Saturday, February 18, 2017

Day 196-Pittsburgh Symphony POPS Broadway Standing Ovations-Feel the Music


I have had a run of Broadway show experiences lately (see Day 168 Kinky Boots,  Day 171 Finding Neverland , and Day 191 Something Rotten) so when I heard that the  Pittsburgh Symphony POPS  had a show, “Broadway Standing Ovations," I thought  that it would be perfect to experience  a variety of  the best  from Broadway with the full sound of  the Pittsburgh Symphony.  What I got was  such a powerful  sound that  during the show I had the  urge  to stand in appreciation, especially in the second half. You  could not help but feel the music! It was a standing ovation!


Thursday, February 16, 2017

Day 195 Oaks Theater- John McIntire's Dangerously Live Comedy Talk Show


(John McIntire's Dangerously Live Comedy Talk show is coming back  to the Oaks on  June 24, 2017 with a new panel)

As a kid, I always loved talk shows like the “Johnny Carson Show," which is now "Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel." On occasion  I enjoy the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Therefore, when I heard about a comedy/talk show with some locals: the Mayor, Bill Peduto; Pirate's announcer,
Greg  Brown; and WQED’s, Rick Sebak, I thought that I would venture to a new place, the Oak Theater, and see what it was all about.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Day 194 Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop- Love Lives in Memories –Happy Valentine’s Day




On this Valentine’s Day, one of my blog inspiration books, Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From A Little Golden Book, says it so well, “love lives in our memories of simple, happy times.”  When I found Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop in the Pittsburgh's Strip District, the candies of my childhood brought back some  memories of those simple happy times.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Day 193 Pilobolus-Collaborative and Inventive Dance



My Blog inspiration book, Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book  reminds us to, “use your imagination.” The  dance company, Pilobolus does this by pushing  the limits of  creativity and imagination to tell a story with movement.  I experienced this company in the 80’s as a high school and later as a college dancer. I loved how they contorted, formed, and molded, the body with an element of pantomime to express feelings and to tell stories with humor. This show, Shadowland,  uses dance and  shadows formed by the body, by its parts (hands, feet and legs), and by the collective dancers, to produce an explosion of screen images.  These images, are far better than the bunny or bird shadows  that  we all have made to amuse
 ourselves or entertain our children.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Day 192 Twelfth Night-Shakespeare-Love and Laughs- Get Some “Culture” at the O’Reilly Theater


My blog inspiration book, Everything I Need to Know I learned From a Little Golden Book, says that we should, “take in some culture once in a while.” What better way to do that than with a little Shakespeare!   In Day 191, I enjoyed the musical comedy, “Something Rotten,” which was about the birth of musical theater during the Renaissance to compete with the popularity of Shakespeare. Therefore, I thought that taking in the “real deal,” Twelfth Night, a Shakespeare comedy, would be  appropriate.


Thursday, February 2, 2017

Day 191 Something Rotten-Comic Relief-The Birth of the Musical?



When you have weeks of  Pittsburgh gray skies and a barrage of  political discussion, some silly humor giving rise to a belly laugh will put that skip back into your day. That is just what happens when you experience the creative and whimsical plot of this musical comedy, Something Rotten, which is part of the PNC Broadway Pittburgh series.