St. Patrick’s Day Festivities; ‘Shantytown: The Ballad of Fr. James Cox’ Opens at Pgh Playwrights New Theater; Texture Contemporary Ballet has ‘Rediscover’ ( Fri., 3/17/23)

St. Patrick’s Day Bar Happenings

Stained glass window depiction of Saint Patrick in Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Junction City, Ohio. (photo: Nheyob and Wikipedia)

1) St. Patrick’s Day is a good time to have a taste of Ireland’s native waters. (Guinness, Harp, and Murphy’s brews are some good ones as are Tullamore D.E.W. and Jameson Irish whiskies.) Have an old Irish toast, such as “May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you’re dead,” in any of several happenin’ Irish pubs including Mullaney’s Harp & Fiddle, McArdle’s, Murphy’s Taproom, McFadden’s, and ,Riley’s Pour House.  For those who don’t imbibe or are designated drivers (thank you!), enjoy a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake, a soft drink, or a cup o’ hot tea. (R.H.)

One of the most popular spots to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day is Mullaney’s Harp & Fiddle. With a tent connected to the pub, the celebration space is doubled. Irish bands and performers hold court all day and night in both spaces beginning at noon and going until about midnight. Mullaney’s will be featuring the top bands on the Pittsburgh Irish music scene including: Mark Guiser, Whiskey Limerick, and Guaranteed Irish. 2329 Penn Ave., Strip District. 

SHANTYTOWN: THE BALLAD OF FR. JAMES COX (musical) by Ray Werner, with Dwayne Fulton and others. Pittsburgh Playwrights. March 17 – 26. 

Pittsburgh Playwright’s ‘Shantytown: The Ballad of Fr. James Cox, is about a true hero for Pittsburgh’s downtrodden during The Great Depression.

2) Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company steps boldly into a new phase of artistic life by staging a new musical in the company’s new home. PPTCo—known for expert productions of the plays of August Wilson and other Pittsburgh-related artists—had been operating in various venues since its beginnings in 2003. Now, founder and Artistic Director Mark Clayton Southers has purchased the former Madison Elementary School in the Hill District. Along with an auditorium for mainstage theater, the building has other performance spaces and of course plenty of classrooms. PPTCo plans to turn the facility into a multi-purpose arts and education center, with classes for aspiring young theater artists and studios for working artists in any media. 

But right now, the play’s the thing, and it’s actually a musical. Shantytown: The Ballad of Fr. James Cox re-creates the adventures of an activist Catholic priest who made waves both locally and nationally during the Great Depression, nearly a century ago. As pastor of Old St. Patrick’s Church in the Strip District, Father Cox led drives to provide food and shelter for legions of destitute Pittsburghers. In 1932 he organized “Cox’s Army,” a caravan of some 20,000 unemployed men and women, about eight miles long, who marched on Washington, D.C. to petition for public works programs. Father Cox preached on national radio and even briefly ran for president, as the Jobless Party candidate, before swinging his support to FDR in the ‘32 election. Shantytown is by longtime Pittsburgh playwright Ray Werner, with Dwayne Fulton as composer and music director, plus contributions from a host of others. 8 p.m. See Shantytown in the Madison School, 3401 Milwaukee St., Hill District. (M.V.) 

REDISCOVER (program of three original dance pieces). Texture Contemporary Ballet. March 17 – 19.

Texture Contemporary Ballet dancers Katie Miller and Alan Obuzor synergistically perform a number from ‘Rediscover’. (Photo: Mike Simpson)

3) Texture Contemporary Ballet — the Pittsburgh company whose name says it all — creates new dance works in the spirit and form but not necessarily the style of, say, Swan Lake. Texture now wraps its 2022-23 season with a program showcasing the company’s range. Titled Rediscover, the show consists of three dances. “Flash of Red,” a new piece by Artistic Director Alan Obuzor is set to Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No.5. “Unchanging Change,” premiered by Texture in 2014, features 11 dancers with music by Max Richter, Macklemore, and spoken word poet Andrea Gibson. The closing dance, a brand-new one, “Euphoria,” is choreographed by Texture to live music by the rock-cello-and-drums band Cello Fury. Discover Rediscover at the New Hazlett Theater,. 8 p.m. 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. (M.V.)

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