American Authors in Concert at Thunderbird; PNC Broadway Opens ‘Beetlejuice’ (Tues., 2/21/23)

1) Even if you’ve never heard of the New York City rock band American Authors you’ve probably heard the hook from their single “Best Day of My Life,” whether in a commercial or from an open car window. All members are professionally trained; they met at the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston. More hit singles have followed, all from their 2014 debut album, Oh, What a Life. They also recorded a cover of the rock band Big Country’s “In a Big Country” for Record Store Day, with Southern California’s The Mowgli’s sharing the B-side of Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True.” American Authors are touring in advance of their forthcoming album. Best Night of My Life, to be released February 10. Two singles from the album have already dropped, one is titled the same as the album and the other is “Blind for Love.” Ontario, Canada, pop-rocker Billy Raffoul is opening for American Authors. The award-winning musician generates an emotional connection with his audience that has garnered positive press from music mags and achieved hundreds of millions of streams. He has a new EP out and a trending song, “We Could Get High.”  7 p.m. Thunderbird Cafe and Music Hall, 4053 Butler St., Lawrenceville. (R.H.)

BEETLEJUICE (musical) adapted from the film by Tim Burton. PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh. February 21 – 26.

‘Beetlejuice’ stops in town this month for the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series. Seen here(L-R): Britney Coleman (Barbara), Will Burton (Adam), Isabella Esler (Lydia) and Justin Collette (Beetlejuice). (Photo: Matthew Murphy)

It’s showtime!!!  And spectacle. And spotlights. And stripes. It’s the story of a strange and sullen teenager, Lydia Deetz, who meets a recently deceased couple and unveils a netherworld of silly specters, sandworms, seances and… and… well, more stripes!

2) Beetlejuice, of course, is based on Tim Burton’s immortal “ghost-with-the-most” film of 1988 which boosted Pittsburgh’s own Michael Keaton to the A-list of Hollywood actors. The story follows the calamitous adventure of the Deetz family who have moved into the house of a young couple recently deceased after driving over a cliff. The dead couple, however, not knowing they have “crossed over,” return to their beloved home, and haunt it. The Deetzes don’t know what’s going on, but their daughter––fashionably goth, maudlin and maybe just a little bit demonic––can see the ghost couple. She befriends them. And, well, that’s when all hell breaks loose. Beetlejuice is summoned to save the day. Or maybe destroy it altogether. That’s the fun.

With a musical score by Eddie Perfect, book by Scott Brown and Anthony King, sets by David Korins, and the costumes of William Ivey Long, Beetlejuice, directed by Alex Timbers, is rolling on a North American tour of 24 cities. Pittsburgh is the third stop on the circuit, so the energy, the comic timing, and all those dance steps will be in perfect syncopation. It’s showtime! Beetlejuice is part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trusts’ PNC’s Broadway in Pittsburgh series. 7:30 p.m. Benedum Center, 237 7th St., Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

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