One thing we know by now is that Pittsburgh knows how to throw a party. It’s been happening on New Year’s Eve for 25 years, which brings us to “Black and Gold Turns Silver,” the 25th anniversary of Highmark First Night Pittsburgh.
The annual celebration will begin Downtown at 6 p.m. Monday with the Dollar Bank children’s fireworks and roll on for six hours with more than 100 activities, including a parade with live music, dance, theater, comedy, magic and kids’ attractions. It will climax at midnight with the Future of Pittsburgh Grand Finale fireworks and the raising of the Future of Pittsburgh Ball.
A treasured 20-year tradition of First Night is the parade featuring the puppets created at the studio of Cheryl Capezzuti and during community workshops.
“I see the parade as a people-powered work of art that wouldn’t be complete without art made by the community. I am proud to participate year after year,” the artist and educator said in a statement.
The evening will feature performances by magician/comedian Lee Terbosic, the Arcade Comedy Theater doing improv, the STAYCEE PEARL dance project, the reggae of The Flow Band and 17-year-old Pittsburgh guitarist Elias Khouri leading The E.K. Band.
The musical headliner is Durand Jones and the Indications, a young soul band from Bloomington, Ind., influenced by Jackie Wilson, Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions.
“Soul music’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” the frontman says in the band bio. “I remember being a little kid and being in my dad’s truck, and whenever ‘Devotion’ from Earth, Wind & Fire would come on the radio, he’d swerve into the left lane, then into the right lane.”
It was back roads in rural Louisiana where truck-boogieing was a little less perilous.
“I remember that just being the most fun experience, when that song’d come on the radio, because he’d do that every single time. Soul music’s just always been present.”
Some activities require the purchase of a button ($10 each, free for children 5 and younger) and a reservation, including the Emerald Owl Productions’ Steel City Let’s Glow Party at EQT Plaza, The Zuzu African Acrobats of “America’s Got Talent” on the Pittsburgh CAPA School stage and the First Night Jazz Club presented by BNY Mellon in the Trust Arts Education Center.
The First Night Friend VIP experience ($40) is also available, and provides priority access to seating, parking and a private lounge. It’s available at TrustArts.org/FirstNightPGH, the Box Office at Theater Square, 655 Penn Ave., or 412-456-6666.
Participating Giant Eagle store locations will have buttons for sale, although you will be directed to register at TrustArts.org/FirstNightPGH.
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh schedule
*Indicates that the event requires the button.
*Indicates that the event requires the button. All locations are Downtown.
707 Penn Gallery (707 Penn Ave.)
6-11 p.m.: Support Group — Casey Droege: Exhibition of new work from artist and cultural producer exploring the ideas of support and sustenance.
937 Liberty Ave.
Bricolage
6:30-10:30 p.m.: Bellmouth Crossing: Travel into the new year in this immersive theater experience.
Second Floor
6-11 p.m.: 10 Futures: Presenting the work of 10 artists who craft alternate realities.
Third Floor
7-8, 9-10 p.m.: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company: A jazz filled night with music, art and poetry.
Allegheny Riverfront Park
6-11 p.m.: Public art by Ann Hamilton and Michael Van Valkenburgh connecting the Allegheny River to the Cultural District.
Arcade Comedy Theater (943 Liberty Ave.)
Main Stage
*6:30-7, 7:30-8 p.m.: Penny Arcade: Kids Comedy Show.
8:45-9:15, 10-10:30 p.m.: Player One — Improv Comedy at the Arcade.
Arthur Murray Dance Center (136 Sixth St.)
8-9, 9-10, 10-11 p.m.: Arthur Murray Dance Lessons for newcomers.
August Wilson Center Theater (980 Liberty Ave.)
*7-7:30 p.m.: Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School: Excerpts from Act II of “The Nutcracker.”
*9-9:30, 10-10:30 p.m.: STAYCEE PEARL Dance Project: A sound and movement experience inspired by the culture of Soul Music Cafe.
6-11 p.m.: PXL — Wahila Creative: Interact with LED cubes from your phone.
Byham Theater (101 Sixth St.)
*7-7:45, 9-9:45, 10:30-11:15 p.m.: New Year’s Eve Comedy Showcase featuring Norlex Belma, Mia Jackson and host Day Bracey.
Courtyard by Marriott Lobby (925 Penn Ave.)
6:30-10:15 p.m.: Matthew Korbanic: Guitar music of Bach and Villa-Lobos.
Dollar Bank Stage (237 Seventh St.)
6-6:15 p.m.: Dollar Bank Children’s Fireworks: Annual kickoff to Highmark First Night Pittsburgh and Williams SING-OFF Competition Winner.
6:15-7:15 p.m.: Elias Khouri: rock and funk
9:30-10:15 p.m.: The Flow Band; reggae.
EQT Plaza (Liberty Avenue and Seventh Street)
6:45-7:30, 8:45-9:30, 10-10:45 p.m.: Steel City Let’s GLOW Crazy Dance Party with Emerald Owl Productions.
Fairmont Pittsburgh, Andys (510 Market St.)
8:30-11 p.m.: Tania Grubbs: Jazz standards.
Family Tent (Seventh Street and Penn Avenue)
Sponsored by Highmark & Allegheny Health Network.
