Sing it, Ashlee
On this Good Friday, some of you might naturally be wondering: How good a Friday could it be if Ashlee Simpson is in town?
I know, I know, we shouldn't be hatin' on Ashlee. She didn't mean to have a famous sister and popularity that exceeds her talent.
Ashlee, also the beneficiary of her own MTV show, has gotten some plum gigs and made complete messes of them. There was the famous "Saturday Night Live" show where the drummer triggered a track, the wrong track, complete with her vocals. First, she blamed him, then acid reflux for needing vocal backup. Fellow pop tart Avril Lavigne even scolded her with "If you are up there at that level and lip-synching, then you don't deserve to be there."
Next up was the Orange Bowl, where Ashlee was the only thing worse than the Oklahoma defense. Ashlee seemed to be confusing herself with the edgier Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and was summarily showered with boos. (Karen O would have been, too, but that's another story altogether.)
Her stardom and her follies have captured the imagination of Horrified Observers of Pedestrian Entertainment (H.O.P.E.), a group that is encouraging people who bought "Autobiography" to trade it in for a CD by The Ramones, Ray Charles, X, the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell and others at www.hopeinamerica.blogspot.com.
If you'd rather hear Ashlee than the Grateful Dead (and most teenagers would), you can rest assured that she will be singing for real tonight at the Benedum. As a recent review in the New York Daily News stated, "Anyone who sounded this shrill, dry and winded could not possibly have received any enhancement whatsoever."
HOP AND POP
When Ashlee Simpson was exposed on "SNL" she did a little jig, not unlike a bunny hop. Which brings us to our holiday fare. On Saturday, the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium presents the Zoo Hop to Spring, where kids can meet the Easter Bunny, make crafts and enjoy Radio Disney entertainment by the Get-Go Dancers, Giggles the Clown, a juggler and the Chick-Fil-A Cow. Kids 13 and under can follow a Bunny Trail through the zoo and collect pieces to an Easter-theme puzzle, getting prizes along the way. It runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For details, call 412-665-3640 or go to www.pittsburghzoo.com.
TROLLEY HOP
The bunny doesn't have to wear out its pads; it can hop a trolley at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. The museum, right across from the Washington County Fairgrounds, celebrates the holiday with the Easter Bunny Trolley, where kids can take a vintage ride from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Saturday. The admission also includes guided tours of the trolley collection and the current exhibit, "On the Car Line: Pittsburgh & Points South." There's also a museum store and picnic area and plenty of free parking. Admission is $6; $5 seniors; $4 kids 2-15. To get there, take I-79 to Exit 41, Racetrack Road, and follow the Trolley Museum signs to the museum. From the South Hills take Route 19. For more details, call 724-228-9256 or go to www.pa-trolley.org.
BUNNY TALE
'Twas the night before Easter and ... what happened? I don't know, do you? What exactly does the Bunny do? Katherine Tegen think she knows. She has written "The Story of the Easter Bunny," an original tale that explains the origin of the holiday hare, and she will read it at the Waterfront Barnes & Noble. There will be activities and snacks at 11 a.m. Saturday. Call 412-462-5743.
LIFE OF PLANTS
It's spring, so now we come to plant life, nice and not so nice. The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden is an Easter hot spot, promising to wash away the Pittsburgh gray with the "Spring Flower Show: Colorful New Beginnings," a burst of pink, purple, yellow, red, orange, white and green from tulips, hyacinths, narcissus and hydrangeas. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission: $4.50-$7.50; under 2 and members are always free. For details, call 412-622-6914 or go to www.phipps.conservatory.org.
Plant life takes on a more malevolent disposition in "Little Shop of Horrors," adding a dark musical twist to the holiday at Heinz Hall. It was choreographed by Pittsburgh-bred Kathleen Marshall, who is currently working on a revival of "The Pajama Game." Why did she take the choreographer job? She told the PG's Chris Rawson, "I chose to do it because I loved the show when I saw it off-Broadway," a couple of decades ago. "The music is so infectious and smart. It's like being a miniaturist -- what can we say with the least amount of music?" Audiences can find out when the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series presents it at 8 tonight; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Call 412-456-6666.
BACH REMEMBERS
The Bach Choir of Pittsburgh uses Good Friday and Saturday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Holocaust with "Remembrance and Renewal: A Transcendent Journey." The program, aiming to carry the listener from despair to hope, will begin with Robert Convery's "Songs of Children," a cantata based on nine poems written by children interned at Terezin concentration camp. The concert also features cantor Marc Shulman in Hebraic songs, followed by a performance of Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy," which he envisioned as a hymn to art and beauty with themes of brotherhood. It will feature pianist Gabriel D'Abruzzo. Concerts are at 8 tonight at East Liberty Presbyterian Church and 8 p.m. Saturday at Temple Emanuel, Mt. Lebanon. Tickets are $7-$20. 412-394-3353.
MOE'S MONODRAMA
Pitt composer Eric Moe refashions the myth of Echo and Narcissus in "Tri-Stan," a new monodrama based on David Foster Wallace's short fiction piece "Tri-Stan: I Sold Sissee Nar to Ecko." "Tri-Stan" features mezzo-soprano Mary Nessinger, New York's Sequitor Ensemble and video projections Sunday at 8 p.m. at Bellefield Hall, Oakland. Tickets are $15; $10 students and seniors; Pitt students free. Call 412-394-3353 for advance tickets ($5 cheaper).
CUBA CALLING
Out of Residence is a public forum at the Mattress Factory Saturday at 3 p.m. presented in conjunction with the current exhibition, "New Installations, Artists in Residence: Cuba." Dr. Shawn Alfonso Wells (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Ezequiel Mobley (producer and host of "Hola!"), Lisa Valanti (Pittsburgh-Matanzas Sister Cities Project) and Dr. Kwasi Jayourba (ethnomusicologist) will examine issues of identity, memory, culture and thought surrounding Cuba. Admission is $8; $5 students/seniors; free for members and Pitt students. Reserve a spot by calling 412-231-3169, ext. 212 or 213.
MUSIC AND MORE
Holiday weekends usually bring Pittsburgh comics home, and this week is no exception. Frank Nicotero has been seen on tour with Drew Carey and Adam Sandler and on the show "Street Smarts." He can be seen at the Improv at 8 and 10 tonight and 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $15. Call 412-462-5233.
Columbus jam band ekoostik hookah returns to Mr. Small's Theater with a blend of rock, jazz, funk, bluegrass and everything else under the sun tonight at 8 with opener multi-instrumentalist Tony Furtado. Tickets are $15 to $18.
On Saturday, Memphis pop-rock band Ingram Hill, as heard on the "13 Going on 30" soundtrack ("Will I Ever Make It Home"), plays Mr. Small's, making up a date that was postponed in February. It starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10. Call 1-800-594-TIXX.
