The Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera is putting on a new production of the interactive murder mystery comedy "Shear Madness". The director, Bob Lohrman, has directed 16 previous productions of this show over 19 years. He is tailoring this production for a Pittsburgh audience by making small changes like adding local references. A key part of the show is that the audience gets to participate by questioning suspects and trying to solve the murder with scissors at a fictional hair salon in Pittsburgh. The outcome is different each night depending on the votes and decisions of the audience. The actors must be prepared to adapt to the audience's choices.

1. Patti Conley
TIMES STAFF
PITTSBURGH — Bob Lohrman cut to
the quick when he talked about
the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera’s
new cabaret show “Shear Mad-
ness.”
After all, in 19 years he’s direct-
ed 16 productions of the interac-
tive whodunit comedy so fashion-
ing the show’s premiere for a Pitts-
burgh-area audience is like trim-
ming a longtime customer’s hair. A
snip there, highlights here, and
voila, soon “Shear Madness” has
its own Pittsburgh “do.”
Each city’s show is somewhat
different, yet basically the same,
he said. Sort of like hair. It comes
in all sorts of colors, textures and
lengths, but it’s still hair.
The show is permanently set in
a beauty salon called “Shear Mad-
ness,” a hub for glamour and gos-
sip among the staff and regulars.
In Pittsburgh, the fictional Shear
Madness is at 1818 East Carson St.
on the city’s South Side.
In each locale, the landlady who
lives upstairs, is murdered, with
— you guessed it — a pair of hair
dresser’s shears. Here, the lady’s
name is Isabelle Frick Turney, a
world famous piano player turned
recluse.
And in each production it’s
always up the audience to straight-
en up the matted murder mess.
Since audiences — like hair-
styles — change, the outcome is
different from show to show,
Lohrman said in a recent phone
interview.
The audience has its say.
“They vote. They question the
subjects. They look at the evi-
dence,” Lohrman said. “They get
to follow the threads of wherever
their suspicions go.”
That poses a task for the actors.
“The actors have to know exact-
ly what they did and said and
when they said what. And they
have to know what the truth is and
what secrets they are keeping,
which changes every night,” the
director said.
The actors are prepared with
basic scenarios and their lines are
spritzed with all sorts of Pitts-
burgh references and the talk of
the town these days.
At the start of rehearsal,
That’s about right, but there’s more. Film-
maker George Lucas created a complicated
flawed fictional hero in Indiana Jones, and the
three movies that he dominates are studded
with clues to his identity.
More biographical details are embedded in
“The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,” Lucas’
TV series now available on DVD, and in a bot-
tomless trove of Jonesiana.
The fourth movie, “Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which opens
May 22, will doubtless bring more clues, but
here’s the
Jones boy’s
dossier thus far:
Henry “Indiana”
Jones Jr. was born on the
cusp of the new century —
July 1, 1899, in Princeton,
N.J., according to his enter-
prising biographer, James
Luceno. Luceno ought to know: He
ransacked the world of Indiana Jones
novelizations, comics, game books and
other materials for his book, “Indiana
Jones: The Ultimate Guide.”
As a child, Indiana traveled around the
world with his father, Henry Jones, and
mother, Anna, on a lecture tour. As a youth,
he survived the trenches of World War I to
return to the United States to study archeolo-
gy at the University of Chicago, disappointing
his father so much that they didn’t speak for
decades.
SECTION D
SUNDAY MAY 18, 2008
CMYK
CMYK
CMYK
Wow, talk about underground
music.
The JamBaloosa festival in
Wampum has added a third stage
that’s 150 feet below the surface
within the limestone-lined walls of
a former mushroom mine.
Fans will congregate in that
cave on June 27 to 29 to witness
techno and bluegrass acts, while a
bevy of jam bands performs above
ground on two stages inside the
Mines & Meadows ATV park off
Route 18.
“People have never experi-
enced anything like this,” said Jay
Rogovin, the western New York-
based production manager for
JamBaloosa. “There have been
raves in caves, but we’re putting
on live bands.”