6-11 p.m.: Allegheny County Park Rangers (hands-on nature exploration), Citizens Bank Children’s Theater Series and EQT Bridge Theater Series, Fort Pitt Museum’s Hands-On History, Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Steel City LUG (LEGO User Group).
Fifth Avenue Place (120 Fifth Ave.)
Main Floor
6-11 p.m.: Caricaturists Clarence Butler and Jordan Callahan, face painting, Giggles the Clown, Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse — Scrappy New Year.
Highmark Auditorium
*6:30-7, 7:30-8, 9-9:30 p.m.: Stephanie Keyes, author of Young Adult fantasy series “The Star Child,” reads from her new release “The Spellbinder’s Sonata.”
Second Floor
6:30-10:30 p.m.: What Does 2019 Hold for You? — Tarot cards and palmistry.
Fire & Ice Plaza (Penn Avenue and Ninth Street)
6-10:30 p.m.: Ice Creations.
6:30-10:30 p.m.: Steel Town Fire.
First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh (320 Sixth Ave.)
7 and 8:30 p.m.: Balmoral Pipes and Drums with Scottish Dancers and Emcee.
Fort Duquesne Boulevard between Sixth and Seventh streets
6-11 p.m.: Haas Mural — Richard Haas: Eye-fooling public painting by a renowned American muralist.
Greer Cabaret Theater (655 Penn Ave.)
*7-7:45 p.m.: Pittsburgh CLO Mini Stars.
Harris Theater (809 Liberty Ave.)
6-11 p.m.: Classic Movie Trailers — Pittsburgh Filmmakers.
Heinz Hall Courtyard (Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street)
6-10 p.m.: Holiday KidsPlay, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership — featuring friends from Fred Rogers Productions.
Highmark Stage (Liberty Avenue and Stanwix Street)
10:45 p.m.-12:10 a.m.: Durand Jones & The Indications: Soul music quintet from Bloomington, Ind.
11:55-11:59 p.m.: The Future of Pittsburgh Grand Finale: Countdown to Midnight, raising of the Future of Pittsburgh ball, Zambelli Fireworks display and music.
O’Reilly Theater (621 Penn Ave.)
*6:45-7:45, 8:45-9:45, 10:15-11:15 p.m.: Magician/comedian Lee Terbosic.
Agnes R. Katz Plaza (Penn Avenue and Seventh Street)
6-11 p.m.: The Cultural District’s signature piece.
6-11 p.m.: Tony Tasset’s Magnolias for Pittsburgh (bronze hand-cast magnolia trees).
Penn Avenue and Eighth Street
6-11 p.m.: Water Cube, designed through a collaboration of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and GBBN / EDGEstudio.
Penn Avenue
8-8:30 p.m.: New Year’s Eve Parade “Black and Gold Turns Silver” celebrating 25th anniversary of First Night and the 20th year of creative leadership from Studio Capezzuti.
Penn Avenue Place (Penn Avenue and Stanwix)
6-11 p.m.: Sign of Light — Robert Wilson and Richard Gluckman, electronic sign.
Pittsburgh CAPA School (111 Ninth St.)
Cabaret
7:30-8, 9:30-10 p.m.: The Complete New Year’s Eve Experience in 30 Minutes with Comedian Helen Wildy.
Auditorium
*7-8, 9-10 p.m.: Zuzu African Acrobats
SPACE Gallery (812 Liberty Ave.)
6-11 p.m.: DanceFilm, an exploration, curated by Carolina Loyola-Garcia, is an exhibition surveying contemporary dance for screen work by international artists.
Tito Way
6-11 p.m.: Cell Phone Disco — InformationLab and Marx @ 200, extension of a 2018 exhibition of the same name in SPACE.
Trinity Cathedral Sanctuary (325 Oliver Ave.)
8-8:45, 9:30-10:30 p.m.: River City Brass.
Trust Arts Education Center (805 Liberty Ave.)
7:30-8:15, 8:45-9:30, 10-11 p.m.: First Night Jazz Club presented by BNY Mellon: Noel. Quintana & The Latin Crew: salsa music with a New York flavor.
6:30-7 p.m.: Williams SING-OFF Competition finalists showcase: top student singers from the Williams SING-OFF Competition.
Third Floor
6-11 p.m.: Glow Gallery, innovative black light art pieces, a glowing graffiti wall where participants can add their own tag, and a mesmerizing star orb chandelier.
Fourth Floor — WYEP Music Station
6:30-7:15, 9-9:45 p.m.: WYEP 2018 Singer-Songwriter Showcase, featuring Jamie Kunning, Jake Polcha and Dan Styslinger.
7:30- 8:15 p.m., 10-10:45 p.m.: Finalists from WYEP’s 2018 Singer-Songwriter Competition.
Wood Street Galleries (601 Wood St.)
6-11 p.m.: Flow — Erwin Redl, light installation on exterior of Wood Street Galleries.
6-11 p.m.: Nonotak: Noemi Schipfer & Takami Nakamoto: immersive, and dreamlike sound and light environments meant to envelop viewers.
Information: firstnightpgh.trustarts.org.
First Published: December 26, 2018, 12:00 p.m.
