AJR Plays UPMC Events Center; ‘Little Women’ Continues at Local Movie Houses (Tues., 1/21/20)

January 19, 2020/Rick Handler

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AJR Plays UPMC Events Center; \'Little Women\' Continues at Local Movie Houses (Tues., 1/21/20)

https://entertainmentcentralpittsburgh.com/coolpicks/ajr-little-women/

1) The A stands for Adam. The J for Jack. The R for Ryan. Simple as that. AJR’s music, however, is a little more elaborate with multiple instruments, harmonies, and some samples. The brothers’ last name is Met. They are from New York City and began busking in Washington Square Park in 2005. Jack was eight years old then. They have since released three albums as AJR. Their first was 2015’s Living Room, which was recorded in their living room. 2017’s The Click followed. 2019’s Neotheater is their most recent. Their sound mixes rock, pop, and a little dubstep. “I’m Ready,” their 2013 debut single, interpolates SpongeBob SquarePants repeating the eponymous lyrics, his catchphrase. Past collaborators run the gamut from Ingrid Michaelson to Mike Love of the Beach Boys. The trio comes to the UPMC Events Center. Flora Cash opens. 8 p.m. 6001 University Blvd., Moon Township. (CM)

2) Including two silent films, Little Women has been produced for the silver screen seven times, not to mention Broadway and West End dramatic stagings, radio dramas and a BBC serial. Greta Gerwig has now written and directed the eighth version. Starring Saoirse Ronan (who Gerwig directed in 2017’s Academy Award nominated Ladybird,) Emma Watson, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet and Meryl Streep, Little Women is the American classic novel, by Louisa May Alcott, which follows the dreams and longings of the March sisters, four young women who eek out family life in a New England town during the waning years of the Civil War. Ronan plays Jo, the tomboyish writer who serves as Alcott’s alter-ego and the narrator of the story. Gerwig’s adaptation for 2019 promises to shed a more liberating light on the character differences that have enthralled readers for more than 150 years. (P.Orr)