Art: Take the Tour

This Saturday, from noon-6 p.m., more than a dozen artists and two galleries will be part of the Creative Tour, an open studio event in Bloomfield in which the public is invited to tour the studios and learn the creative processes of some of Pittsburgh's favorite artists.

Painters, woodworkers, photographers and sculptors are among the artists presenting work during the open studio event. Some studios will sponsor artists from other parts of Pittsburgh. This is a rare opportunity to view new work by local artists and sample the works on display at some of the venues in Bloomfield, where creative work is always viewable.

The tour is part of the sixth annual "Little Italy Days" Festival, from Friday-Sunday. This year, you can expect lots of music, food, games, more food and other fun activities amidst Bloomfield's unique shops and dozen or so fine restaurants.

Maps can be downloaded from the Creative Tour in Bloomfield blog. Hard copies are available at all of the stops on the tour the day of the tour. Also, they will be available prior to the tour at all Crazy Mocha locations, Boxheart Gallery in Bloomfield and Digging Pitt Gallery in Lawrenceville.

Details: www.oranje.blogspot.com.

-- Kurt Shaw

Dance
'Someplace' special

Dating and chance encounters are the context for Attack Theatre's newest show "Someplace, not here," which debuts Friday in collaboration with the Pittsburgh band Local Honey.

Artistic directors Peter Kope and Michele de la Reza employ wildly flirtatious and argumentative dances in their portrayal of contemporary experiences in the pursuit of happiness.

Attack Theatre loves surprises, which might include audience interaction during the run of the show.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Oct. 4 and 5 at 4801 Penn Ave., Bloomfield/Garfield. Admission is $18 in advance; $22 if purchased at the door; $35 for reserved premium seating and pre-show mixer; $15 for students and senior citizens.

Details: 412-394-3353.

-- Mark Kanny

Classical
Herald the trumpets

The time when outdoor brass instruments came indoors for concerts will be re-created Saturday night when the Renaissance and Baroque Society presents The Spiritus Collective.

Music by Giovanni Battista Fontana, who was, in 1634, the first documented trumpet concert soloist, and other 17th-century Italian composers will be performed by the mixed ensemble of trumpet, sackbuts (early trombones), violins, theorbo (long-necked lute) and organ at Synod Hall.

The group's music director Greg Ingles will give a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. about how searches old manuscripts for music that he turns into modern performing editions.

The concert starts at 8 p.m. Saturday in Oakland. Admission is $15 to $30; or $10 for full-time students.

Details: 412-361-2048.

-- Mark Kanny

Classical
Women composers to the fore

Margaret Kampmeier brings the voice of women composers to the University of Pittsburgh's "Music on the Edge" concert series Saturday night.

Music by Pulitzer Prize winner Shulamit Ran, Pitt faculty member Amy Williams and mid-20th-century composer Ruth Crawford will be featured.

"Envy any composer who secures (Kampmeier's) services," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle's Joshua Kosman. "Here is an artist with astounding technique, dramatic intensity and clarity of purpose."

English pianist Stephen Gosling's program for the other half of the "Powerhouse Pianists" concert features music by Poul Ruders and Gyorgy Ligetti.

The concert starts at 8 p.m. Saturday at Bellefeld Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Oakland. Tickets at the door are $15, or $10 for students and seniors. Tickets in advance are $10, or $5 for students and senior citizens.

Details: 412-493-3353.

-- Mark Kanny

Special events
Creatures of the night

It's Halloween season, and the National Aviary on the North Side is celebrating with its annual Owl-o-Ween event. Every Wednesday and Saturday in October, the Aviary will offer Halloween-themed craft activities, special encounters with some of its own owls, Halloween treats, and more. Kids who wear a costume get free admission to the Aviary. Details: 412-323-7235.

-- Kellie Gormly

Special events
Winter's coming

Old Economy Village on Saturday will celebrate Erntefest, a traditional German harvest festival that will let visitors explore how the 19th-century Harmonists would have prepared for winter. Activities at the event, which goes from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., include the opportunity to try making food and drinks, like cheese and wine, the old-fashioned way. Musical performances also will be at 1 and 3 p.m. Tickets cost $7 and $4 for ages 4-17. Old Economy Village is in Ambridge, Beaver County. Details: 724-266-4500.

-- Kellie Gormly

Theater
The last of the new

Playwrights living in North Carolina, Texas and New York will have their works produced during the concluding week of the Pittsburgh New Works Festival.

Now in its 17th year, the annual festival is dedicated to fostering the development of original one-act plays. Each year, it debuts a dozen original one-act plays each produced by a different theater company. A different trio of plays is performed during each of the festival's four weekends.

Scheduled for this week:

• "The Girl in the Yellow Gown," by Mark Cornell of Chapel Hill, N.C., finds two fraternity brothers -- who happen to be real brothers -- waiting to glimpse a legendary figure on a country bridge. Joseph A. Roots directs actors John Graham and Joe Forgione for producer The Rage of Stage Players.

• "Andy Tell Me, Tru," by Judy McGee, a Butler native who now lives in Texas, focuses on author Truman Capote and artist Andy Warhol and is set in New York City in 1987.

Lora Oxenreiter directs the cast of Joseph Stitman, Rebecca Moore and Joe Forgione. for producer CCAC South Campus.

