From a new orchid and tropical bonsai show to an indoor beer festival to the music of Baroque Scotland and Acadia — here's what to do in Pittsburgh this weekend.
Exhibit
Those inherently extravagant flowers known as orchids take their place alongside painstakingly cultivated bonsai in the new show at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden. Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show: Into the Mist features those plants along with a decorative waterfall, an 8-foot wall shrouded in mist, and more. The exhibit continues through March 3.
Visual Art
Some 50 years ago, a widowed sculptor and designer named Barbara Luderowski moved to Pittsburgh, bought a former mattress factory on the North Side, and began turning it into an arts center. The Mattress Factory is now internationally known for its installation art, and Luderowski, though she died in 2018, is not forgotten. On Fri., Jan. 26 — what would have been her 94th birthday — the museum offers free admission all day.
Music
Two artists with roots in the Canadian maritime provinces join Chatham Baroque for “Through the Wood, Laddie – Music of Baroque Scotland and Acadia.” Chris Norman (wooden flutes and pipes) and soprano Pascale Beaudin team with the three-member Chatham ensemble for a program ranging from Baroque-era Scotland to French-Canadian folk tunes. The shows are Fri., Jan. 26 (at Teutonia Männerchor), Sat., Jan. 27 (Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie) and Sun., Jan. 28 (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary).
Beer
Actually, the 10th annual Pittsburgh Winter Beerfest isn’t all about craft beer; there are also ciders, seltzers, craft wines and distilled refreshments. In all, more than 200 beverages from makers both local and national will be available to sample the evening of Fri., Jan. 26, and in two sessions Sat., Jan. 27, all at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Film
What is “expanded cinema?” Broadly, it’s showing films as part of a multimedia presentation, incorporating anything from live performance to music, computer art, and television. See for yourself on Sat., Jan. 27, when cinema series Sync’d presents A Night of Expanded Cinema featuring Northern Lights Projections + Television (a multi-projector piece), Droning Brightness + Dirtbag (classic video processing blended with modern video synthesizers), and more. The show’s at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination.
Stage
Famed director Bartlett Sher’s acclaimed Lincoln Center Theater production of “My Fair Lady” is on the road, and this week’s stop is the Benedum Center. The classic Lerner & Loewe musical about Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins, featuring songs like “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “On the Street Where You Live,” visits courtesy of PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh. There are eight performances Tue., Jan. 30, through Sun., Feb. 4.
