FRIDAY

A Night with Alice

The horror Rock Hall of Famer pulls into Stage AE Friday night with the updated show “Spend the Night With Alice Cooper,” surely complete with electric chair, guillotine, fake blood and boa constrictor.

Alice has been busy lately. He did a tour with supergroup The Hollywood Vampires (Joe Perry, Johnny Depp, etc.) and just announced that a new album is in the works with his original band.

He’s also lent this voice to a recording of “Peter and the Wolf in Hollywood” and a new reworking of the Pink Floyd classic on “Wish You Were Here Symphonic” with Rick Wakeman, the London Orion Orchestra and guitarists Stephen McElroy and Dave Fowler from Australian Pink Floyd.

To Stage AE, he brings the classics “I’m Eighteen,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “School’s Out,” “Elected” and more with the three-guitar attack of Nita Strauss, Tommy Henriksen and Ryan Roxie, backed by longtime bassist Chuck Garric and drummer Glen Sobel.

Doors are at 7 p.m. $35; ticketmaster.com.

SATURDAY

Venture to the Point

Looking for an afternoon of fun in the great outdoors? The annual Venture Outdoors Festival will be held Saturday at Point State Park, Downtown, offering guests a chance to try their hand at kayaking, rock climbing, fishing, dragon boating and more.

Last year more than 5,000 people took part in the activities.

It runs from noon to 6 p.m., with a Venture Outdoors members hour beginning at 11 a.m. It’s free. Go to www.ventureoutdoors.org/festival.

FRIDAY AND SUNDAY

Resonance and Texture

Multi-modal performing arts group Resonance Works | Pittsburgh will perform Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde,” or “The Song of the Earth,” in collaboration with Texture Contemporary Ballet.

The piece for two voices and orchestra will feature mezzo-­soprano Brooke Larimer and tenor Robert Frankenberry, along with fresh dance provided by Texture. Artistic director Maria Sensi Sellner conducts the chamber version of this work by Schoenberg/Riehn. The program opens with Schoenberg’s “Verklarte Nacht.”

Performances are 8 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Charity Randall Theatre, 4301 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $35 in advance, with discounts for students and seniors, and $5 more at the door. More at www.resonanceworks.org.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

Gardell live

Comedian and Swissvale native Billy Gardell performs at the Monroeville Convention Center, Monroeville, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Mr. Gardell of “Mike & Molly” and “Monopoly Millionaires’ Club” fame, has been part of the comedy circuit since the late ’80s and brings his observational humor about his childhood, adolescence and new family life to the convention center stage.

Doors open at 5 p.m. for the 21-and-over event. Tickets: $40-$75, www.eventbrite.com or www.monroevilleconventioncenter.com.

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

Spring dance

Nearly 200 students, ages 8-22, from the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s children, student and pre-professional divisions will take the Byham Theater, Downtown, for the school’s spring performance.

The program includes George Balanchine’s ethereal work “Serenade,” complemented by a mix of contemporary and other classical pieces.

Performances are 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. Tickets: www.pbt.org or 412-456-6666.

SATURDAY

The ZBB is back

The Zac Brown Band makes its annual trip to Burgettstown still touring behind last spring’s “Jekyll + Hyde,” which showed the band’s range from country-boogie to grunge. Fans can expect another marathon with lots of fine picking and the usual surprise covers.

Drake White and the Big Fire open the First Niagara Pavilion show at 7 p.m. Tickets: $31-$72.50; ticketmaster.com.

SATURDAY

Milk Carton Kids found

Milk Carton Kids would be a good name for a pop-punk band, but it’s been snagged by a tender folk duo (Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale) hailed as a new Simon & Garfunkel.

They’ve been featured on NPR’s “Mountain Stage” and “Tiny Desk Concert” series, on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and the Coen Brothers’ concert film documentary “Another Day/Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis.”

This show, supporting last year’s “Monterey,” will be two voices, two guitars, one microphone, one light and lots of intricate playing and pretty harmonies. Mixed in between will be their deadpan humor.

It’s at Carnegie Lecture Hall, Oakland, at 8 p.m. Tickets: $30-$35; ticketmaster.com.

SATURDAY

Reed Dance II

Dancer/choreographer Greer Reed’s latest contribution to the Pittsburgh dance scene is Reed Dance II, a new junior youth ensemble.

The group makes its debut at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at The Alloy Studios, 5530 Penn Ave., Friendship.

Tickets are $25 at the door.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

Steel-Man revealed

The first-ever 3 Rivers Comicon takes place Saturday and Sunday at Century III Mall in West Mifflin, and part of the festivities will be the unveiling of the Pittsburgh superhero Steel-Man, a statue that stands eight feet tall and weighs 2,500 pounds.

It was inspired by the Iron Man MK 1 suit that Tony Stark wore in the movie “Iron Man.” It will happen at noon Saturday.

Guest artists and writers include Darryl Banks (Green Lantern), Pat & Shelly Block (Disney Comics), Chad Cicconi (Fracture), Dan Fogel (Underground Price & Grading Guide), Ron Frenz (Spider-Man, Thor), Justin Jordan (Green Lantern), Joe Linsner (Dawn, Harley Quinn), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Bob McLeod (The New Mutants), Pat Olliffe (Spider-girl), P. Craig Russell (Sandman), John Totleben (Swamp Thing, Miracleman), Dave Wachter (Godzilla) and Mark Wheatley (Doctor Who).

There will be panel discussions, a cosplay costume contest Saturday and a special kids costume contest on Sunday (kids under 14 in costume Sunday get in free). Other events include Magic: The Gathering tournament and Uncanny X-Men Booster Draft, art auction, statue unveiling at noon Saturday, and family events.

3 Rivers Comicon runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. A weekend pass is $14.99, Saturday is $9.99, and Sunday is $9.99. Details at www.3riverscomicon.com.

SUNDAY

Isaak is in Munhall

It’s a little odd that someone with a voice like Chris Isaak has such a low profile. Where’s he been? Down Under, for starters.

The onetime New Country star signed on last fall as a judge on “The X Factor Australia.” Last year, he also followed up his tribute to Sun Records, “Beyond the Sun,” with “First Comes the Night,” his first album of new material in six years.

Of recording in Nashville, Tenn., he said, proving how insulated he’s been from the country scene, “I had the misconception that a producer in Nashville would be bringing in banjos and asking me what songs I had that were pure country.”

He’s at the Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead, Munhall, at 8 p.m. $49-$69; ticketfly.com.

First Published: May 19, 2016, 4:00 a.m.