Josh Groban and Sarah McLachlan in Concert at First Niagara; ‘Star Trek: Beyond’ on Local Screens (Tues., 8/2/16)

1) If things had gone differently for Josh Groban, he could have been a Pittsburgh actor rather than a multi-platinum recording artist. The “popera” star was accepted to drama school at Carnegie Mellon University but left in his first semester to focus on singing. That’s worked out quite nicely for him so far: He’s sold more than 25 million records to date. Groban’s blend of pop and classical styles has earned him five number one singles on the U.S. adult contemporary charts and three number one albums in the U.S.: 2003’s Closer; the 2007 Christmas album, Noël; and 2013’s All That Echoes. But he’s also been winning over another audience with his humor—following up his popular 2011 appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” when he set Kanye West tweets to music, he did the same with the tweets of Donald Trump. Groban comes to Pittsburgh as part of his North American tour promoting Stages, his seventh album, a compilation of musical theater songs featuring “Anthem” from Chess, “Bring Me Home” from Les Misérables, and “What I Did For Love” from A Chorus Line. He also now has out Stages Live as well. Opening is popular singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan and Foy Vance. 7.30 p.m. First Niagara Pavilion, 665 Route 18, Burgettstown. (HM/RH)

2) Star Trek Beyond – Okay, here’s the facts according to Wikipedia: This is the 13^th film in the Star Trek franchise and the third installment in the rebooted series after 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness. And that doesn’t include the five television series. That’s a lot of “Beam me up, Scottys.” Several sources describe the plot as the USS Enterprise crew forced to abandon ship  and becoming stranded on an unknown planet. The script for Beyond was written by Simon Pegg (who plays Scotty) and Doug Jung. Chris Pine and Pittsburgh born Zachary Quinto (Kirk and Spock) return, as do Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho and the late Anton Yelchin. New to this venture are Idris Elba and Sofia Boutella. All in all it’s turned out to be a pretty long five-year mission. Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

3) The Infiltrator – Bryan Cranston stars in this film version of a true story about U.S. Customs agent Robert Mazur. In the early 1980’s he posed as the phony “Bob Musella” to discover how international drug lords were laundering their cash. He got in pretty deep and by 1986 was involved in the money schemes of Medellín Cartel supreme drug lord Pablo Escobar—aka “The King of Cocaine” because at the height of his activities it’s estimated he supplied 80% of America’s nose candy. Mazur pursued the case and, ultimately, brought down 85 drug lords and corrupt bankers. The screenplay is by Ellen Brown Furman, it’s directed by Brad Furman and co-stars John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger, Amy Ryan, Benjamin Bratt, Jason Isaacs, and Olympia Dukakis. Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

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