Things to do / Travel Guide
Pittsburgh has a long-standing tradition of valuing high-quality performing arts. The city boasts Broadway productions, well-known performers, and top-notch productions for all ages and interests. Music legends Perry Como and Henry Mancini both hail from the Pittsburgh area and today the city continues to produce new artists like Christina Aguilera.
Fine Arts in Pittsburgh
For enriching entertainment or a sublime cultural experience, head to Pittsburgh's Downtown Cultural District. Fourteen cultural venues comprise the Cultural District, including the well-known Harris, O'Reilly, and Byham Theaters, the Benedum Center for Performing Arts, and the Cabaret at Theater Square. These venues offer a wide variety of dance, theater, and musical performances in opulent, beautifully restored, historical theaters. The Pittsburgh Opera with its Pittsburgh Opera Center, a prestigious voice training institution, has several major productions each year. While the Pittsburgh Opera travels to various venues, it can often be seen at the Benedum Center, performing such works as “Romeo and Juliet” and the “Magic Flute”Ticket prices vary.
Also in the heart of the Cultural District, the historic 2600-seat Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, has acquired an international reputation for world-class performances and shows, architectural beauty, and lavish interior design. Ticket prices vary.
Pittsburgh's Nightlife
Pittsburgh's live music and nightlife scene will satisfy the hardcore partier and the refined wine-sipper, the dance-till-you-drop tourist and the vacationer with two-left feet…and, well, just about everyone in between. From college bars and dive bars to sports bars to all-night dance clubs and comedy clubs, the Steel City's got it all.
You'll laugh ‘til it hurts, some say, at Pittsburgh's professional stand-up comedy venues such as The Improv and The Funnybone. But perhaps the best-known comedy show (and certainly the longest running) is the Friday Nite Improvs (FNI) at Oakland's Cathedral of Learning. Don't forget to bring your own repertoire because the FNI actors elicit audience input and they just might drag you on stage to test your improvisational comedy skills.
The South Side, particularly along Carson Street, is one of the most happening nightlife districts in the city. Smiling Moose packs in punk rockers every weekend and Jack's Rose Bar offers cheap drinks and throngs of happy hippies and hip-hoppers. Primanti's Blues Note Café, also on the South Side, is somewhat of a local legend and brings in top-notch local and national blues bands.
Rivaling the South Side for its popular after-dark venues is the Strip District, along Smallman Avenue and Penn Avenue. Say your prayers before entering the Altar, it's a church-turned-bar complete with stained glass windows, pews, and beer on-tap. Popular Strip District nightclubs include Touch's jungle techno, H20, and Bash for 80's retro.
Arguably Pittsburgh's most popular dance attraction is Matrix, in Station Square. Every weekend Matrix's four, separate dance floors pack in collegiate and post-collegiate crowds who shout nothing but praises for its trendy oxygen bar and spin of hip-hop, latin music, and rock.
For popular music concerts try the Rex Theatre on Carson Street, the Post-Gazette Pavillion at Star Lake, and the Heinz Field on Art Rooney Avenue, in Pittsburgh. These venues have hosted Bon Jovi, Mary J. Blige, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, among countless others.
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