Actor/Comedian Nick Offerman Plays Heinz Hall; World Premiere of ‘The Crinolynns’ Riffs on Girl Groups (Sat., 9/30/23)

1) Many people best know Nick Offerman for his role on NBC’s hit comedy “Parks and Recreation.” The show ran on the network from 2009-15 with Offerman playing the unenthusiastic bureaucrat Ron Swanson. Swanson was a libertarian, who loved meat, hated vegan bacon and salads, and wanted to stymie the government, including the Parks and Recreation department that he headed, from functioning well at every turn.

There have been many other acting roles besides “Parks and Recreation” for Offerman. Films have ranged from Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, 21 Jump Street, The Founder with Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton, and his own self-produced movie, Nick Offerman: American Ham. Television roles have included “Will & Grace,” “The Simpsons,” “George Lopez,” and “Fargo,” for which he was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries. He was also nominated for a Critics’ Choice Television Award for “Parks and Recreation” in the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category. Offerman is also a skilled woodworker, who even has his own woodworking shop in Los Angeles that gives woodworking jobs to people living in poverty. He and Amy Poehler had their own show “Making It” on NBC which was about, yes, making things. The show received three Emmy Award nominations. Offerman has done several other TV and film projects as of late. He is also in the film Dumb Money which was just released on September 29. The film is about the GameStop stock short episode of January 2021. Offerman is also one half of a dynamic acting power couple with wife Megan Mullally.

The promotional materials for the performance describe it as, “Deliberative talking, mirth, and music. An evening that compels listeners to chuckle while also causing them to honestly countenance the aspects of humanity about which we have to laugh so that we don’t attack one another with shovels. If the evening is light on dance, the audience has only themselves to blame.” 7 p.m. Heinz Hall, 600 Penn Ave., Cultural District.

Nick Offerman.

2) Back in the day—back when the fashion ideal was to resemble a parade float—women wore crinolines. These cage-like structures of tiered hoops were worn as undergarments, suspended from the waist to give hoop skirts their bell-shaped profile. Crinolines were all the rage during the mid-1800s and have persisted in various forms for special occasions. Now comes a special entertainment occasion in Latrobe, Pennsylvania: the concert-style world premiere of a new musical, The Crinolynns. No hoop skirts here. Rather, the show is a takeoff on pop-music girl groups of the century just past. The performers are Broadway and TV/film veterans Sally Mayes, Valerie Wright, and Carnegie Mellon alumna Donna Lynne Champlin, all now in or approaching their golden years. In The Crinolynns they play members of a once-famous sister act attempting a reunion. Original music is by Aaron Gandy, with book and lyrics by Scott Logsdon, who describes the show as “a mashup of Golden Girls and Forever Plaid.” Presented by Stage Right!, The Crinolynns plays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Carey Center Theater at St. Vincent College. 300 Fraser Purchase Rd., Latrobe. (M.V.)

Old Blue Eyes says ‘Here’s lookin’ at ya.’ Valerie Wright plays one of three sisters who have rocked before and hope to rock again in ‘The Crinolynns.’ (photo courtesy of the artist)

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