elf at the Macy’s Santaland display, musing on crying children, screaming parents, and unsettling Santas. City Theatre’s show, directed by Monteze Freeland, begins not with Santaland, but with Santa’s Ted Talk, a piece written by Freeland and Potter featuring a short monologue and musical number performed by Mrs. Rachel Claus (billed as playing herself), Santa’s jovial, Jewish wife with a thick Long Island accent. Mrs. Claus does an array of Pittsburgh-centric bits, cracking jokes about Primanti’s, Pirates ownership, and vaping. While Mrs. Claus herself has a magnetic stage presence and quick wit, the jokes can come off as easy pandering. But Mrs. Claus really shines when bringing audience members on-stage

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

for an impromptu holiday quiz, and showed her knack for ad-libbing. Ditto for her glamorous Christmas song medley. The whole piece worked as an innovative addition to make a non-local play feel more personalized. When Santaland begins in earnest, Potter emerges as a David Sedaris avatar, wearing sweatpants and ripping a bong while wearily telling the audience how he ended up wearing striped tights and a green elf hat as a work uniform. He goes through the embarrassing application process and the even more embarrassing task of actually doing the job. It’s easy to forget Potter’s the only actor on stage because his gift for impressions embodies a whole motley crew of Macy’s staff and customers, including: an elf who ﬂirts with everyone, racist parents who don’t want a Black Santa, and Santas who don’t know how to interact with children. He explains all the different elf posts at Santaland and how to use them to disrupt the customers’ peace (like siccing a line of guests on an unsuspecting Phil Collins). Much of the script is taken directly from the original 1992 NPR piece, and the 30-minute long version featured on This American Life in 1996, adapted into a script for the stage by Joe Mantello. Some jokes have aged better than others, but that’s to be expected with a 20-year old script. Nothing can stay edgy forever. But Sedaris’ observations still manage to cut through much of over-the-top aspects of Christmas, while still wrapping up with a bittersweet ending. It’s a survival guide for those working in the insane Christmas industry, written by a man trying to keep his sanity by mocking his way through it.

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SEVEN DAYS OF ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

PHOTO: HANDERSON GOMES

^ Thu., Dec. 5: Yinzer Scrooged, a Pittsburgh Christmas Carol

THURSDAY DEC. 5

FROGS Consider the frog — its “anatomy and evolution to its moral symbolism and its role as muse to artists” — at Carnegie Museum of Art’s Frogs: A Conversational Dissection. Inspired by sculptor Margaret Honda’s new piece, a five-foot, frog-like creature lying prostrate on a carpet, the talk features Jennifer

Sheridan, Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Christopher Nygren, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. If you can’t make the discussion, make sure to check out the sculpture before it hops away on Jan. 26, 2020. 6:30 p.m. Forum Gallery, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. cmoa.org

TALK Stop searching for inspirational quotes on Pinterest. If you’re in need of some creative motivation, head to TEDxPittsburgh

Women for a night of camaraderie and big ideas with a roomful of “bold and brilliant” women. The evening’s impressive ensemble of speakers includes Pittsburgh Center for the Arts’ 2018 Emerging Artist of the Year Njaimeh Njie, FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Meghan Klingenberg, mixed-media street artist Swoon, and more. The night also includes performances by Anqwenique, Crissy Shannon, and Leigh Solomon Pugliano. Child care is available. 6:30 p.m. Roxian Theatre, 425 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks. $40. tedxpittsburgh.org

COMEDY Finesse Mitchell has a lot of irons in the fire. The former Saturday Night Live cast member has a weekly podcast called Understand This, has popped up consistently on television and film over his two-decade career, and had a dating column in Essence that grew into a book called Your Girlfriends Only Know So Much. But first and foremost, Mitchell is a wicked funny, naturally gifted standup comic. Performing six shows at the Pittsburgh Improv over the weekend, Mitchell has made waves with his CONTINUES ON PG. 32

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PHOTO: METOGRAPH PICTURES

^ Fri., Dec. 6: Downtown 81

appearances on Showtime at the Apollo, ComicView, and Comedy Central Presents. They’re on his site, go watch them, or head down to Homestead to see for yourself. 7 p.m. Continues through Sun., Dec. 8. 166 E. Bridge St., Homestead. $20. improv.com/pittsburgh

STAGE It’s a war-time holiday when The Carols returns to the Carnegie Stage. Presented by off the WALL Productions, the 1944set musical comedy follows an oddball group of neighbors — a singing sister trio, a has-been comic, and a grumpy landlady — as they gather at the VFW for some festive fun. First staged in 2017, the show celebrates unlikely friendship and kinship in the turbulent World War II era. See what the Pittsburgh City Paper described

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

in 2017 as a story about “the power the holidays have to reconnect us.” 8 p.m. Continues through Fri., Dec. 8. 25 W. Main St., Carnegie. $5-35. insideoffthewall.com

