Get All Your Holiday Gifts at Handmade Arcade
Plus, After Dark does the city in 48 hours and a musical classic comes to the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
Handmade Arcade photo by Dave White on Flickr
Get all your holiday gifts at Handmade Arcade
Amid reports that some retailers have bumped “Black Friday” up to “Black Midnight,” it seems that we’re only a few years from seeing our Thanksgivings wholly consumed by the need to pick up a flat-screen TV at a 30-percent discount. Why mess with potential trampling, repeated subjection to non-denominational holiday music and frozen treks through mall parking lots this winter? Get your gifts Saturday at Handmade Arcade!
The award-winning craft fair makes its return to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center Nov. 12 for eight hours of unique goods from local artisans. With 120-plus vendors participating in the event, Handmade Arcade promises “a wide range of handmade and creative goods—from housewares, baby clothing and art prints, to jewelry, accessories and upcycled fashions.” And while the atmosphere will likely be more congenial than your average big-box retailer on a frosty morning after Thanksgiving, it won’t necessarily be less crowded—previous Arcades have attracted 10,000 shoppers.
(1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., downtown. Sat., Nov. 12, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Free. Info: handmadearcade.com)
At home, he's a tourist
I’m heading to Gettysburg this weekend, doing a whirlwind tour of battlefields, history, period-appropriate dining and the like. While jamming reservations and arrangements into a 48-hour period, though, I got to thinking: What would I tell a visitor to do with the same timeframe here in the ’Burgh? Where would I send the traveler in search of food, sights, local color and a drink or two from Friday afternoon to Sunday post-lunch? This week’s After Dark explores the compact, whirlwind tour of Pittsburgh—from Ducky Tours to a beer and a shot. And remember: You can still enter to win tickets to the Public Theater’s upcoming Mix at Six!
Point Park goes to Illyria; you go for cheap
The musical wunderkinds at Point Park University are bringing a unique look at a classic to the Pittsburgh Playhouse this weekend. Peter Mills’ Illyria is a musical reinterpretation of the immortal Shakespeare comedy Twelfth Night, injecting the playful chaos of the bard’s farce with music to match. And if you’re in the mood for a great production but are a little light in the wallet, this Saturday afternoon’s performance will be a “pay-what-you-can” showing. Interest piqued in the original? Not to worry—Point Park’s bringing the classic to the stage next month!
(Pittsburgh Playhouse, 222 Craft Ave., Oakland. Nov. 11-20: Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. Regularly $18-20; pay-what-you-can promo only offered for the 2 p.m. show on Nov. 12. Info, tickets: 412/392-8000, pittsburghplayhouse.com)
In theaters this weekend
New films coming to Pittsburgh this weekend include the 3-D exercise in unnecessary action Immortals, the Adam Sandler exercise in self-parody Jack and Jill, the Oscar-bait exercise in sinister biography J. Edgar, and the buzzworthy exercise in starmaking Martha Marcy May Marlene. PM Film Editor Sean Collier will appear on the 102.5 WDVE Morning Show tomorrow at 7:10 a.m. to review J. Edgar and Martha Marcy May Marlene; he could’ve attended a screening of Jack and Jill as well, but he values his sanity. Tune in to 102.5 FM or DVE.com tomorrow morning for Sean’s reviews!
More events
Tonight, why not let the rhythm take control by taking a Zumba class at the Carnegie Performing Arts Center? Have a blast burning calories while learning the basics—merengue, reggaeton and salsa. READ MORE.
Get behind the lens of nine local photographers by checking out "Picturing the City: Downtown Pittsburgh, 2007-2010" at the Carnegie Museum of Art. See action shots (like the construction of Rivers Casino) along photos of some memorable moments (like fans seated outside Mellon Arena during the last Pens game held there). READ MORE.
