Shirley McMarlin stories, Page 49
The Westmoreland’s Holiday Mart plans artist meet-and-greet, live music
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg will usher in the holiday season with its annual Holiday Mart from Friday through Sunday. The Museum Shop will offer 10% savings on all regularly priced items, a Maker Meet and Greet, a curated selection of merchandise from the featured makers, live...
Phipps annual winter flower show goes ‘Home for the Holidays’
The Winter Flower Show: Home for the Holidays will open Nov. 20 at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section. “There’s no better place to celebrate the holidays than Phipps’ Victorian glasshouse jewel,” said Joe Reed, director of marketing and communications. “This year’s show presents a ‘horticultural home...
Pittsburgh’s Row House Cinema seeks ‘weird, off-kilter’ films for festival
With many movie theaters still closed and few new releases right now, Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville is calling for entries for Rowhouse Online’s Sweded Film Festival for Creative Re-Creations, a feature-length compilation of homemade films. “ ‘Sweded’ films have nothing to do with Sweden and everything to do with...
First ladies’ recipes cover gamut from homey to haute cuisineVideo
Democrat or Republican, one thing all Presidents of the United States need to do is eat, and the job of making sure they’re well-fed often falls to the first lady. Not only does the first lady traditionally oversee the first family’s private meals, she also plans menus for state dinners....
PICT Classic Theatre streams ‘wicked drama,’ announces 24th season
PICT Classic Theatre is inviting theater lovers to enjoy “a wicked drama with great voices,” with its classic radio theater production of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll,” streaming through Saturday. PICT also will present an audio experience of the holiday classic, “Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol,” streaming Dec. 17-Jan....
Plans for PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh continue to evolve; ‘Hamilton’ confirmed for 2022Video
There’s good news and bad news about the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series, currently on hiatus due to pandemic restrictions. “I want to promise you and assure you that Pittsburgh will see Broadway again,” said Pittsburgh Cultural Trust CEO Kevin McMahon on Tuesday, during an online town hall meeting for...
Pitt-Greensburg plans online radio play version of ‘An Enemy of the People’
Clayton Gregg, a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, sees one advantage to the pandemic-driven practice of presenting Zoom versions of theater productions. “It might be good for someone with stage fright,” he said, to act from the comfort of home. Gregg will play the part of Peter...
Top 10 dog costumes for Halloween
Forget about the kids’ costumes — what is your dog wearing for Halloween? Costumes for furry friends are big business. According to the National Retail Foundation, Americans spent about $490 million on Halloween costumes for their pets in 2019. With entertainment options at a minimum during the pandemic, it’s a...
Westmoreland-based Derek Woods Band earns Hollywood music award nominationVideo
The first award nomination for a Westmoreland County-based band is a bright spot in a challenging year. “Unforgiving Tree,” a song and video by the Derek Woods Band, is nominated in the Americana/Folk/Acoustic category of the Hollywood Music in Media Awards to be announced Jan. 27. “We’re in a network...
Holiday gifts, fine art available at Greensburg Art Center sale
Take it from a member artist — Greensburg Art Center’s annual holiday show and sale is worth a visit. “It’s the best one we’ve ever had,” says Tom Niggel of Greensburg. “The Art of GIFTing” opened Saturday with an informal reception and runs through Dec. 21 at the center, 230...
Out & About: The Westmoreland’s Oktoberfest toasts polka, pumpkins, pintsVideo
How do you fix a broken tuba? With a “tuba” glue, obviously. If you had attended Friday evening’s Oktoberfest at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, you would have known the answer to that. The PolkaMeisters, a Pittsburgh-based good-time party band, entertained the crowd with a touch of...
Pittsburgh creative couple start residency at The WestmorelandVideo
A creative couple from Pittsburgh are the first-ever resident artists at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg. The arrangement formalizes a relationship that D.S. and Anqwenique Kinsel have had with the museum, including a February musical performance by Anqwenique in conjunction with “African American Art in the 20th...
Stage Right plans outdoor, circus sideshow-inspired ‘Rocky Horror Show Live’
Get ready to do the time warp again. Stage Right Theatre Company will stage “The Rocky Horror Show Live” under a big top tent on Oct. 23-24 and 30-31. There will be a few pandemic-driven changes to the company’s long-running Halloween season production, including the outdoor venue, said director and...
