Black and white (keys)

Perhaps the most fashionable classical soloist on the circuit today, French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet used to be known for his red socks and Versace suits. These days he is sporting Vivienne Westwood attire, not that he is going punk anytime soon. The fact is he should be better known for suave interpretations of the classics and, especially, the French repertoire, such as Camille Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2.

He will solo in that work with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marek Janowski, the PSO's Otto Klemperer Guest Conductor. He will then lead the orchestra in Hector Berlioz's"Symphonie fantastique,"to be recorded for release on the PentaTone label along with Berlioz's "King Lear Overture" (the PSO recorded that last year). 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $12.50-$79; call 412-392-4900 or visit www.pittsburghsymphony.org.

The vanishing

Sarah Wooley's drama "They Have Oak Trees in North Carolina" has been produced in London as a BBC radio play and now travels across the pond for its United States debut, continuing through Nov. 7 at Little Late Theater.

In "They Have Oak Trees ..." Ray and Eileen's 5-year-old son vanishes while the British family is on holiday in Florida. Twenty-two years later, an American arrives in a small English village claiming to be their boy. Is he an impostor? What secrets must be unearthed in an attempt to prove his true identity?

Artistic director Sunny Disney Fitchett directs the drama, which includes strong adult language. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. (no show on Halloween). Tickets: www.littlelake.org or 724-745-6300.

Scary opera

Spirits arise and murder follows in Undercroft Opera's production of the opera "The Medium," opening Friday. Written by Gian Carlo Menotti in 1945, and inspired after he himself attended a seance, it follows Madame Flora, who stages fake seances but then goes insane when she thinks she has actually had contact with the dead.

Showings are 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday at the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh, 201 S. Winebiddle St. Tickets are $10-$15. Woody Brown conducts, Rebekah Hill is music director and Sally Denmead directs this company that "exclusively showcases local talent in traditional operatic productions." There will be pre-opera concerts each evening on Halloween themes: "Scary Songs and Terrifying Trios." Go to www. undercroftopera.org.

Norm at 7 Springs

Former "Saturday Night Live" anchor Norm Macdonald takes the stage at Seven Springs Mountain Resort on Friday for an evening of stand-up comedy.

Along with his "SNL" fame, Macdonald starred in such films as "Dirty Work," "Norm Macdonald," "Dr. Doolittle" (as the voice of Lucky the Dog) and "The People vs. Larry Flint."

At the moment he has a faux reality show in the works, and he's trying to get a grip on social networking.

"Everybody says you have to be on MySpace," he recently told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "You have to be on Facebook. You have to be on Twitter. But I don't really like all that kind of stuff. I just hired a girl in New York, and she does it all for me. But then I didn't know what Twitter was at the time, and she said, 'Oh I'll do your Twitter, too.' Then people came up to me and said, 'I read your Twitter.' And I said, 'What?' I didn't know what it was really. And they told me it's a thing where you say what you're doing. And it wasn't me talking, it was this girl pretending to be me pretending to be funny, and I was like, God, this is awful. I look like this super unfunny guy that's talking about where I am. So I sort of stopped the Twittering."

The show is at 9 p.m. Tickets are $37.50 and $45.50. Call 1-866-703-7625 or go to www.7springs.com.

Mo' music

Keb' Mo' is only 58, so he isn't on B.B. King or Buddy Guy level, but he's been at the blues for a long time, starting with Jefferson Airplane violinist Papa John Creach when he was 20 and working up to his first solo album 15 years ago.

He even played the legendary Robert Johnson in a movie ("Can't You Hear the Wind Howl").

The L.A. native (born Kevin Moore) combines Delta blues with a singer-songwriter style that fits in alongside a Bonnie Raitt or a Jackson Browne. His latest project is "Live & Mo'," featuring six live performances and four new studio recordings, including the anthemic "A Brand New America.

His tour brings him to the Palace Theatre in Greensburg at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $35-$40. 724-836-8000.

