Day 349 Zombies of the Corn-The Complete Halloween Package of Fright and Fun

One of Pittsburgh’s claim to fame is the local filming of the zombie movie “Night of the Living Dead.” We seem to crave a little zombie fright this time of year and just north of Pittsburgh, you can get your fill of them. At Zombies of the Corn  you can take your chances in the Zombie Compound,  test you navigation skills in the  Z Maze, listen to ghost stories around campfires and take aim with your paintball gun on the Zombie Shoot. It is a complete Halloween package of fright and fun.

Day 348- Pittsburgh Opera-Don Giovanni,“Perfecto”-New Mobile App “Menza Menza”

Pittsburgh Opera jump started the 2019-2020 season with  Mozart’s classic Italian opera  Don Giovanni and paired the season opener with the roll out of its new live mobile app, Live Note.  The opera encouraged the audience to enhance the opera experience by using  earbuds connected to a smart phone and receive commentary during the performance.  My app experience was just “menza menza” when linked with Don Giovanni, which was a high energy easy to follow show filled with Mozart's spectacular compositions.  Don Giovanni was so “perfecto” that it did not seem to need mobile app enhancement.   

Day 347 Catapult:The Amazing Magic of Shadow and Dance- Creates an Imaginary Universe

Catapult  tells a story by using dance and body transformation to produce shadow silhouettes of the world. I saw Catapult as a finalist on the Television  show America's Got Talent where Howard Stern called them a “million dollar act.” I was excited to be “catapulted” into their  imaginary  universe where they create dancing shadows of  landscapes, animals, and objects by only using the human body and a few props.

Day 345- Black Violin:Impossible Tour-Dream- Show the World What's Possible

My Blog inspiration book, “Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book” reminds us to “be unique” and unique is  just what  you get with Black Violin. Classically trained violist (Wil B) and violinist (Kev Marcus) fuse classical music with hip hop, pop and rock. They call their new musical genre “Classical Boom”. Their music is not just about a unique sound but as Wil B said during their show, it is about “breaking stereotypes” and “showing the world that what’s impossible is possible.”

December Preview of Events-All Things Festive

Holiday Pops-December 13-22-Heinz Hall

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn Choir, Broadway star Ashly Brown and various other vocal soloists, come together for an explosion of holiday cheer at the yearly Highmark Holiday POPS.  There is nothing like the full sound of the orchestra to augment favorite holiday songs and I love a sing along!  This should be another perfect reprieve from shopping and all that preparing that we all seem to be doing during this time of year.  

Deck the halls with me on weekends December 13-15 and December 20-22 at Heinz Hall. (For Tickets go to pittsburghsymphony.org.) 

Home For the Holidays-December 17, 2019 -Benedum

Home for the Holidays is a concert featuring some of Pittsburgh’s best talent as they come home for the Holidays. This event benefits the Pittsburgh Food Bank and celebrates the season mixing rock, blues and soul in a night of Holiday musical classics with: 

Kevin  Garrett, Clinton Clegg, Scott Blasey, Lyndsey Smith, Billy Price, Margot Bingham, Joy Ike, Anthony Jardine, Jimbo Jackson, Morgan Erina and John Schisler  and more special guests.

Join me on December 17,2019 for a musical celebration when Pittsburgh’s best come “Home for the Holidays.” For ticket go to trustarts.org.             .

Forever Plaid -Pittsburgh CLO October 31-December 29,2019- Greer Cabaret Theater

In this hit musical, the 1950’s male musical group “The Plaids” who met their demise in a car crash are revived to give the musical performance that never was. It’s a night of  laughs and classic harmonies with 1950’s hits : “Catch a Falling Star,” “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing” and “Magic Moments” and more.

Join me in for a nostalgic night or to hear these song for the first time in this hilarious comedy. For ticket go  trustarts.org. 

Phipps Conservatory- Holiday Magic-November 29, 2019-January 12, 2020

Holiday Season often involve that panic rush feeling "to get it all done.” We forget as my blog inspiration book, “Everything I Learned About Christmas, I Learned From A Little Golden Book”, reminds us that Christmas should be a “time of wonder, a time like no other time of the year.”   At Phipps Conservatory,  the beauty brings back the wonder of the season as you navigate through the 8 rooms of nature infused with lights, Christmas trees and  poinsettias,  as well as 6 permanent  botanical  gardens.

Join me for Holiday Magic at Phipps Conservatory and share the wonder of the season.For Tickets go to phippsconservatory.org.