Confirmed for the underground
stage is EOTO, a drumming duo
composed of Jason Hahn and
Michael Travis from the nationally
known jam band String Cheese
Incident.
The cave stage also will wel-
come Johnny Rabb, who the Guin-
ness Book of World Records has
recognized as the planet’s fastest
drummer.
The above-ground stages will
feature acts like Burning River
Band, Papadosio, Jones for
Revival and Lotus Grove — from
the Ohio cities of Columbus,
Athens, Youngstown and Kent,
respectively — along with acts like
the Slow Learners from Maryland
and Digital Frontier from Ver-
mont.
THE MAN,
THE HERO
He has braved entertainment events in and
around Beaver County for 11 years but can
SCOTT TADY find the hidden treasure and
save us all before time runs out? Indiana
Jones has nothing on our hometown hero.
THEATER WHAT’S ON NOW
Who is Indy?
Tish Wells, McClatchy Newspapers
A
s the Army intelligence offi-
cer in the movie “Raiders of
the Lost Ark” describes
him: “Professor of archeology,
expert on the occult, and, uh, how
does one say it? Obtainer of rare
antiquities.”
Subterranean hometown jam
Scott Tady
TIMES ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
PITTSBURGH — Imagine a band
of gypsies with indie-rock atti-
tude and European folk instru-
ments, fronted by a Roy Orbi-
son-ish singer crooning songs
worthy of an authentic Mexican
restaurant.
There, you’ve just imagined
DeVotchKa. Or something simi-
lar to DeVotchKa, the genre-
jumbling Denver band that
entertains Wednesday at Diesel
on Pittsburgh’s South Side.
Best known for the evocative
soundtrack work on the Oscar-
nominated “Little Miss Sun-
shine,” DeVotchKa is winding
up a world tour supporting its
critically celebrated fourth
album, “A Mad and Faithful
Telling.”
While in Europe, Jeanie
Schroder, the band’s tuba,
sousaphone and upright-bass
player, granted an e-mail inter-
view that touched on late-night
sandwiches and the big money
the band rejected from a fast-
food giant.
Q: Your songs are so roman-
tic, intense and at times haunt-
ing. Could you write a silly bub-
blegum pop song if you tried?
A: Probably. We could for fun.
Q: There’s such a wide
range of styles and instrumen-
tation in your music. At the ear-
liest point in your songwriting
process, what instrument do
you use or hear in your head?
A: A lot of stuff gets started on
keyboard or guitar and then
later on is switched to another
instrument.
Q: On May 21 you play Pitts-
burgh, a city that holds a strong
attachment to its Eastern Euro-
pean heritage, which is one of
your main musical influences.
What are your most prominent
memories of Pittsburgh?
A: One of the times we played
there was at Mr. Small’s The-
atre, and we all remember the
small brick streets and sort of
WHAT’S UP
Event: DeVotchKa in concert.
Time: 7 p.m. May 21.
Place: Diesel, South Side.
Tickets: $17.50 and $19.50.
Information: www.dieselpgh.com
Mad
mix up
DeVotchKa to offer
its variety at Diesel
WHAT’S UP
● Event: “Shear Madness”
●● Where: Pittsburgh Civic Light
Opera Cabaret, downtown Pittsburgh.
●● When: Now through Sept. 28.
● Performances: 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday through Saturdays; mati-
nees at 2 Saturdays and Sundays;
matinees at 1 on select Thursdays.
● Tickets: evenings, $39.50; mati-
nees, $34.50.
● Information: (412) 456-6666 or
www.CLOcabaret.com
Cabaret stage show is ‘Shear Madness’ for audience, actors
“There have been raves in caves,
but we’re putting on live bands.”
Jay Rogovin, the western New York-based production manager for JamBaloosa
SCOTT SUCHMAN
SHOWN is a scene from Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera’s “Shear Mad-
ness.”
DON’T BE RUDE: PUT YOUR CELL PHONE AWAY
Concerts are being ruined by technology. D8
See INDY, Page D3
See TADY, Page D2
See DEVOTCHKA, Page D8
See MADNESS, Page D8
Photo/PAULSCHODER