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Briefs: New Works Festival to get new location
The 17th annual Pittsburgh New Works Festival will offer its month-long showcase of new one-act plays Sept. 6-30 at the Open Stage Theatre, 2835 Smallman St., in the Strip District. Lora Oxenreiter will serve as the festival's managing director. Mindi Rossi Stabler is the new festival director.
Open Stage Theatre will be the third location for the long-running festival that began in the Lester Hamburg Studio Theatre in 1990, then moved to the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts for its 2005 and 2006 festivals.
"CAPA has a wonderful studio theatre, and it was very rewarding to give students various opportunities to be involved. But the drop-off in attendance was dramatic, and the cost of parking and the hassle of Downtown traffic were major factors," says Rossi Stabler in a press release. Rossi Stabler is chairman of CAPA's Theater Department as well as the festival's new director.
Open Stage Theatre has its own surface-parking lot that will be available to both participants and attendees. Rossi Stabler also believes the new Strip District location will increase pre- and post-show dining options and allow the festival to increase and expand its concession offerings.
The deadline to submit a script for the 2007 New Works Festival is April 7. Submission deadline for the organization's Young Playwrights Festival is May 1. Submission guidelines are available online.
Tickets will go on sale in July.
Details: 412-881-6888 or www.pittsburghnewworks.org.
-- Alice T. Carter
Rock memorabilia auction to benefit kids
An online auction will be held March 16 and 17 to benefit the children of Paula Lanz, of Scott, who was found in a burning minivan in Nashville last month, after being shot and killed. Lanz had two daughters, ages 5 and 2.
Mark Petrocelli, a classmate of Lanz's at Chartiers Valley High School and formerly the drummer with Triple X, is organizing the auction, along with Kristin Minneci, another classmate. Currently a salesman with Pro-Mar, a Texas-based drumstick manufacturer, Petrocelli has collected items from Alex Van Halen, the Deftones, David Lee Roth, Styx, KISS, Megadeth, Puddle of Mudd, the Vandals, ZZ Top, Bon Jovi, Neil Peart, Lenny Kravitz and Alan Jackson.
The auction can be accessed by logging onto www.ebay.com., clicking on "advanced search" and typing SMPMUSIC04 in the "Find by Seller" field.
Donations also can be made via the Lanz Children Fun, c/o PNC Bank, U.S. Steel Tower, 600 Grant St. Pittsburgh, PA 15219, or at any PNC branch office.
-- Rege Behe
Jazz show to benefit Children's Heart Camp
Jazz banjoist Cynthia Sayer will perform Sunday in a show to benefit the Children's Hospital Heart Camp.
Sayer, who has worked with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Milt Hinton and Bill Cosby, will be accompanied by her Hot Jazz Band, featuring Dan Levinson on clarinet and sax and Randy Reinhart on cornet.
The show is sponsored by the Pittsburgh Banjo Club and the Eric Smoulder Foundation.
It will be held at the Allegheny Elks Lodge on the North Side. Admission is $15. Details: 412-322-1347, 412-821-3060 or 412-321-1834.
-- Bob Karlovits
Sharon Stone visits Edinboro alma mater
Sharon Stone is best known for her roles as a sexpot in movies such as "Basic Instinct" and "Casino."
But when Stone, a Meadville native, came back to Edinboro University to speak at an honors banquet Wednesday, she didn't talk about her steamy roles -- she talked about serving others.
"Life is a service job," Stone said during her 15-minute keynote address at the eighth annual Frank F. Pogue Honors Scholarship luncheon. "You've got to figure out how you serve people the best and do it."
Pogue, the state-run university's first black president, is retiring June 30 after 11 years at the school. The luncheons in his honor have so far raised $900,000 for scholarship funds.
Stone majored in creative writing and fine arts at Edinboro in the 1970s and attended the university on a writing scholarship. She left school before graduating to pursue a modeling career.
The 48-year-old actress also talked about her Pennsylvania roots and entering her first beauty pageant on a $50 bet.
"It is very hard to be from here," Stone said. "Pennsylvania's a tough place with tough people. The weather's tough, it's tough to get work, it's tough politically. But it has served me so well and I am so proud to be from here."
-- The Associated Press
Cultural events in the city
- City Theatre presents "Late Nite Catechism" at 8 p.m. Performances continue through Sunday at City Theater, 1300 Bingham St., South Side. $35 and $40. 412-431-2489.
- Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Live Nation present "Doubt" at 8 p.m. Performances continue through Sunday at the Benedum Center, Seventh Street and Penn Avenue, Downtown. $19.50-$53.50. 412-456-6666.
- Pittsburgh Public Theater presents "Life x 3" at 8 p.m. Performances continue through April 8 at the O'Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $34.50-$49.50. 412-316-1600.
- Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra presents Marek Janowski and Julia Fischer at 8 p.m. Performances continue through Sunday at Heinz Hall, Sixth Street and Penn Avenue, Downtown. $19-$72. 412-392-4900.
- City Theatre presents "Mezzulah, 1946" at 8 p.m. Performances continue through April 1 at City Theater, 1300 Bingham St., South Side. $15-$45. 412-431-2489.
CBS fires evening news producer
CBS News on Thursday fired the executive producer of Katie Couric's struggling "CBS Evening News" broadcast and appointed former CNN and MSNBC president Rick Kaplan to the job.
Kaplan replaces Rome Hartman, said CBS News President Sean McManus. Hartman had held the position since before Couric began at CBS last September.
The newscast has been a distant third in the ratings behind ABC and NBC. During last month's pivotal ratings "sweeps" period, Couric's average of 7.6 million viewers was 6 percent down from what Bob Schieffer recorded in February 2006.
McManus said he believes the broadcast is improving and increasing its focus on breaking news, but needed a strong executive like Kaplan to take it to the next level.
-- The Associated Press
Singer found with weapons cache, drugs
Blues Traveler singer and harmonica player John Popper was arrested after the vehicle he was riding in was clocked going 111 mph, the Washington State Patrol said Wednesday.
Popper, 39, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 90 near the Spokane/Lincoln county line, the Washington State Patrol said.
Inside the black Mercedes SUV, officers found a cache of weapons and a small amount of marijuana, police said. A police dog searched the vehicle, finding numerous hidden compartments containing four rifles, nine handguns and a switchblade knife. Authorities also found a Taser and night vision goggles. The vehicle was seized.
Authorities plan to charge Popper with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Popper, who lives in Snohomish, Wash., is the owner of the vehicle, which was being driven by Brian Gourgeois, 34, of Austin, Texas, said Trooper Jeff Sevigney. Gourgeois will face reckless driving charges.
The vehicle also had flashing emergency headlights, a siren and a public address system.
"Popper indicated to troopers that he had installed these items in his vehicle because (in the event of a natural disaster) he didn't want to be left behind," the Patrol said in a news release. He also told officers he collected weapons.
-- The Associated Press
'N Sync singer tells all in autobiography
Former 'N Sync singer Lance Bass "tells all about his life, his music and his sexuality" in an upcoming autobiography, the publisher announced.
"Out of Sync" is scheduled for publication in October, said Simon Spotlight Entertainment, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
The publisher promises a behind-the-scenes look at the 27-year-old singer's days in boy band 'N Sync, as well as his headline-making venture to undergo astronaut training for a Russian space mission, which didn't pan out because he couldn't come up with the funds for the trip. Bass made headlines in July when he announced he was gay.
-- The Associated Press
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