Country Mega Star Carrie Underwood Plays Consol; ‘Where to Invade Next’ Latest from Michael Moore (Wed., 2/17/16)

1) Winner of the fourth season of “American Idol” in 2005, Carrie Underwood has been on an upward trajectory ever since. Underwood, an Oklahoma native, already has been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and has won seven Grammy Awards, 17 Billboard Music Awards, and 11 Academy of Country Music Awards. Best known for her pop country ballads and light rockers like “Before He Cheats,” she will be performing here as part of her Storyteller Tour: Stories in the Round in support of last year’s Storyteller release. This is her first tour in three years and a dollar from each ticket sold will be donated to charity. Underwood was a guest star on the CBS comedy “How I Met Your Mother,” playing a doctor. She is married to Mike Fisher, who plays center for the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Two nights before her Pittsburgh concert she will be appearing on the Grammy Awards telecast. Easton Corbin and The Swon Brothers (here for First Night two years ago) open. 7 p.m. Consol Energy Center, 1001 Fifth Ave., Uptown.

2)Where to Invade Next – Michael Moore’s first documentary in six years; Capitalism: A Love Story was the last, with Sicko, Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 some of his other previous titles. In his latest Moore examines some of America’s social and economic problems-wealth inequality, children’s health, women’s rights, etc. and wonders how such issues are dealt with around the globe. He and his film crew “invade” various countries and learn how other nations have approached (and solved) what some people in America see as problems without any solution. If nothing else, it should keep some of the talking heads on Fox News chattering away for the next few months. Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

3) Some of the most intriguing theater in town can be found in Carnegie Mellon’s Director Series. Admission to the student-directed plays is free—you can contact the School of Drama’s box office for tickets on performance days—and the Series presents unusual plays rarely done by big companies. Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis is not for viewers with delicate sensitivities. Kane, a brilliant but troubled English playwright, committed suicide in 1999 at the age of 28. She finished writing 4.48 Psychosis shortly before that. The play is lucid but non-linear; it has been called brutal but eloquent, and whether it conveys an “understanding” of depressive psychosis is a moot question—it certainly conveys the essence of one woman’s struggles. Kane was considered a leading artist of the British movement known as In-Yer-Face theatre, and this play fits the category. 8 p.m. Continues through Friday. In the John Wells Video Studio at Carnegie Mellon’s Purnell Center for the Arts, 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland. (MV)

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