Diversity project billboards shine along Westmoreland County roadsVideo
Drivers on Westmoreland County highways are encouraged to take their eyes off the road — carefully — to look for new billboards offering messages of hope and healing. Ten artists created works that reflect the theme “Make Our Differences Our Strengths,” as part of the Diversity Billboard Art Project created...
Things to do in Western Pa.
What would you like to do for fun this week? Paint a bird portrait? Listen to some roots music? Have a few belly laughs? Get the kids to bed — for once — with a minimum of fuss? You can do all those things, and more. The details are here,...
Greensburg Holiday Markets offer added shop-local opportunities
Shoppers looking for locally sourced, one-of-a-kind and last-minute gifts will have two opportunities to find those items during Greensburg Holiday Markets on Nov. 29 and Dec. 20. Organized by the Downtown Greensburg Project, the events will feature some regular vendors from the Greensburg Night Market, another DGP offering, along with...
Orionid meteor shower peaks Tuesday night — probably behind clouds
One of autumn’s best meteor showers will reach its peak Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. The annual Orionid meteor shower will light the night sky with around 20 meteors per hour visible across much of the globe, from after midnight until daybreak, according to AccuWeather. Don’t plan to stay...
Ligonier Christmas Market is early, outdoors this year
Although Halloween is still two weeks away, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas shopping — at least if you’re a fan of Ligonier Country Market’s annual Christmas Market. Traditionally held indoors on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to coincide with Small Business Saturday, this year’s holiday market has been moved...
Stage Right plans outdoor, circus sideshow-inspired ‘Rocky Horror Show Live’
Get ready to do the time warp again. Stage Right Theatre Company will stage “The Rocky Horror Show Live” under a big top tent on Oct. 23-24 and 30-31. There will be a few pandemic-driven changes to the company’s long-running Halloween season production, including the outdoor venue, said director and...
Irwin’s Victoria Piekut, already Miss Pa., prepares to compete for Miss USA title
Victoria Piekut is going to Graceland — but not to pay homage to The King. Crowned Miss Pennsylvania 2020 in November, the Irwin resident will be traveling to Memphis for the Miss USA 2020 competition. Piekut will arrive in Memphis around Nov. 1 for a round of rehearsals and promotional...
The Palace Theatre’s new livestream system will bring arts into homes
While audiences are unable to come to The Palace Theatre, Westmoreland Cultural Trust will bring programming to audiences with a new livestreaming service. “Livestreaming will allow us to bring back much-needed entertainment and cultural experiences that have been missing since the pandemic began,” said April Kopas, CEO of Westmoreland Cultural...
Westmoreland Symphony’s virtual season opener features ‘the other Bach’Video
Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s virtual concert season opens Oct. 24 with “Back to Bach,” streaming live at 7:30 p.m. from the stage of Greensburg’s The Palace Theatre. The Bach listed in the program is not Johann Sebastian, but rather Carl Philipp Emanuel, son of the renowned composer and also a musician...
Apple Hill Playhouse rummage sales to offer decades of costumes, props, antiques
Decades’ worth of memories will be up for sale beginning Saturday at Apple Hill Playhouse in Delmont. Props, costumes, antiques, furniture, appliances, tools, building materials and other items collected over the years will be available during rummage sales from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and Oct. 24-25. Owner Pat...
Take in ‘The Poetry of Nature’ during Phipps Conservatory’s annual fall flower showVideo
A long tradition continues with the opening of “Fall Flower Show: The Poetry of Nature” at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section. Featuring thousands of chrysanthemums in a rainbow of colors, the show is an annual tradition dating back to the fall of 1894, making it the...
Greensburg Civic Theatre will play to live, virtual audiences
Doing live theater demands that everyone involved adapt quickly to changing conditions. Greensburg Civic Theatre is proving its adaptability as it prepares to stage “Almost, Maine,” a John Cariani play opening the troupe’s 69th season on Thursday. Each member of the cast of five will play numerous roles. “One thing...

