THE hot list
THURSDAY-SUNDAY A clown’s parade
“Cirque du Soleil: Corteo” brings 51 acrobats, musicians, singers and actors from all around the world to PPG Paints Arena, Uptown.
“Corteo,” which premiered in Montreal in April 2005, is described as a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown, who watches his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by caring angels.
The show has been performed in 19 countries on four continents.
Times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $47 to $140; ticketmaster.com.
Spears at Improv
Comedian Aries Spears, who was a cast member on Fox’s sketch comedy show “MadTV” and appeared in the films “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” “The Pest” and “Jerry Maguire,” performs this weekend at the Pittsburgh Improv at the Waterfront, Homestead.
Among the recurring characters he played on “MadTV” were Belma Buttons, Bill Cosby, Jesse Jackson, Walter (Crackheads), Reggie (Erascist) and Dollar Bill Montgomery.
Times are 8 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday; 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday; and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $25; ticketweb.com.
THURSDAY Lettuce jam
Boston jam band Lettuce, still well within in its salad days, returns to the Rex Theater, South Side, for an evening that promises “psychedelic sonics, blissful grooves, jazz rhythms and hip-hop inspired beats.”
The sextet, which formed in 1992, is still touring behind “Witches Stew,” its jazz fusion tribute to Miles Davis recorded live at the 2016 Catskill Chill. The band is working on a studio album follow-up.
It is joined by Ghost Note at 8 p.m. Tickets are $31; ticketfly.com.
Roots of Rufus
It’s been 20 years since Rufus Wainwright came along with an acclaimed debut album and with a unique sound he referred to as “popopera.”
The 45-year-old singer-songwriter reaches back to his roots with a show at the Byham Theater, Downtown, that focuses on that self-titled debut, along with the more successful follow, “Poses.” Last year, his second opera, “Hadrian,” premiered at the Canadian Opera Company.
He recently told Variety, “If my first record really had been successful on a monetary level, and gotten all the praise and attention, I do think it could have killed me, honestly. I don’t think I was ready to deal with that kind of scrutiny, and that kind of loss of privacy, and I think my ego would have devoured me at that point. So I was spared a lot of misery by not actually being so famous.”
The show is at 8 p.m. with Lucy Roche. Tickets are $49.25 to $54.25; trustarts.org.
FRIDAY-SATURDAY Zep tribute
Get The Led Out does just that with a show at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg.
The Philadelphia-based group’s approach is to run the gamut from “Tangerine” to “Black Dog” with three guitarists on stage and “no wigs or fake English accents.”
“Led Zeppelin are sort of the classical composers of the rock era,” singer Paul Sinclair said in a statement. “I believe 100 years from now they will be looked at as the Bach or Beethoven of our time. As cliché as it sounds, their music is timeless.”
Shows are 8 p.m. Tickets are $27 to $37; thepalacetheatre.org.
FRIDAY To the moon
EQT Bridge Theater Series continues with Theatre Unspeakable presenting
“Moon Shot,” a performance piece that re-creates the story of the Apollo 11 lunar landing with seven actors squeezed onto a 21-square-foot stage nearly as tight as NASA’s original Mercury capsules.
The show, recommended for ages 7 plus, features acting, storytelling, sound
effects, physical theater, and comedy with moments of silence and minimal staging.
It’s at the Byham, Downtown, at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $12; trustarts.org.
SATURDAY
Transient duo
Transient Canvas, the unusual bass clarinet/marimba duo of Amy Advocat and Matt Sharrock, will play the Sound Series at The Andy Warhol Museum, North Side.
The duo, which has commissioned more than 80 pieces from composers all over the world, released its debut album, “Sift,” in 2017 and followed that last year with “Wired.”
The concert is co-presented by the Music on the Edge series of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Music.
It’s at 8 p.m. in the The Warhol theater. Tickets are $15/$10 students and seniors in advance; $20/$15 students and seniors at the door; warhol.org.
Flipping over art
The Pittsburgh Pancakes & Booze Art
Show at Spirit in Lawrenceville presents more than 60 emerging artists showcasing work in a “Warhol-style, anything-goes” environment with live music, body painting, multimedia displays and free pancakes.
The idea originated in 2009 in Los Angeles and has since popped up in more than 35 cities around the world.
