Things to do in Western Pa.: Feb. 10, 2021

The doldrums of February is a good time to hunker down at home and watch a movie. The Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival, Row House Cinema and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust have at-home streaming options, ranging from serious to silly.

Also coming up are music livestreams, art and theater happenings and Black History Month programs.

The details are here, in this week’s Big List.

Art

• Reopening: The Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh’s North Side reopens to the public today. New hours will be 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesdays and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays. Boxspring Café will reopen at a later date.

Timed-entry tickets are required, with 10 tickets sold per time slot. Staff members will direct guest traffic to avoid congestion in the galleries.

Details: mattress.org

• Finding patterns: The selection of works for “Pattern Makers,” a current exhibition at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, is the topic of a virtual discussion from 7-8 p.m. Feb. 17. Participants will be Barbara Jones, The Westmoreland’s chief curator, and Alex Taylor, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh, whose students selected the featured works from the museum’s permanent collection.

Registration is required at thewestmoreland.org.

• Billboards and photos: Two exhibitions are showing in the Seton Hill Arts Center in downtown Greensburg. The Diversity Billboard Art Project is on display through Feb. 27 in the Harlan Gallery, while “A Photogram Toy Story,” a solo exhibition by faculty member Barry Reeger, is in the Jodee Harris Gallery through Feb. 28.

Although the galleries are not open to walk-ins, visits can be arranged by contacting gallery director Todd Keyser at tkeyser@setonhill.edu.

• Public art projects: Westmoreland County Bureau of Parks and Recreation is offering grants to nonprofit organizations to support arts-related projects and activities that will benefit county residents. Eligible projects may involve music, theater, dance, puppetry and other performing and visual arts. Virtual arts-related projects also will be accepted.

Projects must take place from June 1-Dec. 31. Applicants should be familiar with all criteria before submitting. Deadline is March 30.

Details: 724-830-3950 or co.westmoreland.pa.us/parks

• Artist market: Applications are being taken through April 15 for the 7th annual Mt. Lebanon Artists’ Market, set for Oct. 2-3. The juried arts festival will include about 60 artists offering professional quality, original art in various media. Booth fees will be refunded if the market is canceled due to covid-19.

Details: mtlebopartnership.org

Comedy

• A good laugh: South West Communities Chamber of Commerce, headquartered in Bridgeville, is hosting an online comedy date night at 9 p.m. Saturday. Performers include Aaron Kleiber, Helen Wildy, Leslie Cavala, Michael Buzzelli and Brittany Alexis. A ticket is $15 per household.

Details: 412-221-4100 or southwestcommunitieschamber.org

Discussion

• Talk it over: The Socrates Cafe discussion group will meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 15 in the new Delmont Public Library at 75 School St. Members of the public are invited to join in the session on topics of interest; no politics, please.

Film

• ‘A Resurrection’: The Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival is streaming “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection” through Friday. The 2019 Mosotho drama tells the story of Mantoa, who struggles against a plan to flood the valley where her village lies for a dam.

A live Zoom discussion at 6 p.m. Thursday will feature director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, along with moderator Macrina C. Lelei, director of the University of Pittsburgh African Studies Program. The discussion is free but requires registration.

• Movie spoofs: Pittsburgh’s Row House Cinema will release its virtual “The Sweded Film Festival for Creative Re-Creations” on Friday. The compilation reel offers homemade versions of “Die Hard,” “Air Force One,” “No Country for Old Men,” “The Lighthouse,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Stop Making Sense,” made during quarantine.

The in-theater festival launched four years ago, inspired by Michel Gondry’s 2008 film “Be Kind, Rewind,” in which two video-store workers create brief-but-bizarre movie remakes, unintentionally creating a fad.

A virtual ticket is $3.99 at rowhouse.online.

sweded

• Golden Globe nominees: The Tull Family Theater in Sewickley is screening these movies nominated for 2021 Golden Globe Awards through Feb. 18: “The Little Things,” with Denzel Washington; “News of the World,” with Tom Hanks; and “The Croods: A New Age.” Valentine’s Day offerings include a lineup of iconic romantic comedies.

