Jim Gaffigan at PPG Paints Arena; Pittsburgh Opera Double Feature of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci; Virginia vs. Pitt at Acrisure (Sat., 11/9/24)

1) Jim Gaffigan, whose short-lived stint portraying vice presidential candidate Tim Walz on “Saturday Night Live” has now ended, comes to PPG Paints Arena tonight. He has made his more wholesome approach to comedy work for more than 25 years. The pudgy, bearded comedian has found plenty of material in guilty-pleasure food (cake, bacon, and Hot Pockets get frequent mentions), and he’s got loads of stories from two large Catholic families, the one that begot him and the one he begot. (The dude has five kids!) When his five-year-old son wrote “Daddy is fat” as part of a writing assignment, Gaffigan was able to turn it into a book and long-form stand-up routine. Gaffigan is also a frequent contributor to “CBS Sunday Morning” and even had his own TV show, with his wife, for two seasons on TV Land Gaffigan has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Comedy Album seven times. He visits Pittsburgh as part of his Barely Alive Tour. 7 p.m. 1001 Fifth Ave., Uptown. (E.C., R.H.)

2) CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / PAGLIACCI (operas) by Pietro Mascagni (with libretto by  Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci) and Ruggero Leoncavalla, music and libretto for Pagliacci. Pittsburgh Opera. November 9 – 17.

Canio (Jonathan Burton) lashes out at Nedda (Caitlin Gotimer) in Pittsburgh Opera’s ‘Pagliacci.’ (Photo: David Bachman Photography for Pittsburgh Opera)

Performed in tandem––opera aficionados pair them as “Cav/Pag”—these two short operas, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, written about the same time, are performed often on identical sets and, just as often, with the same cast. Furthermore, they both represent a genre of opera called verismo suggesting that, like realism, they promote a more natural dramatization of the human condition. If common townsfolk can cheat and avenge jealousy in the same way that courtesans and kings can, then this is meant to be very real. Of course, in Cavalleria Rusticana, we are indeed presented with common townsfolk whose tangled love interests incite one to bite the ear of another, resulting in a duel to death. And, in Pagliacci, a troupe of commedia del’arte clowns come to realize that love betrayed is sufficient cause for murder justified, which, if true, is sadly laughable. In any case, opera fans have loved this “double feature” since 1893. 

You will, too. Pittsburgh Opera offers both the music that inspired the score for Scorcese’s The Godfather III, as well as the arrieta by which Enrico Caruso proved he was no clown. 8 p.m. At Benedum Center, 237 7th St, Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

Pitt’s senior tight end Gavin Bartholomew doesn’t mind driving in heavy traffic. (Photo: Ernest Borghetti, University of Pittsburgh)

3) The mighty have stumbled. The undefeated Pitt Panthers Football team is now 7-1 after losing for the first time this season. This evening the Panthers take on the Virginia Cavaliers in an attempt to get back on track. Next Saturday sees the Panthers in action at home again against Clemson.  8 p.m. Acrisure Stadium, 100 Art Rooney Ave., North Shore.

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