Explore the newly-reopened Pittsburgh Glass Center's weekend events, check out the Festival of Combustion or watch the Reel Q film festival — here's what to do in Pittsburgh this weekend.
Visual Art
Pittsburgh Glass Center marks its grand reopening with two full days of events. On Fri., Oct. 4, and Sat., Oct. 5, enjoy free glass demos, hands-on activities and more. Also be among the first to see “smash the ceiling, floor, and walls; take the broken shards and blow it back.” Pittsburgh-based cultural historian and performer Alyssa Velazquez curated this big new group show in which femme and gender-nonconforming artists from Pittsburgh and beyond tackle the barriers built by patriarchy and heteronormativity.
Stage
Pittsburgh-based musician and performer Yusef Shelton unveils his stage work-in-progress “Barbershop Talk” as part of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s Freshworks series. The show blends live music, spoken word and dance to explore the importance of Black barbershops as community spaces, and how they can change lives. There are two performances, Friday, Oct. 4, and Saturday, Oct. 5, at Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s Alloy Studios, in Friendship
Theater
One reviewer called “crocodile fever” “Tarantino for feminists,” and barebones productions is running with that description. Set in Northern Ireland in 1989, Irish playwright Meghan Tyler’s dark and bloody comedy depicts a rebellious woman’s return to the home of her pious sister and a reckoning with their cruel father. Performances run Saturday, Oct. 5, to Oct. 20, at barebones black box in Braddock.
Opera
Internationally acclaimed soprano Ana Maria Martinez sings the lead role in “Tosca” to open the season at Pittsburgh Opera. Puccini’s classic romantic tragedy also stars tenor Jonathan Burton and bass-baritone Kyle Albertson. It’s sung in Italian with English supertitles projected above the Benedum Center stage. There are four performances, Saturday, Oct. 5; Tuesday, Oct. 8, and Oct. 11 and 13.
Film
Reel Q, Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ+ film festival, returns for its 39th year. The festival opens Friday, Oct. 4 at The Andy Warhol Museum with the Brazilian romantic comedy “Perfect Endings.” It continues with 13 more feature-length films and five shorts programs from around the world at Row House Cinema and the Harris Theater. A special Oct. 11 screening marks the 50th anniversary of John Waters’ cult classic “Female Trouble,” starring the legendary Divine. The festival runs through Oct. 12.
Festival
The Festival of Combustion is back for its annual celebration of American crafts and the industrial arts, from blacksmithing and welding to glassblowing. The Saturday, Oct. 5, event at the Carrie Blast Furnaces features an all-day iron pour, demonstrations and hands-on experiences in aluminum casting, mosaics, ceramics, jewelry-making and more led by an array of local arts groups. This Rivers of Steel event also includes live music, food trucks, a makers’ marketplace and fireworks. Admission is free for kids under 18.
