What to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Nov. 8-10

Check out the PGH Vintage Mixer, take a Pittsburgh Potters Tour or enjoy “Cavalleria Rusticana” at the Pittsburgh Opera — here’s what to do in the city this weekend.

Visual Art
In the new show at Silver Eye Center for Photography, two acclaimed artists draw on their families’ photographic archives to explore themes like migration and the complex legacies of maternal lineages. “Passages” features work by Missouri-based Priya Suresh Kambli and Cambridge, Mass.-based Vivian Poey, who use techniques like layering and mark-making to alter existing photos. The opening reception is Thu., Nov. 7.

Dance
Did you know Madonna once studied with dance pioneer Martha Graham? And that the Allegheny City-born Graham (d. 1991) was a fan of the Material Girl? Now Pittsburgh-based choreographer and dancer Jesse Factor asks what if Graham had choreographed the Blond Ambition tour, applying her movement style to Madonna’s hits? Factor’s “The Marthaodyssey” debuts this week at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, with performances Fri., Nov. 8, and Sat., Nov. 9.

Opera
Ruggero Leoncavallo’s tragic “Pagliacci” is among the world’s best-known operas; with just two acts, it’s often produced alongside another tale of adultery, Pietro Mascagni’s one-act “Cavalleria Rusticana.” So it is this weekend at Pittsburgh Opera, with key roles for soprano Caitlin Gotimer, mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti and baritone Sebastian Catana. The double-bill gets four performances at the Benedum Center, Sat., Nov. 9, Tue., Nov. 12, and Nov. 15 and 17.

Marketplace
The PGH Vintage Mixer returns with its first in-person event since 2021. The marketplace for vintage fashion, vinyl, comics, toys, mid-century-modern stuff and more will set up shop in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center all day Sat., Nov. 9. The ticketed event features some 100 vendors and more nostalgia than you can shake a Herb Albert album at.

Visual Art
The Pittsburgh Potters Tour returns. This installment offers free self-guided tours of 18 local pottery studios, from Sewickley to Homestead, Carnegie to Wilkinsburg, and a dozen points in between, and work by dozens of guest artists as well. It’s organized by the South Side’s venerable Fireborn Studios, it’s a great way to see what local ceramic artists are doing with vases, mugs, teapots, decorative objects and more. The tour runs Sat., Nov. 9, and Sun., Nov. 10.