Last Day for “Dirty Dancing”; Quantum Theatre Running “All the Names” (CPs Sun., 4/12/15)

Dirty-Dancing

1) Let’s correct an urban legend, please. “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” the closing number from Dirty Dancing, is NOT the most popular song played at funerals in the U.K. That honor belongs to Eric Idle’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” But for a night at the theater, rather than a funeral, the stage version of Dirty Dancing might be your ticket. It’s a live adaptation of the 1987 film about a teenager and a dance instructor that has been variously called one of the best movies ever, and one of the cheesiest. A North American touring company brings it to Benedum Center with all of the rock-pop oldies and dramatic energy that made this story the stuff of legend. 7:30 p.m. Ends today. 237 7th St., Cultural District.

No April foolin' here: In Quantum's "All the Names," they're taking names. (L to R: actors Cameron Knight, James Fitzgerald, Mark Conway Thompson)

No April foolin’ here: In Quantum’s “All the Names,” they’re taking names. (L to R: actors Cameron Knight, James Fitzgerald, Mark Conway Thompson). photo: Heather Mull.

2) The late Portuguese writer José Saramago won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his captivating novels that dance between fantasy and reality. Now a rare opportunity arises: the chance to immerse yourself in one of them performed live. All the Names is set in an unnamed land’s “Central Registry,” a massively spooky place where personal records of all the citizens are kept. When a lowly clerk prowls through the stacks at night, unauthorized, he finds a scrap of paper that triggers a strange and bewildering chain of events. Quantum Theatre is staging All the Names inside an old, historic former library. A team of artists (including Barbara Luderowksi of the Mattress Factory and filmmaker Joe Seamans) have helped devise a play that turns the building into Saramago’s fabled Registry. 8 p.m. with a post-performance discussion. At the Original Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny, Allegheny Square East, North Side.

3)  Hearty Sunday dinners aren’t just for the meat eaters or the financially comfortable. Grab some friends and head over to Brillobox for the Starving Artist Sunday Suppers. Every Sunday, the restaurant’s chef creates a different hearty vegetarian meal and offers it for just $7 to give you a break from your regularly scheduled ramen du jour. You’ll want to get there early, as the special only goes until the food runs out (and at that price, it will). 5 p.m. 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield.

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Rick Handler

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