ALL WEEKEND
SXSW online
The Austin-based South by Southwest Music Festival, which was the first major entertainment event to cancel last year due to the pandemic, will be an online event showcasing nearly 300 artists performing from unique and iconic venues around the globe.
Showcases vary from 30 minutes to over an hour in length with four to six artists performing, and they run from 1:30 to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon to 10:30 p.m. Saturday via web, mobile and the SXSW Online Connected TV app.
In addition to the Music Festival Showcases, passholders will have access to the full range of content available, including keynotes by Willie Nelson, Pete Buttigieg, Stacey Abrams with N.K. Jemisin, Charles Yu with Lisa Ling, and Priya Parker with Anand Giridharadas. Featured speakers include Queen Latifah, Chiquis, Mark Mothersbaugh, Wyclef Jean, Andrew Bird, Mary J. Blige, Carole King, Demi Lovato, Lenzo Yoon, Kenan Thompson, Chance the Rapper, Samantha Bee and Cherie Hu.
Film screenings and events include “Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free,” “The Sparks Brothers,” “Dream” and “Disintegration Loops.”
For details, visit sxsw.com.
City’s ‘Catastrophist’
City Theatre kicks off its digital spring season with the world premiere of “The Catastrophist” by Lauren Gunderson.
It is a co-production with Round House Theatre, a theater company based in Silver Spring and Bethesda, Md., and Marin Theatre Company in the San Francisco Bay Area,
which focuses on new American plays.
“The Catastrophist” is based on the life and work of Gunderson’s husband, Nathan Wolfe, a world-renowned virologist who presciently proposed pandemic insurance policies that no one purchased.
It is available to stream through April 4 at citytheatrecompany.org.
March mania THURSDAY Wecht talk
Rivers Casino Pittsburgh will offer March Mania viewing parties for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The reserved-seating viewing parties will take place in BetRivers Sportsbook Friday through Monday, and then March 27-28 and April 3 and 5. Reserved seats are available in the Event Center March 19-20. Doors to each viewing area will open at 11 a.m. with games beginning at noon.
Pricing starts at $25 for single seats and goes up to $600 for a booth that seats up to six. Go to RiversCasino.com/Pittsburgh.
The Senator John Heinz History Center will host a conversation with Pittsburgher and famed pathologist Cyril Wecht, co-author of the new book “The Life and Deaths of Cyril Wecht: Memoirs of America’s Most Controversial Forensic
Pathologist” at 7 p.m. on Zoom.
The program, moderated by KDKA-AM’s Larry Richert and the book’s co-author, Jeff Sewald, will delve into Wecht’s experiences working on the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, JonBenet Ramsey and more.
Wecht will also discuss his life in the public eye and his legal battles with powerful authorities. The program will also include an audience Q&A.
Admission is $10 for nonmembers and free for History Center members. Register at www.heinzhistorycenter.org/events.
Palace VIP
VIP Experience (Virtually in The Palace), the free Thursday night series livestreamed from The Palace Theatre in Greensburg, continues with Colin Southfield and The Mushroom Country Band.
It begins at 7 p.m. on the Trust and The Palace Theatre Facebook pages.
FRIDAY- SATURDAY Real live
Live, in-person music this weekend: Crafthouse Stage & Grill: The Whitehall venue presents Old Skool playing hip-hop hits at 7 p.m. Friday and Steeltown at 7 p.m. Saturday. $7; crafthousepgh.com.
Jergel’s: The Marshall venue presents B.B.
Steal ’80s Rewind at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. No cover. Jergels.com.
Lyndora Hotel Pub: The Butler club features Local Music Madness #4 with Cook McKoy (of Dinnerbell Road), Chip & the Charge Ups, The Redlines and Shag Dog Melon Head at 7 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $10.
SATURDAY PSO Front Row
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra virtual Front Row series continues with Manfred Honeck conducting a program that features pianist Inon Barnatan, praised by The New York Times as “one of the most admired pianists of his generation,” performing Mozart’s Concerto No. 12 in A major for Piano and Orchestra.
Also on the program are Ron Samuels performing Béla Kovács’ “Hommage a Zoltan Kodaly” for Solo Clarinet, plus Bartók’s Rumanian Folk Dances and Dvorak’s Serenade in E major for String Orchestra, Opus 22.
Musicians from the PSO will serve as guides and hosts for each program and offer personal commentary. New “interludes” will feature one solo brass or woodwind performance.
It premieres at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and is available through March 26. Tickets are $15 at www.psofrontrow.org.