Shirley McMarlin stories, Page 29

Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s “Home for the Holidays” concert is an annual tradition for many people. Ron and Kathy Brown had their first date at the concert 14 years ago, and they’ve been returning ever since. “We come every year,” Ron Brown said. “We have to.” They make it a double...

If you’re running out of time to find that special gift for that special someone, this could be the year when the thing to give is not a thing at all. As Christmas bears down upon us, here are a few ideas for practical gifts that can make life easier...

Where did we come from? Why are we here? Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will explore those existential questions and more in “Origin Stories,” a free program set for 7 p.m. Jan. 27 at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. Assistant Conductor Moon Doh will lead the musical journey inspired by ancient understandings of...

The Electric Light Orchestra album “Out of the Blue” helped Ronda Price through a hard time in her life. As a young teen, she played it on repeat during the summer of 1979 after her mother passed away. Forty years later, she offered a gesture of thanks by forming Into...

‘Does Someone Need a Hug?’ “Elf the Musical” comes to the stage of the Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, courtesy of Actors and Artists of Fayette County. A Sunday matinee is sold out. Based on the 2003 movie starring...

The catalogue for “Simple Pleasures: The Art of Doris Lee,” currently showing in The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, has made the list of The New York Times Best Art Books of 2021. The 240-page, fully illustrated, full-color hardback catalogue includes an essay by The Westmoreland’s chief curator...

Revelers can party like it’s 1799 at the annual Twelfth Night celebration set for Jan. 8 at Fort Ligonier. It will be a blast from the colonial past as guests attend in period costume to partake of wassail and rum punch and to put their best foot forward for English...

Amidst their Christmas revelry, Rotary Club of Greensburg members took time to give special recognition to the wives of two members. The group gathered for a party on Dec. 14 in the YWCA Westmoreland County’s Huff Mansion headquarters in Greensburg. Honorees were Janet James and Barbara Bloom, who were named...

Allegheny County nonprofit arts and cultural organizations will get a financial boost to help with post-pandemic recovery, thanks to a $500,000 grant to American Rescue Plan grant to the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council from the National Endowment for the Arts. The arts council will regrant 90% of the funds to...

The Art on Tap happy hour at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art has been reimagined as Art After Hours. While retaining popular elements such as an art scavenger hunt, musical entertainment, light refreshments and libations, the event now has an added emphasis on the artist whose work is showing...

“There’s no place like home for the holidays,” says the old Harold Arlen song. And there’s no place like The Palace Theatre for Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s annual “Home for the Holidays” concert. After going virtual for the 2020 performance, the orchestra will be back on stage at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18...

Mac attack If you’re a Fleetwood Mac fan, you need to get yourself to the Lamp Theatre this weekend. Tusk, the band billing itself as “The Number One Tribute to Fleetwood Mac,” will play shows at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the downtown Irwin venue. Tusk promises note-for-note renditions...

In baking, the results are best when the cook sticks to the recipe. The same thing can be said of life, according to Bishop Larry Kulick of the Diocese of Greensburg. “I always say (life is) like baking a cake,” he writes in the preface to a new diocesan cookbook....

The National Aviary has received an early Christmas gift, with renewed accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Glad tidings from the facility on Pittsburgh’s North Side also include the return of special holiday events after a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic. “AZA accreditation is the gold...

For ballet fans, holiday productions of “The Nutcracker” are part of what makes this the most wonderful time of the year. Adapted from “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” an 1816 story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, the ballet tells the tale of a girl who befriends a nutcracker that comes to...

You name the event, and Jason Kendall will provide entertainment for it — but there’s one annual event that is particularly close to his heart. “This is the show we look forward to the most throughout the year,” said Kendall, of “Celebration,” an all-star music benefit for Greater Pittsburgh Community...

The permanent collection of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art will be one work richer following the annual dinner meeting of the Westmoreland Society. The ardent group of supporters met Dec. 3 at the Greensburg museum to break bread and to vote on two oil paintings put forth for members’...

Joe Weltner’s 90-year-old grandmother still tells the story. Back in the day, she and her husband were driving the grandkids around to look at the neighborhood Christmas decorations. From the back seat, young Joe — probably 6 at the time — was heard to mutter, “I hate white lights.” “From...

These days, you often find Christmas decorations next to Halloween candy in the stores. In May, Better Homes & Gardens magazine made a case for decorating early. Among the reasons: • The decorations evoke feelings of nostalgia, excitement and happiness (harking back to childhood). • They foster feelings of coziness...

Saint Vincent Summer Theatre will celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with “Celebrate the Season: A Christmas Show.” Four professional artists — including Broadway veterans and a winner of “The Great Race” — will be on stage, along with Greggory Brandt, SVST producing artistic director. They will be...

The executive director of the Mattress Factory has announced plans to step down from her role in April. Hayley Haldeman began her tenure with the Pittsburgh North Side museum in February 2019 as interim director, following the 2018 death of Mattress Factory founder Barbara Luderowski. Haldeman had been serving on...

Getting a message to you The music of the Bee Gees is stayin’ alive with a tribute group called The New York Bee Gees, playing at 8 p.m. Friday in The Palace Theatre in Greensburg. The New York-based band includes musicians who have played with renowned acts including The Alan...

Matilda Wormwood is a precocious little English girl born to parents who are neglectful, anti-intellectual and possibly criminal. At school, her classmates and kindly teacher are bullied by the headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. When Matilda discovers that her angry feelings unleash telekinetic powers, she sets out to use them to teach...

When one thinks about New Year’s Eve, rabbits probably aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2022 just might change that. “A highlight of this year’s event, ‘Intrude’ from Parer Studios in Australia is a true spectacle,” says Sarah Aziz, director of festival management for...

In 2022, Carnegie Museum of Art will examine themes of American industry through local and national lenses, with exhibitions culminating in the 58th Carnegie International. “This will be a very big year for us,” said Eric Crosby, the Henry J. Heinz II Director of the facility in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section....