Rex Rutkoski stories

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88

River City Brass ‘goes green’ with ‘Celtic Connections’

Whatever condition people arrive in for a River City Brass (RCB) concert, predicts its marketing director Andrew Blight, they will leave feeling better. “We’re in the business of lifting spirits,” he says. That will be especially easy to achieve for the people-pleasing organization with its annual “Celtic Connections” concert at...

3 Rivers Medium reaches for the other side

Erica Altmiller’s first awareness of what she calls “the gift” came when she was 7 years old and had a conversation with her great-great grandmother who she says was visiting her room. Talks between grandmothers and granddaughters are quite normal, of course, but Altmiller’s had died a few weeks earlier....

Arts Alive! celebrates high school creativity

Kathleen Guglielmi Morrone views art as a communal language. “We may find it hard to express ourselves but art can give insight to how we’re feeling, what we stand for and our passions,” says the art teacher at St. Joseph High School, Natrona Heights. “Giving students a voice and a...

Review: Coach Cowher helps America celebrates 50 years of hits

Few things are more enjoyable then the warmth of getting together with old friends in a comfortable environment indoors on a late winter’s night. …Especially when that friendship goes back half a century. The reunion of ardent Pittsburgh fans with Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley (aka America) at the Byham...

Michael Buble returns to Pittsburgh with new sense of freedom

The very first time he heard Michael Buble sing, Hempfield’s John Noble asked out loud, “Who is that?” “The second thing I said was ‘What kind of name is Buble — ‘boo-blay!!’?” recalls the veteran entertainer and popular Frank Sinatra tribute artist with a smile. While he has always been...

Mystery goes to the circus in Oakmont

Murder — sort of! — is about to celebrate a 25th anniversary in Oakmont. That’s how many years the good people of the murder mystery dinner shows at United Methodist Church, Oakmont, have been pretend dying to keep the church’s local and far-reaching social outreach programs not only alive but...

Armstrong Community Theater ‘lets the sunshine in’

The cast of Armstrong Community Theater (ACT) is about to “let the sunshine in” in “Peace, Love and the ’60s” on Feb. 22-24 at Worthington Community Center. It was an easy choice to focus this tribute to an era, says Paul Wright of ACT, and, along with Karissa Lloyd, director...

West Deer’s John Vento uses music as force for good

For a guy who admits that he had a late start in taking original music seriously, John Vento certainly is making up for lost time. In the past 20 years, the West Deer singer-songwriter, who grew up in Penn Hills, has recorded three albums with his John Vento Band, five...

Review: Brickman delivers a musical valentine to Pittsburgh

Sometimes, in life, certain things just seem so right: • Snow on Christmas Day • The first robin of spring • Fireworks on the Fourth of July • Jim Brickman playing a concert on Valentine’s Day. Pittsburgh fans were treated to the latter last night as the pianist’s schedule brought...

50 years on, America looks back at freeze-frame moments of fame

When Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley of America look back on half a century of freeze-frame moments, the highlights begin right out of the gate. “We have been very fortunate to be able to start our career with such success. Our very first album (‘America’) and single (‘Horse with No...

Tommy James still draggin’ his line of hits, 53 years later

Tommy James was born in Ohio, raised in Michigan, now lives in New Jersey, recruited his band in Greensburg and calls Pittsburgh his second home. “I love coming back to Pittsburgh, where it all started for me,” he says. “I owe Pittsburgh a great deal, I truly do. It began...

Jim Brickman to play up the love on Valentine’s Day in Pittsburgh

Does it get any better than this for Jim Brickman fans? “America’s New Romantic Piano Sensation” (the facetious nickname the popular national pianist/songwriter/radio host jokingly bestowed on himself) performs in Pittsburgh on – wait for this! – Valentine’s Day. The Cleveland resident sends this message to local residents: “I love...

Annual Natrona Heights quilt show bursting with color

Nancy Pauli has been involved with needlework and crafts of all kinds since she was a small child at her grandmother’s side. But she kept putting off starting to quilt until she retired because she thought it would “take over my life.” “And it has,” says the former health care...

Donnie Iris to celebrate ‘Spirit of 76’ in Greensburg

It seems like it took almost a full year for fans to finally stop wishing Donnie Iris “Happy 75th Birthday” last year. But that’s OK, suggests Pittsburgh’s beloved, iconic rocker. “It’s the fans and the need to create new things that keep us motivated,” explains Iris as he prepares to...

Freeport art students check into hospital for month-long exhibit

Art speaks loudly, powerfully, often beautifully, without words. It expresses feelings in a visual way, reminds Freeport High School junior Allison Breski. “Others can look at the piece and hopefully enjoy it,” she adds. “Art imitates life and life isn’t black and white but many times gray,” adds Freeport senior...

Stevo Sadvary translates passion for life into his art

Steven “Stevo” Sadvary isn’t shy about sharing a grand vision for his creativity. “I would like the world to be a more beautiful, happier place through my art, ” says the Penn Hills resident whose studio is in Squirrel Hill. “I simply want my art to speak for itself. I...

‘Dueling Pianos’ audience can sing along with pop, classic rock

While there may not be any actual dueling when “Dueling Pianos” comes to town, there will be a whole lot of fun. Keyboardists Harry Levicky and Hermie Granati promise they will see to that in their return to the Oaks Theater in Oakmont at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 “We just...

Get The Led Out back for annual shows at The Palace Theatre

Paul Sinclair comes from a line of opera singers in Madrid, Spain, and he believes singing is literally in his DNA. “I’ve had an unstoppable, burning passion to scream from the mountaintops since I entered this world,” he says. When he began pursuing music as a serious career he never...

Springdale Twp. artist John Wiegand draws the world in fresh colors

John Wiegand hopes to inspire people by creating artwork that helps them see things from a different perspective. “Everything can be seen as art these days, but fine art is where my passion is,” says the Springdale Township resident who was raised in Fox Chapel. “It is constantly changing, moving...

‘Paul Simon: The Life’ goes deep into the brilliance of the musician

Initially Paul Simon was quite reluctant about agreeing to a biography about his life and music. “Partially because of his private nature and, secondly, because he doesn’t like to do things, like interviews, that cut into time he might be using to work on his music,” explains Robert Hilburn, retired...

Justin Rupple hopes to make good impression at Penn State New Kensington

The No. 1 question he is asked these days, says Justin Rupple, is, “Is it hard to do comedy right now in America?” The Los Angeles-based nationally touring entertainer, originally from Seattle, has a quick answer: “No harder or easier than it has ever been. Truly connecting with people is...

Front Porch Theatricals’ musical ‘Baby’ is a labor of love

Washington townhouse on the market for $1,225,000

Folk legend Bruce Cockburn gives uplifting performance at City Winery

‘Champagne & Chapeaux’: Westmoreland Symphony’s annual soiree for a good cause

Jimmy Stewart’s P-51 Mustang stops in hometown for museum anniversary

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