Tim McGraw and Carly Pearce in Concert at PPG Paints Arena; Pittsburgh Opera’s ‘The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson’ Opens at Byham (Sat., 4/27/24)

1) Country superstar Tim McGraw seems to be at a very good place in his life. He is a very popular act, having won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, 10 American Music Awards, and three People’s Choice Awards. Thirteen (!) of his albums have occupied the number one spot on the Top Country Albums charts. Oh, and he’s also married to the very talented and lovely Faith Hill. Life hasn’t always been a bed of roses for McGraw. Growing up, he thought his stepfather was his real father until, while searching for Christmas presents at age 11, he found his birth certificate with his father listed as baseball player Tug McGraw. Tim’s mother took him to meet Tug, but Tug denied that he was the father for seven years. Then Tim and Tug became very close until Tug’s death from a brain tumor in 2004. In response to his father’s death, Tim recorded the memorable song “Live Like You Were Dying.” McGraw is now on his Standing Room Only Tour, supporting last year’s album of that title. Tim McGraw plays PPG Paints Arena with guest artist Carly Pearce. 7 p.m. 1001 Fifth Ave., Uptown. (R.H., M.V.)

Tim McGraw before a benefit concert for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Joseph Meyerhof Symphony Hall in Baltimore. (Photo: Steve Kwak and Wikipedia)

THE PASSION OF MARY CARDWELL DAWSON (play with music) by Sandra Seaton. Pittsburgh Opera. April 27 – May 5.

Alyson Cambridge portrays Mary Cardwell Dawson in Pittsburgh Opera’s production about the visionary’s life and her founding of the National Negro Opera Company in Pittsburgh. (Photo: David Bachman Photography for Pittsburgh Opera)

2) Mary Cardwell was born in North Carolina but grew up as a child in Munhall, graduating from Homestead High School in or around 1912. A chorister at the historic Park Place A.M.E. Church, she earned the opportunity to attend the New England Conservatory of Music where, between classes in voice and piano, she helped pay her tuition by working in a dentist’s office. The only Black graduate of her class in 1925, she returned to Pittsburgh and, with her young husband, Walter Dawson, opened the Cardwell School of Music at 7101 Apple Street in Homewood, where, by 1941, she organized the first assembly of the National Negro Opera Company. Three more companies would start up in Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C. Her artistic vision and directorial talents were first recognized by a predominantly white audience only when her company performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1956. Hers was the first opera company to perform on the Met’s stage other than their own.

The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson is a play with music celebrating the struggles and achievements of Pittsburgh’s most renowned operatic impresario. But, rather than portraying a sweeping saga of her illustrious career, the play by Sandra Seaton, centers around a singular event. In 1943, while scheduled to perform on a floating barge to evade local segregation laws, “Madama” Cardwell and her company are threatened by consequences far more destructive than the impending storm overhead. With selections from Bizet’s Carmen and additional music by Carlos Simon, The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson is based on a true story about a true Pittsburgher. Pittsburgh Opera features actor/soprano Alyson Cambridge in the title role. 8 p.m. Pre-opera talk at 7:15 p.m. Byham Theater, 101 6th St., Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

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