The Public Previews ‘Tru,’ Earth Day Eve Fashion Show (Thurs., 4/21/16)

Jay Presson Allen as Truman Capote. photo: Pittsburgh Public Theater.

1) There was a time when everybody knew who Truman Capote was. From the 1940s into the ‘70s—back when authors and other intellectuals could become superstar celebrities—Capote, a gifted writer, shined bright and then flamed out spectacularly. His stories and books (including Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood) sold big and stirred controversy. He was openly gay at a time when few dared. He was a Southern boy turned New York socialite; he partied with the rich and famous (including Andy Warhol); he dazzled the public with his wit on TV talk shows … and often alarmed the public, too, for he was slowly frying himself to death with drugs and alcohol. Jay Presson Allen’s play TRU, set in 1975, serves as both a chronicle of Capote’s heady life and a portrait of a man on the path to self-destruction. Pittsburgh Public Theater is staging TRU, a one-person show which draws from the author’s own writings and ramblings. 8 p.m. Performances through May 22. At the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Ave., Cultural District. (MV)

Members of the Staycee Pearl Dance Project and The Pillow Project improvise on the steps of the Fairmont Pittsburgh during the 2015 fashion show event . Photo: Martha Rial.

2) There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day and pay tribute to our beautiful and delicate planet. One interesting manner is Pittsburgh Earth Day’s Ecolution Fashion Show which kicks off four days of events for Pittsburgh Earth Day 2016: Steel to Sustainable. The main event begins in the beautiful, airy lobby of the Fairmont Hotel at 7 p.m. with music by the noted DJ Soy Sos and performances from the Staycee Pearl Dance Project. The highlight of the evening will be a runway fashion show featuring models sporting stylish clothing made from recycled and reused materials created especially for the event. There is a VIP attendee part of the evening which begins at 6 p.m. and features complimentary cocktails and appetizers. Steve Hackman from Stereo Hideout will be the DJ for the VIP part of the event. VIPs will also get a seat next to the runway for the fashion show and a one year membership to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Fairmont Hotel, 510 Market St., Downtown.

3) Eye in the Sky – One of the last films made by the late Alan Rickman. Helen Mirren plays a military officer in charge of drone warfare targeting terrorists.  She gets a group of suicide bombers in her sights and is set to give the “kill” order … then the pilot tells her a nine-year-old girl has just entered the area.  There follows Mirren’s scramble to get some sort of official go ahead from the higher-ups, only to be met with an increasingly bizarre round of legal and political doublespeak and “plausible deniability.” Aaron Paul, Jeremy Northam, Barkhad Abdi, and Phoebe Fox also star. Colin Firth is one of the producers and Gavin Hood (director of the Oscar-winning Tsotsi) helms this wartime political thriller written by Guy Hibbert. Check Fandango for screens and times. (TH)

Share on Social Media