Bill O'Driscoll

Pittsburgh

Arts and Culture Reporter at WESA-FM (Pittsburgh, PA)

Pittsburgh-based journalist (arts & culture reporter at 90.5 WESA), reader, music aficionado, tree-hugger, cyclist and fan of imperial stouts. Opinions are mine

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Articles

Pittsburgh's new Thousand Bridges Opera company celebrates Pride Month

3 days ago | wesa.fm | Bill O'Driscoll

This is WESA Arts, a weekly newsletter by Bill O'Driscoll providing in-depth reporting about the Pittsburgh area art scene. Sign up here to get it every Wednesday afternoon. Pittsburgh’s Pride Month is getting its own weekend of opera. The “delightfully queer” June 7 and 8 program doubles as the fully staged debut of Thousand Bridges Opera, a company created by a couple of singers out to make this venerable art form more accessible.
Pittsburgh Symphony premieres local composer's cultural 'dialogue'

3 days ago | wesa.fm | Bill O'Driscoll

Reza Vali was born in Iran, has lived most his life in the West, and has seen his works performed on five continents.
What to do this weekend: free summer music, Fiesta Flamenco & South Side Home & Garden Tour

4 days ago | wesa.fm | Bill O'Driscoll

Dance along to an evening of Spanish music with Fiesta Flamenco, check out free music this summer throughout the city or smell the flowers at the South Side Home & Garden Tour — here's what to do in Pittsburgh this weekend. Theater“Sometimes we feel guilty because we are guilty.” So says “Sister,” playwright Maripat Donovan’s Catholic nun who first appeared at City Theatre 20 years ago.
Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Arts Festival moves to Strip District, drops to 4 days

4 days ago | wesa.fm | Bill O'Driscoll

After being anchored in Point State Park for its first six decades, it’s been a nomadic few years for the Three Rivers Arts Festival. For the fourth straight year, the festival will be in a different location. But unable to settle it Downtown again because of construction, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is moving the festival to the Strip District. And for reasons at least partly related to the move, the festival will also run just four days this year, down from its usual 10.
Large gift grants kids free admission to Pittsburgh's Heinz History Center

5 days ago | wesa.fm | Bill O'Driscoll

Starting Sept. 1, anyone 17 or under will get free admission to the Heinz History Center. That’s thanks to an $11.5 million gift from Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin, the local philanthropists who recently made large gifts to the Carnegie Science Center and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The History Center announced the new gift Tuesday at an event in the museum’s big first-floor space, right next to the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Plaza, a space outside the Center’s cafe.
Renowned comedy troupe invests in Pittsburgh's Bottlerocket Social Hall

6 days ago | wesa.fm | Bill O'Driscoll

Renowned comedy theater Upright Citizens Brigade has bought a stake in Pittsburgh’s Bottlerocket Social Hall. For an undisclosed sum, UCB — which has trained some of the leading comedy talents of the past 25 years — has become a partner in the retro-themed Allentown venue for live music, comedy and more, Bottlerocket founder Chris Copen announced Monday. Copen said Bottlerocket had been exploring expansion for nearly a year. “UCB has stood out to us throughout the process,” he said in a statement.
Pittsburgh-based Damon Young edits an anthology of Black humor

6 days ago | wesa.fm | Bill O'Driscoll

Readers of his 2021 memoir “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker” already knew that Damon Young’s writing is as funny as it is poignant and insightful; the book won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Young digs even deeper into humor — his and others’ — as editor of “That’s How They Get You: An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor” (Pantheon Books). The collection features new essays by Young and two dozen other writers tackling everything from dating to institutional racism.
In Pittsburgh, Grenfell Tower fire survivors seek Arconic accountability

1 week ago | wvia.org | Bill O'Driscoll

Two survivors of 2017's deadly Grenfell Tower fire in London are in Pittsburgh with fellow activists this week to demand accountability of the Arconic Corporation. The multibillion-dollar maker of metals and architectural products, an Alcoa spin-off, is headquartered on the North Side.
In Pittsburgh, Grenfell Tower fire survivors seek Arconic accountability

1 week ago | wesa.fm | Bill O'Driscoll

Two survivors of 2017’s deadly Grenfell Tower fire in London are in Pittsburgh with fellow activists this week to demand accountability of the Arconic Corporation. The multibillion-dollar maker of metals and architectural products, an Alcoa spin-off, is headquartered on the North Side.
Pittsburgh filmmaker faces the 'Jaws' of a stage drama

1 week ago | wesa.fm | Bill O'Driscoll

This is WESA Arts, a weekly newsletter by Bill O'Driscoll providing in-depth reporting about the Pittsburgh area art scene. Sign up here to get it every Wednesday afternoon. Local filmmaker Steve “Stevo” Parys makes his stage-directing debut this week. It’s fitting that the play is “The Shark is Broken”: Parys cut his cinematic teeth, as it were, on “Jaws,” the classic whose wild behind-the-scenes story is told in this comedic drama.