STAGE Bah humbug, yinzers! Midnight Radio, Bricolage Production Company’s innovative and hilarious series of radio-style adaptations of popular films, parodies a classic Charles Dickens’ tale for this year’s annual holiday show. Expect thick local accents and well-known characters as Yinzer Scrooged, a Pittsburgh Christmas Carol delivers Pittsburghized ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. We predict you’ll laugh your bells off at the always silly fake commercial jingles; and, if you arrive 30 minutes early, you’ll get to partake in free drinks and

fun holiday activities in the lobby. 8 p.m. Continues through Sat., Dec. 21. 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $25-35. (“Pay what you want” on opening night.) bricolagepgh.org

STAGE Patrick Jordan, director of theater company barebones productions, admits that a lot of his previous works have been “pretty heavily male.” But with Clare Barron’s original play Dance Nation, the season finale to barebones’ 2019 season, Jordan thinks he found the show he’s been trying to find for nearly 10 years. “I was raised in a house with all women, and I am surrounded by powerful women in every aspect of my life,” he says. “I needed to do this right.” The largely female cast of nine revolves

around pre-teen competitive dancers, played by actresses of a variety of ages, including CP contributing writer Lissa Brennan. 8 p.m. Continues through Sun., Dec. 15. Barebones Black Box, 1211 Braddock Ave., Braddock. $40. barebonesproductions.com

FRIDAY DEC. 6 FILM In the early 1980s, artist Jean-Michel Basquiat starred in an indie film called Downtown 81, about the thriving art and music scenes happening then in New York City. (It even features Debbie Harry as a bag lady who turns into a princess.) The

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^ Thu., Dec. 5: The Carols

film wasn’t released until a Cannes Film Festival premiere in 2000. Catch a screening of the elusive film at Row House Cinema as part of this week’s theme, Day in the Life: Paris vs. NYC. 5:10 p.m. Continues through Thu., Dec. 12. 4115 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $8-10. rowhousecinema.com

DIY If cool stuff, nice people, and local businesses puts a pep in your step, make your way to the Winter Indie Mart at First Friday during the Unblurred Art Walk. Workshop PGH DIY School hosts a night of shopping, eating, and crafting with 14 makers and vendors to peruse, plus mini geometric wreath-making out front. Don’t put more money in the pocket of Big Wreath; do it yourself while supporting your crafty friends and neighbors. 6 p.m. 5135 Penn Ave., Garfield. “First Friday: Winter Indie Mart” on Facebook

MARKET PULLPROOF continues its mission of supporting local artists by hosting its annual Holiday Market. The printmaking studio and gallery will sell prints, merchandise, and art by its members during the December Unblurred gallery crawl in Garfield. In other words, you get to enjoy a casual, relaxing night of appreciating art while also shopping for friends and family. It’s a real win-win. 7-9:30 p.m. 5112 Penn Ave., Garfield. pullproof.studio

SATURDAY

724.759.7571

DEC. 7

BEER There’s not a FEMA tent or cheese sandwich in sight at Grist House Craft Brewery’s Fire Fest, but there will be lots of fire. Head to the Millvale brewery for its second annual celebration of fire and beer, with a quadruple-brew release, and outdoor party. This year, Grist House is upping its game with a special bottle brewed just for the party: Fire Fest Reserve, an imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels. 12 p.m. 10 Sherman St., Millvale. gristhousecraftbrewery.com

SUNDAY DEC. 8 MARKET Celebrate local women in small business at the first-ever (excellently named) Black Forge Coffee House II High Priestess Market. Shop vintage, witchy jewelry, and more. They’re at capacity for vendors already, but that’s a good sign this event won’t be the last of its kind. Keep your eyes peeled. 9:30 a.m. 701 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks. Free. Search “High Priestess Market” on Facebook. CONTINUES ON PG. 34

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^ Wed., Dec. 11: This Wonderful Life

MONDAY DEC. 9

LIT Alphabet City at City of Asylum continues its Memoir Reading Series with Darrel McLeod, a Cree author from the treaty eight territory in Northern Alberta, Canada. McLeod will discuss his debut, award-winning memoir Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age. Titled after a Cree term meaning “it’s a wonder,” the book contains a series of vignettes in which McLeod explores his heritage and various traumas growing up in an abusive household and grappling with his sexual identity. The event will be moderated by poet Steffan Triplett. 7-8:30 p.m. 1231 Federal St., North Side. Registration required. alphabetcity.org

TUESDAY DEC. 10

WORKSHOP Join Corrine Jasmin and Ru Emmons at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s Alloy Studios for My Mirror, a workshop that encourages expression through movement, writing, and prop work in a supportive, positive environment. The two-hour workshop allows you to experiment and interact with others to create together. The event is open to all regardless of background or experience,

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and concludes with everyone sharing their creations. 5-7 p.m. 5530 Penn Ave., East Liberty. Pay what makes you happy. Registration required. kelly-strayhorn.org

