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"West Side Story" is 51 years old, but still alive with the intensity of a teenager.

The musical updates "Romeo and Juliet" and moves it to the West Side of Manhattan where Jets and Sharks rumble for ethnic pride and street credentials.

This is the show for which Leonard Bernstein composed the music and Stephen Sondheim created the lyrics for timeless classics that include "Maria," "One Hand, One Heart," "Somewhere" and "America."

The Pittsburgh Musical Theater production begins tonight and continues through May 18 with performances at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays at the Byham Theater, Sixth Street at Fort Duquesne Boulevard, Downtown.

Details: 412-456-6666 or www.pgharts.org.

-- Alice T. Carter

Since 1988, Persad's "Art for AIDS" auctions have raised more than $2.9 million for its Free Care Fund, which provides the resources for Persad, a licensed counseling center specifically created to serve people living with HIV, to help those in need.

Monday night, come to the Carnegie Museum of Art to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of this most important and successful event, which is now called "Celebrate Life, Celebrate Art."

Three internationally known artists -- Adelaide LaFond, Michael Lotenero and Burton Morris -- have created unique works to honor the anniversary. Their works, and more than 150 pieces of original art, will be available for either live or silent auction beginning at 6 p.m. The event and silent auction will end at 11 p.m., bringing to a close what is always a fun celebration in and of itself.

Carnegie Museum of Art is at 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $75 and may be purchased by calling 412-441-9786, ext. 313.

-- Kurt Shaw

Webb Wilder is one of those musicians who seems to be on the verge of bigger things but never quite gets there. Sometimes called "a Tom Petty for the trailer set," Wilder has a musical range that extends from the British invasion to punk to roots. Or, as Wilder, from Hattiesburg, Miss., has said, he plays two kinds of music: rock and roll.

Wilder's most recent CD, "Born to be Wilder" is a live release. By song title alone -- "You Might Be Lonely For a Reason," "Stay Out of Automobiles" -- you can tell he has a wicked sense of humor. But don't let that fool you: Wilder and his band, the Beatnecks, can play.

Wilder visits Moondog's in Blawnox on Saturday for a 9:30 p.m. show.

Details: 412-828-2040.

-- Regis Behe

There's something about the national pastime's unrushed pace that lends itself to good writing. From Robert Creamer's "The Legend Comes to Life" and Lawrence Ritter's "The Glory of Their Times" to W. P. Kinsella's "Shoeless Joe" and Bernard Malamud's "The Natural," baseball has always been stimulating literary fodder.

Today at 8 p.m., the American Shorts Reading Series celebrates "The Anatomy of Baseball." Featured readers will be Pirates broadcaster Lanny Frattare, National Public Radio commentator and author Stefan Fatsis, and Lee Gutkind, the editor of Creative Nonfiction magazine.

Also, there will be music by the Pittsburgh Banjo Club and a screening of Rob Ruck's "Kings on the Hill," an award-winning documentary about Pittsburgh's Negro Baseball League teams.

The $10 admission also includes refreshments.

Details: 412-622-6688, www.pittsburghlectures.org.

-- Regis Behe

Many of the North America's finest instrumentalists will converge on Pittsburgh on Monday for a special chamber music concert that is being jointly presented by Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society and The St. Barts Music Festival.

The program features unusual instrumental combinations, such as Igor Stravinsky's "The Soldier's Tale" -- for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, violin, string bass and percussion. It will be performed complete, with narration by actor Philippe Benichou.

Performers include current or former principal players of the Chicago and St. Louis symphonies and the Philadelphia and Metropolitan Opera orchestras. Pittsburgh Symphony principals participating are bassoonist Nancy Goeres in the Stravinsky and harpist Gretchen Van Hoesen in Claude Debussy's Sonata for flute, viola and harp.

The performance starts at 8 p.m. Monday at Shady Side Academy, Fox Chapel. Tickets are $20 to $40.

Details: 412-394-3363.

-- Mark Kanny

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre will present a sampling of more than century of dance styles this weekend at performances in Fox Chapel and Fayette County.

The program for both shows includes "glint" by Lauri Stallings, to music of local rock favorite B.E. Taylor, that the ballet commissioned and premiered in February.

The dancers also will reprise recent productions of "Allegro brillante," in which legendary 20th-century choreographer George Balanchine said he distilled into 13 minutes everything he knew about classical ballet. The oldest piece is the popular pas de deux from the 19th-century ballet "Le Corsair."

The performances start at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Shady Side Academy, Fox Chapel, and 7 p.m. Saturday at The Eberly Campus of Penn State, Fayette County.

Admission at Shadyside Academy is $22.50, $17.50 for students, alumni and senior citzens. Details: 412-394-3353.

Admission at Penn State, Fayette County, is $20, $15 for students and those 11 and younger. Details: 724-430-4211.

-- Mark Kanny

While emo rockers Thrice might be the top draw Wednesday night at Club Zoo, make sure you don't show up too late for the opening act, Chicago's Pelican.

The all-instrumental metal band's two-guitar attack is intricate and explosive, without resorting to the kind of cliched solos and predictable pyrotechnics that clog the arteries of many a metal album.

Tickets are $18 to $20, and the show starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Strip. Also on the bill is Circa Survive. Details: 412-323-1919.

-- Michael Machosky

Thomas Wesley Douglas is shaping upcoming concerts by the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh directed at brotherhood rather than protest.

"There an enormous unifying thought when you deal with oppression because most of us have faced some kind of oppression in some way or other," says the musical director of the ensemble. "It becomes a matter of all of us supporting each other."

The concerts this weekend are titled "The Promise of Freedom" and look at the optimism and strength that can arise from oppressed people. It will use American gospel music and spirituals, songs from concentration camps and even some reggae from Bob Marley.

Besides soloists from the choir, it also will employ the Ambridge Area High School Steel Drum Band and the Bach Choir Collegiate Chorus.

That ensemble, made up of students from St. Vincent College in Latrobe and Seton Hill University in Greensburg, first was seen in the spring 2007 performance of Leonard Bernstein's "Mass."

Mezzo-soprano Carolyn Maue, one of the soloists from the choir, agrees with Douglas' outlook. She says his thoughts seem to reflect a philosophical outlook more than a political one. He is making the choir "a medium that is extremely strong in expressing those ideas," she says. She will be singing a Jewish song, "Yeish Kochavim," which talks about the guidance we all get from the memories of those we have lost.

Concerts are 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 116. S. Highland Ave. Admission: $10 to $25. Details: 412-394-3353.

-- Bob Karlovits

Salsamba and singer Kenia will create a colorful, exotic Tuesday at Theater Square, Downtown.

Salsamba, the group specializing in Afro-Cuban jazz, will perform at the Happy Hour concert in the Cabaret Theater while Brazilian native and Fox Chapel resident Kenia will follow the band in the adjacent Backstage Bar.

Salsamba, founded by guitarist Eric Susoeff, is a steady provider of Afro-Cuban jazz in this area.

Similarly, Kenia does well-known Brazilian music such as samba and bossa nova, but forms such as the marchinha. Salsamba begins 5 p.m., and Kenia will follow at 8 p.m. Admission is free. Theater Square is at 655 Penn Ave. Details: 412-456-6666.

-- Bob Karlovits

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