• "Like Family," by New York City playwright Glenn Alterman, splits its time between the den of the Gorder home in upstate New York and the family car on a snowy Sunday night.

Todd Betker directs Lindsy Carmella, Daniel Murray and Tim Winski for producer Thank You, Felix.

Performances: 8 p.m. today and Friday, 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday at Open Stage Theatre, 2835 Smallman St., Strip District.

Admission: $10 or $25 for a pass to all four mainstage programs plus the Young Playwrights plays. Reservations are strongly recommended.

Details: 412-881-6888.

-- Alice T. Carter

Rock
What's in a name?

Give Sue Gartland credit for moxie, if nothing else: Her new album, "Ford Fairlane," immediately evokes an image of the execrable movie "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" that starred (sort of) Andrew Dice Clay.

Then again, Gartland, a New Kensington resident, is working in a different medium, with infinitely more pleasant results. "Ford Fairlane" features melodic songs that swing between folk and country, and her vocals have the quality of Mindy Smith or Nancy Griffith.

Gartland releases the disc tonight at Club Cafe, South Side. Admission for the 7 p.m. show is $5.

Details: 412-431-4950.

-- Rege Behe

POP
Getting it right

Good pop music is hard to calibrate; the right balance between catchy melodies and smart lyrics is a hard balance to strike. And then there are the long shadows of the Beatles and the Beach Boys to consider.

Matt Pond, the mastermind of Matt Pond PA, is one of the better contemporary pop craftsmen. Formerly of Philadelphia -- thus the appended "PA" -- the band fills its latest release, "Last Light," with keen lyrics and music that takes chances without becoming esoteric. And you can dance to it.

Matt Pond PA performs Tuesday at Diesel, South Side. Tickets for the 7 p.m. show are $12 in advance, $14 at the door.

Details: 412-431-8800.

-- Regis Behe

SPECIAL EVENTS
Delighting in baubles

Dazzling jewelry and gemstones will go on display Friday at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland. "Luxe Life: Masterpieces of American Jewelry" will be on display in the new, 2,000-square-foot Wertz Gallery. The exhibit, which has more than 100 pieces, features many items from the larger traveling exhibit called "Masterpieces of American Jewelry." Admission is included with general admission of $10; $7 for senior citizens; $6 for children and students with ID.

Details: 412-622-3131.

-- Kellie B. Gormly

SPECIAL EVENTS
Fashion cares

Partners for Quality Foundation will host a fashion show Friday on the South Side to raise money for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral health challenges. The Fourth Annual Pittsburgh Fashion Story begins at 8:30 a.m. after cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, which begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $85 at the door. The event will take place at J. Verno Studio, 3030 Jane St.

Details: 412-390-3808.

-- Kellie B. Gormly

THEATER
Classic presentation

New York cabaret artist Karen Akers comes to Pittsburgh on Friday as part of the Cabaret Pittsburgh Riverview Series.

A Broadway performer who also makes regular appearances at the Oak Room of Manhattan's the Algonquin Hotel, Akers brings her show "Simply Styne," an evening of classic love songs composed by Jule Styne that include "Time after Time," "People," "Long Before I Knew You" and a medley from the musical "Gypsy."

Performances are at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. in the Symphony Room of the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, 107 Sixth St., Downtown.

Admission: $45 plus tax; $20 plus tax for students. Admission price includes entertainment, beverage and hors d'oeuvres.

Details: 412-394-3353.

-- Alice T. Carter

WORLD MUSIC
Dancing to the beat

If you hear the steady, driving pulse of massed drums in the distance this week, it's probably the rapidly growing ranks of Pittsburgh's drum community, gearing up for the DrumTalk 2007 festival of world drumming.

First, there's Friday's Drum the Ecstatic International at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, featuring hand-drum virtuosos Jim Donovan of Rusted Root and Elie Kihonia of Afrika Yetu, joined by the Wexford Dance Academy and the Ballet Academy of Pittsburgh. This is a charity performance benefiting the Pittsburgh-based Friends of Hopital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti. The show starts at 7 p.m., and tickets are $75. Details: 724-934-9233.

Next is Sunday's Riverbeat, an interactive drumming cruise on the Gateway Clipper, for beginners and serious drummers alike, hosted by Afrika Yetu and Jim Donovan. This one-of-a-kind event is from 1-4 p.m. Sunday and costs $30; $25 for students and senior citizens. Details: 412-281-3100.

DrumTalk 2007 is from Oct. 18-21 at Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Downtown. It will feature performances and classes from some of the world's top drummers, from Pittsburgh jazz legend Roger Humphries to Senegalese djembe master Assane Mbaye to Japanese taiko soloist Takumi Kato and Brazilian percussionist Marcos Santos. There are a large variety of passes and packages available.

-- Michael Machosky

ROCK
Critic and creator

Few people seem to care more about American music -- any music, really -- than John Darnielle. Not only is he one of the most astute and insightful critics of the contemporary music scene, he also makes some pretty great music of his own, mostly under the moniker The Mountain Goats. It's mostly low-key, lo-fi singer-songwriter-type stuff, but he brings an uncommonly literate, witty and complex approach to an often played-out genre.

The Mountain Goats will graze at the Rex Theatre on the South Side tonight, starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $13. Details: 412-381-6811.

-- Michael Machosky

More This Week's Picks headlines