WEDNESAY DEC. 11 STAGE As one of the most progressive theater companies in town, Quantum Theatre is continuously surprising audiences with new and exciting works. Now, the company is producing InQbator, a new play-reading series that gives audiences an early look at Lyon’s Den, written by Pittsburgh playwright TJ Parker-Young and directed by Ali Hoefnagel. Just like other Quantum productions, this performance takes place in an atypical theater setting: among the beer taps at Braddock taproom and brewery, Brew Gentlemen. 7 p.m. Also Thu., Dec. 12. 512 Braddock Ave., Braddock. $10-15. quantumtheatre.com

STAGE The Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life is inescapable this time of year. The same movie has been playing on TV for decades, and frankly it could use a remix. Enter This Wonderful Life, a one-man show at Glitter Box Theater performed by actor Mark Setlock, who takes on nearly every character in the film, from good old George Bailey to the villainous Mr. Potter. 8 p.m. Continues Thu., Dec. 12. 460 Melwood Ave., Oakland. $12. thiswonderfullife.weebly.com •

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THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Bellefield Entrance Lobby, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on December 17, 2019, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for: PGH. BEECHWOOD PRE-K Floor Replacement General and Asbestos Abatement Primes PGH. LANGLEY K-8 Pneumatic Tubing Replacement Mechanical Prime PGH. STERRET 6-8 Exterior Door Replacement General and Asbestos Abatement Primes PGH. PIONEER Replace Electrical Power Distribution System General and Electrical Primes PGH. MILLIONES 6-12 Unit Ventilator Replacement Mechanical Primes Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on October 7, 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. PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DEC. 4-11, 2019

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40. Plastic ___ 43. Shop-till-youdrop moments 45. Out of the ordinary: Pref. 46. Parrot of Agrabah 47. “The Reader” actress Lena 48. “Almost Famous” writer/director 51. Harmful, like fumes 53. Threw up 54. Lost everything 57. “The House of the Seven Gables” setting 58. Sustainability prefix 59. Coeur d’___ Idaho 60. Quaintly corny 61. “10Q” 62. Canon ratio 63. Determined to do

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PEEPSHOW A sex and social justice column BY JESSIE SAGE // PEEPSHOWCAST@GMAIL.COM

AKE A MOMENT to imagine a gogo dancer. What comes to mind? Tall boots? Short skirts? A cage? New York? Los Angeles? Las Vegas? This week I got a chance to sit down with Alicia Lynn, a performer who’s making a living as a go-go dancer here in Pittsburgh. Though she started her dancing career as a burlesque performer, she found her home as a go-go dancer when she started working at Cavo Nightclub. And she’s not alone. “Thanks to Cavo, other nightclubs have started incorporating go-go dancers,” she says. “It is more jobs for women, more jobs for dancers who aren’t ballerinas.” Alicia took ballet as a child, did a couple of years of hip-hop dance in middle school, and performed in musicals and theater in high school and college. She didn’t start dancing professionally until her late 20s when she took up burlesque. “When I was in my late 20s I remember thinking, ‘Thank God I didn’t do this when I was 25.’” And it wasn’t because she wasn’t good enough, but rather because she had to learn who she was before she could express it in any meaningful way. “I had to address who the fuck I was.” Alicia sees this process of selfdiscovery through burlesque as a launching point for the work she does now. “I consider burlesque to be in

PHOTO: JONATHAN DEMEO

Alicia Lynn

my arsenal, but I am not passionate about burlesque,” she says. “I am passionate about go-go dancing!” She first started go-go dancing at Cavo as a fill-in for someone who needed some time off, but she became a more permanent fixture over time. The work has become really meaningful for her. As a go-go dancer, she gets to set the tone for the club, which she describes as a really creative process. “The music is mostly the same, but we have to make it look new. And somehow that becomes the greatest thing

you have ever done” She goes on, “You want to be pulling out the stops to give [the patrons of the club] that ‘wow’ moment, that is our job.” Alicia says the camaraderie among the go-go dancers is really powerful. “The friendships are spectacular. What we go through together, the connections we have, the way we watch out for each other. It is complete soul food.” Part of what binds these friendships is the knowledge that there is some danger in being a woman who does a sexualized job.

“You never know when someone is going to be out there waiting for you, it is part of the reality.” That shared experience fosters their friendships. “We are warriors, we wear our war paint [to work], and you have no idea because we make it look cute.” To all of the women who are interested in this sort of career, she says, “If you are a showgirl and you want to live in the Steel City, we have it! You don’t have to go to Vegas.” “I am a showgirl in Pittsburgh; I am living the Flashdance life!”

•

JESSIE SAGE IS CO-HOST OF THE PEEPSHOW PODCAST AT PEEPSHOWPODCAST.COM. HER COLUMN PEEPSHOW IS EXCLUSIVE TO PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER. FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER @PEEP_CAST. HAVE A SEX QUESTION YOU’RE TOO AFRAID TO ASK? ASK JESSIE! EMAIL INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM. QUESTIONS MAY BE CONSIDERED FOR AN UPCOMING COLUMN.

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