From a kid-friendly New Years Countdown to Noon to First Night to "A Magical Cirque Christmas," there's plenty happening in Pittsburgh this weekend!
Flowers and lights
From its otherworldly outdoor light display to the spectacular installations in Victoria Court, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden’s Holiday Magic! Winter Flower Show and Light Garden might be Pittsburgh’s definitive winter wonderland. But while winter has officially only just begun, not much time remains to see this seasonal display: The show closes Jan. 7.
Stage
If you’re into circus-style acts — and one last burst of holiday music — A Magical Cirque Christmas visits the Benedum Center for two performances this week. Aerial talent, contortionists, unicyclists, rolla bolla performers and even a magician take the stage as this seasonal production closes its national tour with a Fri., Dec. 29, show and a Sat., Dec. 30, matinee.
Comedy
At Arcade Comedy Theater, Well Known Strangers performs “Coulda Woulda Shoulda … A New Year’s Improv About What Might Have Been.” On Sat., Dec. 30, the veteran local long-form improv team will solicit an audience suggestion on the theme and spin it into a unique, one-night-only performance. The twist is that they’ll do it mockumentary style, generating laughs out of what might have been.
Celebrations for kids
Maybe your kids want to celebrate the New Year, but they can’t stay up that late (or, more to the point, you don’t want them to). The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh offers an alternative with its annual daytime New Year’s Eve celebration, Countdown to Noon. Live music, a silent disco, and art and maker activities complement the confetti drop at noon on Sun., Dec. 31. Extended holiday hours at the museum and Museum Lab continue through Tue., Jan. 2.
Film
Row House Cinema explores a novel programming idea with Public Domain Day. On Mon., Jan. 1, the Lawrenceville theater will show a full day of silent films from 1928, all of which will enter the public domain on that very date. They include an adaption of Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Chaplain’s classic “The Circus,” the German expressionist touchstone “The Man Who Laughs,” Carl Theodor Dreyer’s landmark “The Passion of Joan of Arc,” and Buster Keaton’s brilliant “The Cameraman.”
