Can’t-Miss Events in March in Pittsburgh
Save the dates for concerts, art exhibits, dance performances & more.
PHOTO BY ERIC ROSÉ
Best Bet
Maria Caruso’s Bodiography and its founding director are on the move — on and off stage. Caruso recently shifted residence to California, opened a Los Angeles office for her production company — M-Train Productions — and is pursuing international opportunities for her solo concerts. Her Squirrel Hill-based contemporary ballet troupe, meanwhile, will enter a new artistic era under the leadership of company veteran Lauren Suflita Skrabalak. Increased touring engagements are planned, but this month Skrabalak is restaging Caruso’s evocative “Lux Aeterna” (2013, pictured), fast-paced “Parabola” (2017) and “Beyond Boundaries” (2022), for “Facets,” a home-season repertory program with a contribution from company artist Isaac Ray. — Karen Dacko
Kelly Strayhorn Theater
March 3-5
new.bodiography.com
PHOTOS BY ALYSSE GAFKJEN
March 11
Jergel’s Rhythm Grille
Most may best remember singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton as the young woman sitting behind the piano melodically crooning out hits “A Thousand Miles” and “White Houses.” After the release of her latest album, “Love Is an Art,” Carlton has launched her “Future Pain Tour: An Evening with Vanessa Carlton.” Carlton herself calls the set “really good and vibey,” so grab your bestie and go get vibey.
PHOTO BY TOM SALUS
March 12
Byham Theater
Classical music meets hip-hop with Wil Baptiste on viola and Kev Marcus on violin, better known as Black Violin. The two classically trained string instrumentalists want their live shows to be a party. Keep that in mind, because they fully welcome the use of flash photography and don’t expect you to stay seated.
PHOTO BY DANIELLE TAIT
March 13
Carnegie Music Hall
Spend an evening with novelist and filmmaker Ruth Ozeki. This Zen Buddhist priest is the author of several books, including “The Book of Form and Emptiness,” which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2022. Her writing tackles metaphysical themes all while keeping her characters vivid and relatable.
March 18
Kelly Strayhorn Theater
The Kelly Strayhorn Theater celebrates BIPOC women and femmes in music with their biennial Sunstar Festival. This musically diverse evening exploring the vibrancy of independent female artists can be just one of the ways you celebrate Women’s History Month.
March 24-26
Heinz Hall
Women Rock pays some R-E-S-P-E-C-T to some of the most powerful women who changed rock ’n’ roll forever. Honoring trailblazing singers and songwriters with the pivotal music of Carole King, Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Pat Benatar and Heart, you’re gonna feel the Earth move.
March 30
The August Wilson African American Cultural Center
TRUTHSayers Speaker Series features the award-winning writer, poet and legend Nikki Giovanni. Giovanni is considered one the foremost authors in the Black Arts Movement as well as the Black Power movement in the 1960s. Prepare yourself for thought-provoking dialogue as Giovanni reflects on her decades of literary works and how they still relate to current events.
PHOTO BY REED HUTCHINSON
March 30-April 2
PNC Theatre
The first Black woman to gain success and notoriety as a science fiction author, Octavia E. Butler published her novel “Parable of the Sower” in 1993. The tale of a post-apocalyptic society dealing with climate change and social inequality is reimagined and brought to the stage by The Pittsburgh Playhouse. This fully staged congregational opera, “Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower,” includes 30 original pieces inspired by 200 years of Black music.