Details: thetullfamilytheater.org

• Cinema at home: Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s current Harris @ Home film series is available for streaming through Feb. 15. Titles include “Rock Camp: The Movie,” documentary on program that brings would-be shredders together for lessons with real-life rock stars; “The Reason I Jump,” exploring the experiences of nonspeaking people with autism from around the world; and “The Changin’ Times of Ike White,” about a music prodigy convicted of murder who went off the grid after an early release and acclaimed album.

Details: trustarts.org

History

• Family ties: The Senator John Heinz History Center will present “The Bonds of Family and Legacy,” exploring the Black family through history, literature, visual arts, social policy and the culture of the culinary arts, at 6 p.m. Thursday via Zoom. The free program is presented in partnership with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Advance registration is required at heinzhistorycenter.org.

• Celebration: The John L. Ford Sr. African American Heritage Celebration, a free annual event focusing on the sacrifices and contributions of African Americans during American conflicts, will stream at 7 p.m. Thursday on the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Facebook video page and YouTube channel. Participants include Michael Krauss, Soldiers & Sailors curator of collections; historians LaQuay Edward Carter and Richard Condon; and journalist Lynn Hayes Freeman.

Kids’ stuff

• Music education: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is offering Virtual Schooltime, a series of three units of music education for students in grades PreK-6, and an additional unit for students in grades 6-12. Units combine performances by PSO musicians and guest artists, and supplementary resources.

Each unit will be made available free to educators through a closed online platform hosted on the PSO website, pittsburghsymphony.org. Registration is required.

Music

• Live on stage: HABATAT will play at 7 p.m. Thursday in Greensburg’s The Palace Theatre, as part of the weekly VIP Experience livestream concert series. The free concert will stream on The Palace Theatre and Westmoreland Cultural Trust Facebook pages.

Details: thepalacetheatre.org

• ‘Classical Heart’: Mark Kosower, principal cello of the Cleveland Orchestra, joins the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra for a Valentine’s weekend concert streaming at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Artistic director Daniel Meyer will conduct the program of music by Rossini, Vaughan Williams, Boccherini and Tchaikovsky.

A concert stream pass is $35 at westmorelandsymphony.org.

• Pops concert: Vocalist Nick Pietrusinski will perform at noon Feb. 16 in Saint Vincent College’s Music at Midday series, livestreaming on the college’s Facebook page. Pietrusinski, a senior music and engineering double major from Monroeville, will perform 20th-century pop hits from the Verostko Center for the Arts on the Unity campus.

• Jazz series: MCG Jazz will host a streaming series of spring concerts, beginning at 7 p.m. Friday with the 85th birthday celebration of jazz musician Freddy Cole, featuring his band and special guests Joel Frahm on saxophone and vocalist Nnenna Freelon. The concert was recorded Oct. 29, 2016, on the MCG stage.

Details: mcgjazz.org

Theater

• ‘Love is a devil’: Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks will offer a digital production of “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” streaming live at 7 p.m. nightly from Thursday through Feb. 15. Featuring eight actors playing all the characters, the comedy “considers what happens when the conventions of courtly love succumb to passion — with some help from some witty wordplay,” PSIP says.

Admission is $17 in celebration of PSIP’s 17th season, with donations in any amount encouraged to support annual free performances in Pittsburgh city parks.

Details: pittsburghshakespeare.com

• New works: Pittsburgh CLO’s “Songs for a New Year” collaborative project features a newly commissioned work debuting at 5 p.m. each Thursday through Feb. 18 on the organization’s Facebook and YouTube pages. Works include a dance, visual or movement piece scored to a new song. This week’s video is “12 Grapes,” with music and lyrics by Austin Dean Ashford and Brian Quijada, choreographed by Juel D. Lane.

Details: pittsburghclo.org

• Romeo reimagined: Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Public PlayTime will stream a reading of “Romeo N Juliet,” a reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic love story amidst feuding African American and Black Immigrant communities. Resident Director Justin Emeka’s retelling retains the original language and story, while centering on Black culture and characters for modern audiences.

Streaming begins at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 and continues through Feb. 21. Donations for access start at $10.