THE HOT LIST THINGS TO DO
MercyMe (Thursday)
The Grammy-nominated contemporary Christian band from Oklahoma pulls into PPG Paints Arena to open its Together Again Tour, which supports the 11th album “Always Only Jesus.” It featured the hit “Then Christ Came.” MercyMe made history in 2014 when “I Can Only Imagine” surpassed 2 million digital downloads, making it the first song in Christian music to go platinum and doubleplatinum in the digital domain. Crowder and Andrew Ripp open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $29.50; ticketmaster.com.
‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ (Thursday- Sunday)
It’s the second and final weekend at the Benedum for the Tony-winning stage production of the Baz Luhrmann film set in turn-ofthe-20th-century Paris. The cast includes West Allegheny High School alumnus Chloe Rae Kehm; Mt. Lebanon native Max Heitmann, who plays drag performer Baby Doll; and Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Gabrielle McClinton. It’s presented by PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh. Times are 1 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $50; trustarts.org.
The Rascals (Friday)
It should be a beautiful night when the 80year-old Felix Cavaliere, one of the all-time great blue-eyed soul singers, runs through the band’s golden hits, including “Groovin’,” “Good Lovin’” and “A Beautiful Morning.” The Lovin’ Spoonful, minus John Sebastian, opens, along with The Gemtones at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg. It begins at 7:30 p.m. $55; thepalacetheatre.org. Pittsburgh Fall Home Show (Friday-Sunday) Hundreds of exhibitors will assemble at David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, with a wide array of home products and services. Show highlights include a visit from Laura Dowling, who served as Chief Floral Designer at the White House from 2009 until 2015; the Ultimate Game Room, presented by Pool City, showcasing the newest 2024 furnishings from Jacuzzi, Brunswick, Plank and Hide, American Heritage and more; meetings with interior designers; and The Farm to Table Area, with holiday decorating ideas using hay bales, corn stalks, trees, wreaths and pumpkins. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10; $4 children Ages 6-12; pghhome.com.
Chatham Baroque (Friday-Sunday)
Pittsburgh’s resident early music trio, consisting of Andrew Fouts (violin), Patricia Halverson (viola da gamba), and Scott Pauley (theorbo), uses instruments from centuries past that conjure old-world feelings of grace and serenity. These concerts will cover early innovators of the instruments, Diego Ortiz and Giovanni Kapsperger; the 17th-century modern
style of Dario Castello and Isabella Leonarda; and the 21st century work, “for Emily,” by Pittsburgh composer, David Stock, which was composed for Chatham Baroque in memory of its founding violinist, Emily Norman Davidson. Concerts are 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Nicholas Millvale, and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Hicks Memorial Chapel, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Tickets are $45; $35 seniors; $20 students; chathambaroque.org.
A Boogie wit da Hoodie (Saturday)
The Bronx star, proclaimed by The New York Times to be “the most promising young rapper the city has produced in some time,” takes the leap from Stage AE to the Petersen Events Center, touring behind fourth album “Me vs. Myself.” Toosii and Kaliii open at 8 p.m. $50.50; ticketmaster.com.
Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh (Saturday-Sunday)
For this program, founder and conductor Edward Leonard and the musicians will tackle Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony (the Barshai arrangement), Debussy’s famously languid “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” and composer Trevor Weston’s “Messages.” Performances are 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Calvary United Methodist Church and 3 p.m. Sunday at Antonian Hall at Carlow University. Tickets are $30; $10 students; copgh.org.
Fall Flower Show: Hometown Harvest (Saturday)
Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens honors the harvest season and the plants and animals that make it possible with chrysanthemums in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Visitors can enjoy honeybees in flight in the Palm Court, shades of purple in the grape harvesting display, the calming sounds of crickets and geese in the Victoria Room, the Phipps Cider Mill with apples piled skyhigh around vibrant mums, the harvest moon in the Broderie Room and more. It runs through Oct. 29. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and until 10 p.m. on Fridays. Admission is $21.95 for adults, $19.95 for seniors and students, and $13.95 for children (ages 2-18). Members and kids under 2 enter free; phipps.conservatory.org.
Violins of Hope (Saturday)
The exhibition, a treasured collection of string instruments played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust, will begin a seven-week run at the Posner Center at Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday. It consists of 21 string instruments, belonging to Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein and his son Avshalom, the descendants of Moshe Weinstein, a master luthier who fled Europe in 1938. They will be accompanied by storyboards, photographs, videos documenting the Weinstein family and the Violins of Hope story, and projected imagery of the Theresienstadt Orchestra from a propaganda film. Docents will lead guided tours, providing the narrative for each instrument and an understanding of the role music played in the life of prisoners for survival or resistance. Exhibit hours will be 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday; 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays; and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Timed entry tickets are through Nov. 21 at violinsofhopepittsburgh.com/tickets-to-exhibit.
Festival of Combustion (Saturday)
Carrie Blast Furnaces in Swissvale is the site for this celebration of the industrial arts and American crafts with demonstrations by blacksmiths, glassblowers, welders and metal fabricators; hands-on activities; tours of the furnaces; food trucks; fireworks; and music by Tom Breiding and the Union Railroad, Bindley Hardware Co. and The Shameless Hex. It runs from 1 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, under age 18 free. Online ticket sales close at midnight Friday, October 6. Tickets will be $25 at the gate. Free parking is available on the grounds; riversofsteel.com.
‘The Red Dress’ (Saturday)
The Frick Pittsburgh in Point Breeze is the next stop for this collaborative embroidery project that spans four years, 380 embroiderers from 51 countries and consists of millions of stitches on one dress. It was conceived by British artist Kirstie Macleod as an artistic platform for women around the world, many of whom are vulnerable and live in poverty, to tell their personal stories through embroidery. It opens Saturday and runs through Jan. 28. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is free; TheFrickPittsburgh.org.
Brickfest Live (Saturday-Sunday)
It’s LEGO heaven at the Monroeville Convention Center with life-size models, hands-on attractions, a Guinness World-Record Setting Mosaic, hard-to-find LEGO merch and a Minecraft Zone. Tickets start at $16.99; brickfestlive.com.
Autumnfest (Saturday-Sunday)
This annual fall event opens for the first of three weekends at Seven Springs Mountain Resort with live music, scenic chairlift rides, craft/artisan marketplace, magicians, pumpkin patch, hay maze and more. The Saturday lineup features Michael Lindner and Jukebox, while Sunday is Riley Grant and Andy Davis. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 7springs.com.
Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin (Sunday)
Simonetti, who created soundtracks for such films as “Dawn of the Dead,” “Deep Red” and “Suspiria” will lead the veteran Italian prog-rock band in performing the live score of the 1985 horror flick “Demons.” The concert at Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall will also feature a comprehensive “best of” set. It’s at 8 p.m. Tickets are $44.75 to $69.75; librarymusichall.com.