Blue Oyster Cult Brings “Godzilla” to Palace; “Carmen” Running at Pittsburgh Opera (CPs Sat., 3/21/15)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBIyxnpStRw

1) Long before suburban sprawl, Long Island was known for its oyster industry—and then, in the strangest of cosmic convergences, the Island gave birth to Blue Öyster Cult. Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, Eric Bloom, and company have been among the heaviest of heavy-metal and genre-busting rockers for more than a generation. Now Buck Dharma and Eric visit The Palace in Greensburg with the current incarnation of Blue Öyster Cult. Be prepared for songs including “Godzilla,” “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” and an oyster-y feast of many more. With Reb Beach Project. 8 p.m. 21 W. Otterman St., Greensburg.

2) And who is Carmen? One of the most famous heroines of the opera: the high-spirited, exotic-dancing, and, um, knife-toting factory girl of the early 1800s who is pursued by a dashing young soldier and an extremely dashing bullfighter. You know it’s not going to end happily, but the adventures (and music!) along the way add up to quite a ride. Pittsburgh Opera presents Georges Bizet’s masterpiece with a cast of all-stars brought in as the leads. Mesmerizing mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham has sung the role of Carmen worldwide and will sing it here. Tenor A.J. Glueckert is the soldier Don José and baritone Morgan Smith is Escamillo, the toreador. 8 p.m. Continues through March 29. Benedum Center, 237 7^th St., Cultural District.

Washington (shown here in 1952) lived hard, died young, and left a beautiful legacy.

3) Who is Dinah? Why, Dinah Washington, of course. This new play at PPTCo is about the woman called the Queen of the Blues. After starting as a big-band vocalist in the 1940s, Washington became one of the top voices of the then-emerging rhythm & blues genre, winning an R&B Grammy Award in 1959 for her torch ballad “What a Difference a Day Makes.” Alas, her own torch burned all too fast: Washington married seven times before dying of a drug overdose, in 1963, at the age of 39. Ernest McCarty’s play is a portrait of a woman who did not go quietly through the music industry, or through life. 8 p.m. Runs through April 5. 937 Liberty Ave., Cultural District.

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