Check out Cirque du Soleil on ice, watch a play about civil rights icon Rosa Parks or experience the Hooks & Phonics Festival Downtown — here's what to do in Pittsburgh this weekend.
Cirque
Cirque du Soleil returns with the Pittsburgh debut of its new show “Crystal.” The production marks the 39-year-old troupe’s first foray into ice skating, which it combines with its signature acrobatics. Think synchronized skating, freestyle figure skating and extreme skating blended with trapeze, aerial straps and hand-to-hand work. There are seven performances at PPG Paints Arena over four days, Thu., Jan. 18, through Sun., Jan. 21.
Visual Art
Whether through our phones or someone else’s security cameras, many of us are almost always being watched. In a new exhibit at the Brew House Gallery, artists watch back. “Blank Tape” is a group show by 10 artists working in video, animation, projection, photography, installation and game art, curated by Lena Hansen. Artists including Caroline Yoo, Jonathan Ellis, Lena Chen, Negin Mahzoun, Shori Sims and Tooraj Khamenehzadeh explore “the ubiquity of surveillance technology in everyday life.” The show opens with a reception Thu., Jan. 18, and runs through March 9.
Stage
Prime Stage Theater’s Prime Stage Sprouts, which makes theater for third-graders and up, stages “Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.” Sue Greenberg’s play about civil rights icon Parks and her role in the landmark boycott comes to the New Hazlett Theater starting Fri., Jan. 19. There are seven performances through Jan. 28.
Hip Hop/Spoken Word
Name talent from around the country visits the August Wilson African American Cultural Center for the inaugural Hooks & Phonics Festival. The three-day celebration of hip-hop culture and spoken-word poetry highlights orators and emcees from the BIPOC community. Featured artists include Jessica Care Moore, Ed Mabrey, Slum Village, aja monet, and Grammy-nominated rapper Rapsody. The soundtrack is by Selecta, DJ Get It and DJ Big Phill. The festival runs Fri., Jan. 19, through Sun., Jan. 21.
Opera
The aftermath of the Trojan War is the setting for Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera “Iphigénie en Tauride,” inspired by the Greek tragedy. Soprano Emily Richter sings the title role, a priestess, while baritone Brandon Bell plays Orestes, the brother she doesn’t recognize but is duty-bound to kill. The show receives four performances Sat., Jan. 20, through Jan. 28, at Downtown’s Pittsburgh CAPA School Theater. It’s sung in French with English subtitles projected above the stage.
Outdoors
Venture Outdoors offers seasonal programming year-round, often geared to specific audiences. On Sat., Jan. 20, it’s a Women & Nonbinary Beginner Snowboarding Meet-Up at Boyce Park. The event is led by experienced snowboarder Maggie Sukel with help from volunteer trip leaders. Your ticket includes gear rental and lift ticket.
