Community and Cultural Info >>> Pittsburgh


May 12, 2004 - PITT ARTS - Songs, Kings, and Symphonies!



1.  Gompers at the City Theatre
2.  Mrs. Shakespeare -The Bard's Wife Emerges from Literature’s Shadows
3.  Remains of a Rainbow: Rare Plants and Animals of Hawai'i
4.  Symphony with a Splash
5.  The King & I
6
Dead Man Walking at the Pittsburgh Opera
7.  Upcoming-Benefit Auction of fine art photographs at the Silver Eye


1.  Gompers
City Theatre
May 6  May 30, 2004
By Adam Rapp

Tickets $10 student, $20-$30 faculty/staff through PITT ARTS, 929 WPU.

Directed by Tracy Brigden
Featuring Anthony Rapp (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Robin Walsh and Bingo O’Malley

The town of Gompers has seen better days. Ever since the mill closed, it’s been a slow decline to small-time crime and big-time disappointment. But when a blue Jesus appears walking on water and a golden greyhound is born under a tree, the citizens of Gompers learn how elusive a true miracle can be. From the author of City Theatre’s Blackbird.


2.  Mrs. Shakespeare -The Bard's Wife Emerges From Literature’s Shadows
Sat., May 15 at 8 pm and Sun., May 16 at 2 pm
Center of Light, 9799 Laurel Ave., North Huntingdon, PA

Tickets-$12 or $10 for seniors & students, $22 for reserved seating and Saturday night post-show reception. Call Center of Light: 724-864-3020

Illuminating one of literature’s mysteries, actress and writer Yvonne
Hudson interweaves sonnets, soliloquies, and songs from Shakespeare’s works with her original script when she appears as Mrs. Shakespeare: Will’s first and last love.

A production of New Place Collaborations, the 75-minute solo performance allows the character of Anne Hathaway Shakespeare to give an intimate account of her marriage to a famous glover’s son from Stratford-Upon-Avon as she asks the audience "Did you know Shakespeare had a wife?" Mrs. Shakespeare depicts the highs and lows of the Shakespeares’ life together and some 23 years they spent apart, featuring speeches by characters from 18 plays and Elizabethan songs.

"Anne discovers her own voice in Mrs. Shakespeare," says Ms. Hudson, who is
communications director for the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Theatre Arts where she earned a master's degree and is continuing Ph.D. studies. "She finds that many of her husband’s words capture her own emotions, illustrating the universality of Shakespeare’s works. My script also conveys how William Shakespeare’s life experiences are clearly reflected in the plays and sonnets."

At Center of Light, audiences members will enjoy pre-show piano selections a half hour before curtain and opportunities to talk with Hudson follow the performances. On Saturday, patrons may also reserved seating and a post-show reception package. The Sunday performance will be followed by an audience discussion.
The Center of Light is located off Route 30, just west of the Irwin PA turnpike exit in North Huntingdon. Call or visit the Center web site for detailed directions. http://www.centerlight.org


3. Remains of a Rainbow: Rare Plants and Animals of Hawai'i
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
opens May 15

Admission:
Free for Members & Children under 3, $10 for Adults.
$7 for Seniors/Children 3-18/Students with valid ID.

The trade winds blow a tropical breeze into Pittsburgh this summer as Carnegie Museum of Natural History presents Remains of a Rainbow: Rare Plants and Animals of Hawai'i, a traveling exhibit featuring spectacular photographs of the amazing plants and animals that call the 50th state home.

Many of these species are on the very brink of extinction. It has been said that more species have been lost in Hawai'i during the past 200 years than in the whole of North America since Columbus. Remains of a Rainbow glories in flora and fauna found nowhere else on our planet. Hawaiian plants and animals from CMNH collections will also be on display.

4 .  Symphony with a Splash
Pittsburgh Symphony Heinz Hall
Thursday, May 13
Happy Hour - 5:00 PM, Concert - 6:45 PM

Tickets $10 for students and $13 for faculty/staff through PITT ARTS, 929 WPU. Deadline for orders Thursday at noon.

