Watch some classic Frank Capra films (or a new documentary), catch an outdoor concert in Riverview or Mellon parks or celebrate pickles Downtown — here's what to do in Pittsburgh this weekend.
Film
The Harris Theater continues a Frank Capra retrospective. The classics of Depression-era pluck and optimism include “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and the 1938 Jimmy Stewart comedy “You Can’t Take It With You.” Screenings continue through July; the new documentary “Frank Capra: Mr. America” screens Sun., July 21.
Festival
We’ll spare you any more pickle puns, but suffice it to say Picklesburgh is back, a day longer and with new attractions. The big Downtown fest now runs four days starting Thu., July 18. It features 65 vendors of an array of pickle-themed foods and drinks, live music and the inaugural Olympickle Games, which incorporate the now-traditional Pickle Juice Drinking Contest along with new additions pickle-eating and bobbing for pickles. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership festival occupies the Boulevard of the Allies, PPG Plaza and Market Square through Sunday.
Theater
Life among the young bohemians in the 1980s East Village, in the shadow of HIV/AIDS: Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer- and Tony-winner “Rent” was arguably the musical of the ’90s. Pittsburgh’s Stage 62 brings Larson’s update of “La Boheme” to life with songs like the title tune, “Another Day” and “Seasons of Love.” Performances at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, in Carnegie, run Thu., July 18, through Sun., July 28.
Film
Award-winning Pittsburgh filmmaker Emmai Alaquiva this week premieres “The Ebony Canal,” his feature-length documentary about Black infant mortality and Black maternal health. The film, narrated by Oscar-winner Viola Davis, documents the pregnancies of four Black women and seeks solutions to the high death rates of Black babies and the health problems of Black mothers. The premiere screening is Fri., July 19, at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center.
Theater
Multiple generations of a wildly dysfunctional rural Illinois family collide in “Buried Child,” on stage this week and next at Throughline Theatre. Sam Shepard’s darkly comic drama won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979. Katy Chmurra directs an ensemble cast including Brett Sullivan Santry, Susana Garcia, Jeff Johnston and Michael McBurney. There are seven performances at Carnegie Stage, in Carnegie, from Fri., July 19, to Sun., July 28.
Music
Two free City of Pittsburgh summer music series continue this weekend. The evening of Sat., July 20, on Observatory Hill at Riverview Park, Stars at Riverview features the rootsily edgy original tunes of Colin and the Crows. And Sun., July 21, starting at 10:30 a.m., Pittsburgh’s all-voice barbershop group Vocal Confluence performs at the long-running Bach, Beethoven and Brunch, in Shadyside’s Mellon Park.
