Experience an "industrial musical," see an exhibit of myth-infused paintings or check out a dance project of hip-hop and Indian classical traditions — here's what to do in Pittsburgh this weekend.
Talk & Film
What are “industrial musicals”? They’re fully staged musicals created for corporate conventions and sales meetings — think General Electric, Citgo, Purina — and they’re an obsession of Steve Young’s. The former “Letterman” and “The Simpsons” writer brings his unique evening of rare film clips and live music titled “The Weird & Wonderful World of Industrial Musicals!” to Bottlerocket Social Club on Wed., Nov. 8.
Stage
“Green & Blue,” a play about the border conflict between Ireland and Northern Ireland, provides a rare chance to see Belfast’s Kabosh Theatre in Pittsburgh. A green-uniformed Royal Ulster Constabulary officer and an officer of Ireland’s national police, all in blue, communicate by radio until forced to meet in secret. Laurence McKeown’s play visits City Theatre as part of a national tour, with four performances Thu., Nov. 9, through Sat., Nov. 11.
Visual Art
Brooklyn-based artist Tim Okamura’s visions of women samurai spark his first-ever solo exhibition in the U.S., at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. “Onna-Bugeisha: Warriors of Light” spotlights Okamura’s realist but myth-infused paintings and collage to depict “an alternate reality … now experiencing a rapid descent into a state of oppression due to the rise in power of an authoritarian regime.” The exhibit opens with a reception Thu., Nov. 9.
Music
Acclaimed indie pop group The Ladybug Transistor’s fall tour has just five dates, and one of them is Thu., Nov. 9, at The Andy Warhol Museum. The group, which formed in Brooklyn in the 1990s, will highlight songs from albums including “The Albemarle Sound” and “Argyle Heir.” Members include Pittsburgh-based Jen Baron and her brother, Jeff Baron. Electro-pop duo Giant Day opens.
Dance
An intriguing blend of dance styles hits the Kelly Strayhorn Theater. As part of their PearlDiving Movement Residency, Pittsburgh’s own Stacee Pearl dance project & Soy Sos welcome Raphael Xavier and Chitra Subramanian. The Philadelphia-based Xavier is a breaker/dancer, while Subramanian, of Washington, D.C., draws from both hip-hop and Indian classical traditions. The show is Sat., Nov. 11.
Opera
Pittsburgh Opera stages Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman” for the first time in more than 20 years. Bass-baritone Kyle Albertson, a favorite at the Metropolitan Opera, plays The Dutchman, cursed to forever sail the seven seas; soprano Marjorie Owens sings the role of Senta. There are four performances at the Benedum Center, Sat., Nov. 11, Tue., Nov. 14, and Nov. 17 and 19.
