Billie Eilish in Concert at PPG Paints Arena; Last Day for Pittsburgh Opera’s ‘Tosca’ at Benedum (Sun., 10/13/24)

1) When Billie Eilish hit it big on the national scene in 2019 with her first studio album, When We Fall Asleep Where Do We Go, it shinned the spotlight on a very interesting person. She spoke about how her brother Finneas is a strong collaborator with her on her music. And that she also has Tourette syndrome, synesthesia, and had experienced depression and even contemplated suicide at one point. Luckily she has held up during her personal trials and continued to create hit songs like “Bad Guy” with it’s electro-pop beats and strong chorus hook. The song reached the no. 1 spot on the Billboard 100. Four other songs from the album reached the top ten on the singles chart. Eilish has garnered an impressive amount of award hardware including nine Grammys. Her follow-up 2021 album, Happier than Ever, picked up right where the previous one left off, reaching number one in 25 countries. The theme song for the James Bond film, No Time to Die, was co-written and performed by Eilish too. Her latest studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, dropped in May. In August Eilish sang “Birds of a Feather” (from the new album) on Belmont Shore, Long Beach, during the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony as part of the transfer of the Summer Games to Los Angeles, for 2028. She has the golden touch and you can catch her at PPG Paints Arena. Special guests are Nat and Alex Wolff. 1001 Fifth Ave., Uptown. (R.H.)

TOSCA (opera) Music by Giacomo Puccini, and libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Pittsburgh Opera. Through October 13.

Baron Scarpia (Kyle Albertson) accuses Floria Tosca (Ana María Martínez) of lying in Pittsburgh Opera’s ‘Tosca.’ (Photo: David Bachman Photography for Pittsburgh Opera)

2) Of course, she’s a diva. Loved by Rome’s audiences both public and elite, Floria Tosca is the one voice to hear, especially above the din of social upheaval as the Napoleonic wars wage on. Her lover, the respected painter Cavaradossi, is one day accosted when an escaped political prisoner begs him for refuge in a church. He obliges the man to prove he has moral character. Meanwhile, Baron Scarpia, the highly corrupt Chief of Police, is terribly in love with Tosca. When Scarpia confronts Cavaradossi with allegations that the latter has abetted the prisoner, the wicked Chief hatches a scheme whereby Tosca must submit to his love or betray her lover. The story of Puccini’s classic opera is as simple as that, yet it all comes together within a 24 hour period. One of the world’s most popular operas since it premiered in 1900, Tosca was last performed in Pittsburgh in 2017. Now’s your year to experience it. Pittsburgh Opera presents Tosca at Benedum Center. 2 p.m. 237 7th St., Cultural District.

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