Santa Claus is coming to town! The Coca-Cola Deliver the Magic tour stops off in the Old Port, with activities and the jolly man himself! Friday to Sunday, 4 to 9pm.
Rockers The Damn Truth hit the Corona Theatre with Guidestones, Friday at 8pm.
You love Billie Eillish, now meet her brother. Four-and-half-years Billie's senior, Finneas is best known as her producer, having already racked up eight Grammys for his work on her debut album. But he's emerging with his own work, his debut album, Optimist. Finneas hits the Corona Theatre Saturday, 8pm. (Fun fact: both siblings have synesthesia!)
A clumsy elf named Ginger has trouble holding down a job at the North Pole, but she gets a fresh start when she goes to work in the mailroom at Santa's Workshop. But a mysterious package promises to make her first day on the job *eventful*. Rebecca Northan, who was formerly seen at the Centaur in her hit show, Blind Date, directs her pandemic play, All I Want for Christmas, for Centaur Theatre. The feel-good romp is the perfect early gift for the theatre lover on your list! Until December 5.
On a very different note, Jesus Hopped the A-Train is set at the notorious Rikers Prison. A young Puerto Rican man named Angel has shot and killed a man - but was he justified in doing it? A cult leader, a serial killer and a sadistic prison guard are just some of the characters in this play by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Friday to Saturday at MainLine Theatre - just $16 a ticket!
La Tohu has a spate of circus shows this fall, and Cirque Alphonse is wowing the socks off audiences this week with Animal. The close-knit family-based troupe from the Lanaudière beats their Québécois roots proudly with their carnivalesque, impressive stunts. True to the show's name, there is a country twang with a gentleman farmer dealing with mischievous chickens, ducks, cows... a 'mechanical bull'. At La Tohu until Saturday.
Expozine is one of the biggest small press fairs in Canada! It takes over the SAT, Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 6pm. Browse books, comics and posters from Montreal's finest creators. The fun also kicks off Friday night with Dial-A-Poem - Allo-Poême reading at Bar L'Astral, 7pm. (The event borrows its name from Dial-a-Poem, a fascinating phoneline project from my friend Fortner... dial 514-558-8649 to hear readings of local poems in English and French!)
Comic Mike Wilmot (you loved him on The Nasty Show) headlines The Comedy Nest, Friday and Saturday.
New show by emerging ceramic artists starts Friday at Projet Casa, a 1912 mansion on Esplanade that faces Jeanne-Mance and Mount-Royal. The owners, Danielle and Paul, have opened their doors this year to artists, charging minimal fees for hosting exhibits. Check out the pieces in the new show L'Abri-Désir (Clay and Ardent Substances) while wandering the halls of this architectural gem until December 18.
Peter Wintonick was a famed Canadian doc filmmaker who passed away suddenly a few years back, and his daughter Mira Burt-Wintonick ended up shifting through hours and hours of raw footage he left behind. The film that came of it is Wintopia, a feature about life, loss and the search for utopia. Mira will screen it this Sunday, 2pm at the Maison de la culture du Plateau-Mont-Royal.
Also, dancing (with masks) is BACK! Celebrate at I'm Every Woman Divas Dance Party at Bar Le Ritz, Saturday, 11pm. You'll hear Céline, Aretha, Spice Girls, Diana Ross - to name a few!
Church of St. John the Baptist in Pointe-Claire hosts a mini Christmas Bazaar, with baked goods, crafts, gift baskets, vintage dishes, knitted items and of course, Christmas decorations! Saturday, 9:30am to 1pm at 233 Ste Claire Ave.
Shang-Chi aka Canada's own Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) hosts Saturday Night Live! (I'm manifesting some Canadiana content with the excellent former Montrealer Bowen Yang!) Rapper Saweetie provides the music.
And meow - the kitty hijinks of Tiger King 2 is now on Netflix. The follow-up to the pandemic's binge hit series about big cat owners and the corruption, violence and all-around buffoonery that surrounds them is not getting rave reviews - but it's there!
French film fest Cinemania presents a wide range of feature and short films. Streaming options include Memory Box, a Lebanese-Canadian show about a single mother in Montreal whose past is unlocked by the arrival of a mysterious box. It screens at Cinéma du Musée and Cinéma Impérial. Ladies of the Wood (Au coeur du bois) is a documentary about sex workers who are based in Paris's bois de Boulogne. Online screenings until Sunday.
The McCord Museum is marking its 100th anniversary by launching free admission for 100 days, until January 19. Check out the tribute to cartoonist Serge Chapleau and the enlightening Indigenous Voices of Today.
Pointe-à-Callière has just launched a new show chronicling the history of circus, It's Circus Time! Over 350 objects will explore the 200-some year history of the art in Quebec, through costumes, props, training equipment and more.
The Montreal Science Centre has reopened! Learn more about our evolution in Human, the moon in Water in the Universe and the process of invention in Fabrik - Creativity Factory. The 3D IMAX theatre is also open, with Superpower Dogs 3D delving into the work of rescue canines.
The Biosphère on Ile Ste Helene has finally reopened, joining the Space of Life constellation that also includes the Biodome. With the recent "red alert" climate report from the UN, the Biosphère's mission is as urgent as ever: to educate Montrealers about the environment and how best to care for it.
It was a hot week! Cool off at Below the Ice with Mario Cyr, a new immersive walk-through exhibit by Cirque Éloize. You will journey north to follow Cyr, a documentary filmmaker, to nearly inaccessible spots in the Canadian Arctic. Marvel at the polar bears and narwhals and walruses, and learn more about what a precarious position their environment is in. At the Éloize Studios In Old Montreal, at 417 Berri.