Classical music isn't all European -- American Classical music has a vibe of its own, styled after our culture, history and unique influences. Enjoy the sound and spirit of America's classics, from brass bands, Broadway, jazz and yes, Liberace (!) at this concert of our own composers.

The coolest networking happy hour, mixes with one of the world's best orchestras at the Pittsburgh Symphony's brand new Symphony with a Splash Concert Series.

At Symphony With A Splash Concerts, Pittsburgh Symphony Heinz Hall becomes the Pittsburgh Symphony Lounge, where you can chill out after work (and miss out on rush hour traffic), enjoy cocktails, live jazz music and a light bite, while meeting and mingling with other young professionals!

Then, sit back, relax, and enjoy short shots of popular and innovative classical music, in a behind-the-scenes style concert by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Hosted by Greg Sandow, composer, professor of Classical Music in a Pop Music World at Julliard and music critic for the Wall Street Journal, you'll discover inside angles, and new insights about the music you'll hear  and even walk away with new ways to listen to any music!

5. The King & I
Pittsburgh CLO performing at the Benedum Center
June
15-20

$12 tickets for students, $14 staff/faculty through PITT ARTS, 929 WPU

Roll out the red carpet for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. This regal musical blends romance, humor and heartbreak into one of the most unique love stories of all time. Stage and television star Sandy Duncan stars as a young English widow who just may teach the King of Siam the lesson of a lifetime!


6.  Dead Man Walking, by Jake Heggie - Libretto by Terrence McNally
Pittsburgh Opera
June 5, 8, 11, 13

$15 Student tickets through PITT ARTS, 929 WPU

A remorseless man on death row. A woman of God who seeks his spiritual liberation.

Based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean that inspired the award-winning film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, this critically acclaimed, musically lush and socially relevant co-production is a powerful testament to the coming of age of American opera.

Dead Man Walking is the centerpiece production for the first-ever National Performing Arts Convention in Pittsburgh, June 2004.

7. Benefit Auction of fine-art photographs
Silver Eye Center for Photography
Saturday, May 22, 2004, at 10:00 a.m., at 1015 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh’s historic South Side

Photography is selling briskly at auctions in New York and London where virtually every gallery now represents the work of photographic image-makers. Members of the general public as well as aficionados will have plenty to discover in this year’s auction exhibition at Silver Eye. Prints by established and emerging photographers from the western Pennsylvania region mingle well with celebrated names from around the country.
Benefit Auction 2004 includes work by Lewis Hine , Charles “Teenie” Harris, Zeke Berman, Ruth Bernhard , Esther Bubley, Dawoud Bey, Wendy Ewald, Henry Horenstein, David Levinthal, Robert Lyons, Rosamond Wolff Purcell, and Jerry Uelsmann, Charlee Brodsky, Pamela Bryan, Aaronel de Roy Gruber, Annie O’Neill, Mark Perrott, Martin Prekop, Donald Robinson, Joseph Seamans, William D. Wade and more.
Photographs in the auction can be found at http://www.silvereye.org/Auction2004/Auction1.html

By supporting the Silver Eye Benefit Auction, participants can have the pleasure of adding to existing collections, or begin a collection, while simultaneously contributing important revenue to a growing small-arts organization in Pittsburgh. The income raised in this Benefit Auction will go to support the exhibitions and programs of the organization.





PITT ARTS
929 William Pitt Union
Pittsburgh, PA, 15260

Phone: 412.624.4498
Fax:412.624.1662
E-mail: pittarts@pitt.edu
www.pittarts.pitt.edu

Did you ever think about the great cultural value that PITT ARTS brings to you and other Pitt people? Now, consider that ticket prices, transportation, and even catering costs are increasing rapidly. Contributions of all sizes help to keep Pitt ARTS alive for you. Please consider giving back to PITT ARTS today. Make your gift on-line now at www.alumniconnections.com/donate/upt, simply type “PITT ARTS” in the “other” category, and decide what you think PITT ARTS is worth to you. Thank you for your support!