It begins at 8 p.m. at 242 51st St. Admission is $10 to $13; pancakesandbooze.com/pittsburgh.
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
Motoring Wanna get away?
The Pittsburgh RV Show offers 9 acres of possibilities at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. Guests can check out the newest models, latest technology, accessories and everything RV-related.
Show hours are 10 a.m to 9 p.m Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, and it continues through Jan. 27 with hours 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday and 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Tickets are $12; $10 seniors 55 and over and active military; $5 kids 6-16; pittrvshow.com.
SUNDAY
PettyGrass Keller Williams and The Hillbenders take the music of Tom Petty into the bluegrass with the PettyGrass project show at the Byham Theater, Downtown.
The singer-songwriter-guitarist known for his one-man jam band shows launched PettyGrass in 2015 for his annual hometown SPCA benefit. He recorded the rehearsals as voice memos on his phone and then after Tom Petty’s death, he and longtime collaborator Jeff Covert enhanced these recordings and posted them as a tribute.
For this tour, he’s joined by the “genrebending” Springfield, Mo., ensemble The Hillbenders.
It begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $30; trustarts.org.
Vacationer’s ‘Mindset’
Vacationer, a blissful indie-pop band from Philly, pays a visit to Spirit, Lawrenceville, touring behind its third album, “Mindset.”
Despite being from eastern Pennsylvania, the band works in a style it calls “nuhula” for its tropical feel.
Vacationer singer-bassist Ken Vasoli, who co-founded the group in 2010, said upon the release of the album that he was inspired by Beach Boys, Barry White and Curtis Mayfield records.
“Those albums feel like the magic moments that I’m always chasing after in my own music. It’s such an unbelievable display of production and composition happening at the same time, and it inspired me to keep that integrity of ‘60s and ‘70s record-making while using the technology that I’d been studying.”
It begins at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $15; ticketmaster.com.
WHAT’S NEW THIS WEEK NEW ON DVD
“Halloween”: Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago. Rotten Tomatoes: 79% fresh.
“The Old Man & the Gun”: Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker and his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public. With Robert Redford, Casey Affleck. Rotten Tomatoes: 91% fresh. “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween”:
Halloween comes to life in a comedy adventure based on R.L. Stine’s 400 millionselling series of books. Rotten Tomatoes: 47% fresh.
NEW MUSIC FRIDAY
Sharon Van Etten, “Remind Me Tomorrow”: Fifth album and first in four years from the Brooklyn indie-rocker promises a more “energetic-upbeat” approach.
Joe Jackson, “Fool”: The veteran piano rocker says his latest eight-song album is themed to “Comedy and Tragedy and the way they’re intertwined in all our lives. The songs are about fear and anger and alienation and loss but also about the things that still make life worth living: friendship, laughter and music, or art, itself. I couldn’t have done this in 1979. I just hadn’t lived enough.” Deerhunter, “Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?”: Eighth album from the Atlanta indie-rock band that will play Mr. Smalls on March 5 is billed as “a science fiction album about the present.”
Guster, “Look Alive”: The Boston band’s eighth album was recorded primarily with Leo Abrahams (Regina Spektor, David Byrne) in a vintage keyboard museum in Calgary and embraces “‘colder,’
more varied instrumental sounds more than ever before.”
Malibu Ken, “Malibu Ken”: Tobacco, leader of Pittsburgh’s Black Moth Super Rainbow, teams with Rhymesayers rapper Aesop Rock on a self-titled debut that includes the aggressive single “Acid King.”
WHAT’S ON TV
“Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” (Netflix): Documentary about the much-hyped Bahamas music festival that flamed out. Friday.
“Grace and Frankie: Season 5” (Netflix): Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin’s characters launch a scheme to get their old lives back. Friday. “Howie Mandel Presents Howie Mandel at the Howie Mandel Comedy Club”
(Showtime): In his first solo comedy special in 20 years, the comedian reflects on his 40-year marriage, his successful career and life in general. 10 p.m. Friday.
“Crashing” (HBO): Third season launch of Pete Holmes and Judd Apatow’s look behind the scenes of stand-up comedy finds Mr. Holmes returning to the New York club scene with more confidence. 10 p.m. Sunday.
“High Maintenance” (HBO): Season three premiere of Ben Sinclair comedy series about a New York pot delivery man. 10:30 p.m. Sunday.