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Ezra’s been a better name than band imagined

Better Than Ezra never performed on “Saturday Night Live,” but the group is a tiny part of the show’s history. The band was part of a memorable Norm Macdonald joke during Weekend Update: “And in music news, No. 1 on the college charts this summer was Better Than Ezra. And at No. 2 — Ezra.” The line got a laugh that lasted longer than the joke itself when it originally aired in 1995, and it’s one of those lines that people still remember. After Macdonald died in 2021, it regularly was included in montages of his most memorable “SNL” bits. It also can be seen in ...

Gray Areas: The Building picks a unique one for local gig

Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment: • Back in August, I wrote about Anthony LaMarca’s latest album, “Weapon,” and its unique distribution model, being available for download only through a QR code printed in the PETRA Int’l Herald, an 8-page newspaper he created. At that time, LaMarca — who is a member of the Grammy-winning band The War on Drugs and releases his solo material as The Building — said he wanted to perform the “Weapon” songs live locally but hadn’t picked a date or a venue. The date is Friday and the venue is a bit of a surprise — ...

‘Wicked: For Good’ doesn’t delight

“Give us a clock tick” is an expression uttered several times in “Wicked: For Good.” But Jon M. Chu’s two-part musical has asked for quite a bit more than that. Together, the two halves of this “Wicked” adaptation have run 297 minutes, which, more than the threat of lions and tigers and bears, is enough to make any moviegoer not entirely bewitched by the “Wizard of Oz” revision breathe a sigh of “Oh, my.” So it’s a lot of clock ticks, quite a few more than the stage musical, which had roughly half the runtime. But “Wicked” has always been a spectacle of ...

Mahoning Valley arts and entertainment

Art ARTS & EDUCATION AT THE HOYT, 124 E. Leasure Ave., New Castle, Pa.: “Floating Beauty: Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e,” through Jan. 29, 2026. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. hoytartcenter.org and 724-652-2882. ASHTABULA ARTS CENTER, 2928 W. 13th St., Ashtabula: “Hope in Artistry: Suicide Awareness and Prevention,” through Nov. 25 with reception from 6:30 to 8 p.m. today. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. ashtabulaartscenter.org and ...

Zeiders plays Youngstown and the world

Before Warren Zeiders travels the world, he’s coming to Youngstown. Zeiders will play the Covelli Centre on Friday, the same week that he announced his first world tour, which includes shows throughout Europe and Australia next year. His Youngstown appearance was delayed by more than a year. He originally was booked as direct support for Tim McGraw’s YLIVE concert in 2024. After that show was postponed to this year, Zeiders was booked as a headliner at the arena. Zeiders is only 26 years old, but his songs already have been streamed more than 3.6 billion times globally. He ...

The work of mixed media artist Morgan Bukovec is featured in an exhibition at Westminster College’s Foster Art Gallery in New Wilmington, Pa. Bukovec, who earned her bachelor’s degree in fine arts and arts education from the University of Dayton, works with objects found across mediums including collage, textiles, installation and ceramics. She focuses on the themes of identity, storytelling and fleeting moments and objects across time. Her “are you on the menu” exhibition contains a series of embroidered guest checks with various negative phrases, questions and comments ...