Phantom live

The "Phantom of the Opera" will get assistance from the Organist of the Cathedral Friday when organist Michael Britt performs live accompaniment to the 1925 silent film classic at Trinity Cathedral, Sixth Avenue, Downtown. The famous film (not the musical!) starring a creepy Lon Chaney was originally seen with some sort of instrumental accompaniment, and the Baltimore-based organist and specialist in accompanying silent features will provide the soundtrack on Trinity's magnificent 92-rank Moeller.

The screening starts at 7:30 p.m., and afterward you can get a tour of the Colonial-era churchyard to complete Halloween early. Suggested donation is $5 (student), $10 (general) and $20 (family).

Motown sound

Along with being Halloween, Saturday is the occasion for A Pittsburgh Tribute to Motown Records' 50th Anniversary, taking place in two locations throughout the day.

The concert is at the August Wilson Center, Downtown, at 7:30 p.m. and will feature Pittsburgh musicians including Carolyn Perteete, Sandy Dowe, Jimmy Sapienza, Dr. James Johnson Jr. and Howie Alexander performing hits by the likes of Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Supremes and The Four Tops. In addition, Billy Eckstine Youth Vocal All Star Ensemble will perform a tribute to Michael Jackson.

Earlier in the day, the public can take part in a jam session with Bob Babbit (former bass player for the Motown Funk Brothers) and Johnny Angel at Atria's, PNC Park, where there will also be an exhibit of Motown photos and memorabilia.

Participating in the all-day celebration will be Katherine Anderson Schaffner, former member of The Marvelettes ("Please Mr. Postman"), and Motown promotion guru Weldon A. McDougal III.

Proceeds benefit the national tour for the Eckstine Ensemble and the Billy Strayhorn Youth Jazz All Star Ensemble.

For details, call 412-452-6062 or 412-377-4681.

IonSound

Contemporary music ensemble IonSound Project is as good at word play as it is with, well, playing. The group, now in its second year of residency at the University of Pittsburgh, opens its season of concerts at the school's Bellefield Auditorium at 7 p.m. Sunday. The group's name is meant to be pronounced "Eye-on-Sound," not "Ion Sound," and in keeping, the program features an original short by Pittsburgh video artist Chris Ivey. The season as a whole is a tribute to the green movement, and for this concert, IonSound is performing "reduced" versions of several larger pieces, including Maurice Ravel's "Mother Goose Suite," Pittsburgher Philip Thompson's Percussion Concerto and Gustav Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder," the latter with contralto Daphne Alderson. Tickets are $5-$15; www.proartstickets.org.

Looking back

Visitors to the historic Oliver Miller Homestead in South Park will have a chance to experience what everyday 18th-century life was like at day's end. On Sunday, the Homestead will be open for extended hours from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The event takes visitors back to November 1794, during the Whiskey rebellion era. They can see the family relaxing as evening falls, and enjoy music from a strolling violinist, along with warm cider and cookies.

The Oliver Miller Homestead is on Stone Manse Drive, off the Circle on Corrigan Drive in South Park. Information: 412-835-1554.

• The international touring exhibition "Whales/Tohora" swims into Carnegie Museum of Natural History with the highlight being a 58-foot articulated skeleton of a sperm whale. There are life-sized and scale models of other whales common to the South Pacific; a skull from each of 12 species of beaked whales that swim New Zealand waters; "bits and pieces from the largest whales -- a rib from a fin whale and a baleen from a blue whale"; and ancient and rare treasures such as jewelry, scrimshaw and weaponry carved from whalebone and teeth. The show opens Saturday and continues through May 2.

• Jann Klose -- a chamber-pop singer-songwriter with a soaring voice -- will play the Hard Rock Cafe tonight as part of the Hard Rock's for Pinktober, to fight breast cancer, and for the Kristy Lasch Miracle Foundation. Admission is $5. Also on the bill is Oak & Gorski. Call 412-481-7625.

"Listen Up With Andrew Druckenbrod" and "The Beat With Scott Mervis" are available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.