The St Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival is here! Seventy shows in a variety of disciplines, performed and devised by a couple hundred artists, in some dozen venues. A real smorgasbord of art! Performances start Friday and run until June 19, but each show has its own schedule. And for late-night fun, check out the nightly ‘talk show’ The 13th Hour, at 23:59pm every night at MainLine Theatre (with dancing to follow!) Fest beer garden the Fringe Park hosts live music and events, at St Laurent and Rachel. Tickets range between $7.25 to $15.25, with multipasses available. No physical tickets this year - you are encouraged to book your tickets online.
Here are some shows that have caught my eye…so far!
A new immersive show about the life and work of an iconic Mexican surrealist has just opened! Frida Kahlo, The Life of an Icon is in a similar vein to the recent Monet show: a big airy space filled with colourful, dynamic projections. At the Arsenal Contemporary art Gallery until July 24. .
Expo Ormstown has returned with food, music, magic shows and fun. Check out the derby and the petting zoo, take a ride or groove to a bluegrass concert. Until Sunday.
Festival Mural is back for its 10th edition with an explosion of music and visual art! The Main has closed between Sherbrooke to Mont-Royal for the sidewalk fest, so you can stroll up and down the Boulevard, spotting artists working on new work of art. You can also go on a guided tour of the Plateau’s murals. And around festival HQ near Prince-Arthur, take in live live music and workshops. On Friday, rapper Lil Yachty and Nardo Wick perform with guests, 5:30-11pm. The festival runs until June 19.
Francofolies have just kicked off, with free and ticketed musical performances, including Arianne Moffat at Theatre Maisonneuve Saturday, 8pm and B.A.R.F., F— Toute and Nova Spei, Studio TD Saturday at 7pm. Award-winning rapper Koriass delivers a free outdoor show, Friday 9pm. Until June 19.
Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós perform at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Friday 8pm.
Gimme Gimme Disco, an ABBA-inspired dance party, comes to Theatre Fairmount, Saturday 9:30pm.
Alt-indie band Crawlers visit Bar Le Ritz PDB with Laraw, Friday 8pm.
Yum! The Grand PoutineFest has arrived in Rosemere. With over 20 poutines to choose from (including the limited burrito poutine!) and a variety of family-friendly fun. Friday to Sunday, starting at noon, at 401 Labelle. (Shoutout to the organizers for offering up recyclable, reusable and compostable containers.)
The chronicler of Ville-Emard Vittorio Rossi picks up the thread of the Italo-Montrealer Testa family in his new play, Legacy. Here, we meet the clan several years out from Rossi’s original play, The Chain. Whispers of corruption have imperiled the family’s landscaping business. Rossi not only wrote the play, and stars in it, too! Legacy has just opened at Leonard da Vinci Centre. Until June 26.
Miriam Cummings presents her solo show The One, the story of a woman looking for love on the verge of turning 30. At the Freestanding Room. Opens Friday until June 19.
Writers aged 64 to 82 plumb the topic of ageism in a series of short plays in Theatre Ouest-End's free online series, Still Got Something to Say: 6 Plays on Age. The writers, including Jane Gilchrist, Debra Kirshenbaum and Ann Lambert, were paired with emerging directors to present these shorts, which are 10 to 20 minutes in length. Free (donations accepted) but plese register here. Until June 15.
Till The Next Me highlights the talents of the graduating class of the National Circus School, the first show the school has put on in three years! The enthusiasm and excitement is palpable at La Tohu… see the students tackle acrobats, aerials, contortionism and more. Highlights include dueting Cyr wheels, a can-can and a harpist performing up in the air, and upside down. And - wishing a happy 40th anniversary to the School! Until Sunday
Mike Rita of Roast Battles Canada headlines the Comedy Nest, Friday and Saturday, 8:30 and 10pm.
On the bill at Montreal burlesque HQ The Wiggle Room this weekend:Miami Minx, Betsy Swoon, Zyra Lee Vanity, Roxy Torpedo and Enshantay. Shows Friday and Saturday.
Big movie opening this weekend: the dinosaurs are STILL on the loose in Jurassic World Dominion, the sixth Jurassic film, and third instalment in the current series.
The Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal holds its Spirit Walk Saturday, 1pm at Mordecai Richler Gazebo at Mont-Royal. The walk is raising funds for Miyoskamin House, a second-stage housing project and the development of a new, Indigenous-led pediatric health centre.
Find your next beach read at the used book sale at Summerlea United Church in Lachine. A wide selection of adult fiction, kids books and other subjects. Friday and Saturday, 10 am to 2pm, 220 Acadia Avenue.
The Innocent is your guide to the fantastical world of Charivari in Kooza, Cirque du soleil’s first big show under the big top in Montreal since 2019. At the Old Port until August 14.
Variations Mile End is a dance school now launching a space for improv and comedy performances on the Plateau. Performer and manager Jason Grimmer launched comedy classes during the pandemic, and now students and comedy lovers can visit Théatre VME for performances. Four shows this weekend, Friday and Saturday at 8 and 9:30pm.
The Insectarium has reopened post-renovation with a fresh look at all the creepy, crawly, pretty creatures. The team redesigned the space to give visitors an intimate look at what it is to be an insect: in the Alcoves, vibrating floors and ultraviolet projections allow you to imagine how insects feel and see the world. Visitors get to move like an insect, too, slipping through cracks or trodding on rods hanging from the ceiling. Then you get to observe bugs up close, followed by a trip through the Dome, and finally, a greenhouse-like space, the Great Vivarium, where roaming butterflies are the special attraction.
And reminder that the first signs of spring will also be visible nearby at the Botanical Gardens, and the Planetarium and the Biodome are also open - but getting your timed ticket in advance is an absolute must! A little further away, on Ile Sainte-Hélène, the Biosphère is also open.
At the Montreal Science Centre, explore evolution in Human or explore the process of invention in Fabrik - Creativity Factory. Plus, the movie theatre is open, so you can sit back and learn about Sea Lions and the Great Bear Rainforest - in IMAX 3D!
Stranger Than Kindness is a new exhibition based on the life and work of Nick Cave, the Aussie-born artist known for his deep baritone and religiously-tinged lyrics probing love, religion and violence. We start in his hometown Wangaratta, then travel to London then Berlin, then a loving recreation of his actual home office. Over 300 bits of ephemera, from lyrics to letters, books to bits of hair, bring the show to livid life. Keep your eyes peeled for an email Leonard Cohen wrote to Cave after tragedy hit his family… Cohen is one of Cave’s inspirations, and that’s partly why Stranger Than Kindness is stopping off here after its inaugural run in Copenhagen. The show opens Friday at Galerie de la Maison du Festival, 305 Sainte-Catherine. Until August 7.
At the McCord: Piqutiapiit celebrates and elucidates the incredible craftwork of Inuit women. Montreal-based, Kuujjuaq-born artist Niap is the driving force behind the show. We view the tools and the practical works they helped to craft, including beadwork and clothing. And there is original work from Niap, who is currently artist-in-residence at the McCord.
Also check out the fascinating exhibit JJ Levine: Queer Portraits. The Montreal artist presents 52 intimate images of people who self-identify as queer, selected from three different series taken between now and 2006.
Indie venue Montreal Improv is back, at its new home in St Henri. Catch one or more of the four shows up this weekend! Tickets and schedules here.
Cabaret Celeste is a new show at the recently renovated Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Hotel. A meeting room has been converted to a cozy cabaret space for this Cirque Éloize production, which was cancelled hours before its original opening back in December (thanks, Omicron). Celeste draws inspiration from the astrophysical… think tarot, horoscopes, planets and deities … and it is by equal turns sensual and silly! I loved the creative clay juggling act, and the master of ceremony’s Cyr wheel act. The talented and gorgeous Coral Egan provides the vocals through a slew of pop songs, ranging from Frank Sinatra to Coldplay to Leonard Cohen.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts presents Nicolas Party: L'heure mauve, a look at the Swiss artist’s pastels, watercolours and sculptures, set against murals he’s painted in the Museum… plus with 50 works selected by Party from the Museum’s collection. The show title is a reference to ‘that fleeting moment when the fading light casts purple hues over the landscape’ - how dreamy!
Exporail, the Canadian train museum in St Constant presents: Train, a Railroad to Dreams: A World in Miniature. It’s an homage to toy trains… so you start with the smallest of the trains, then pivot to marvel at the 50 life-size vehicles on display in the Grand Gallery.