Here are my choice Montreal arts and culture highlights for the second half of August 2019:
MUSIC
Many top touring acts headline various Montreal concert venues this month.
At the Bell Centre, top acts include Rock and Roll Hall of Famers KISS headlining their last-ever Montreal concert (August 16), Canadian boy done good Shawn Mendes (August 20 and 21), and Lenny Kravitz (August 30). I have previously seen all of these acts perform at the Bell Centre and I think they each put on a solid, entertaining show.
Meanwhile, rock legend Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame headlines Salle Wilfred-Pelletier (August 24), CJ Ramone – best known as the bass player for punk legends The Ramones from 1989 to 1996 – headlines l’Escogriffe Bar Spectacle (August 14), American RnB singer-songwriter Van Hunt headlines Bar Le Ritz PDB (August 18) and California rapper Flying Lotus headlines the Corona Theatre (August 26).
Simple Plan, Sheila E and The Box perform at the annual Strangers in the Night Gourmet Gala (August 24).
Local shows of note: The Beth McKenna Quartet headlines Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill (August 16), Soul Queen Michelle Sweeney headlines the Montreal Ribfest (August 17), and bluesman Steve Rowe (August 21) and the Norman Marshall Villeneuve Jazz Trio (August 27) headline the downtown House of Jazz.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Productions Alma Viva and Opéra dans le Parc stage one of the most appreciated comic operas of the repertoire, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, in Parc Girouard (August 21) as part of NDG Arts Week. Showtime: 7 pm. Free admission.
As part of the Ether Weekend, check out the Grégoire Blanc joue Schürmer en concert at Jeunesses Musicales Canada (August 24). In his first Canadian appearance, French theremin virtuoso Grégoire Blanc performs new chamber music for theremin – the first electronic musical instrument ever built – strings and piano by Montréal composer Aleks Schürmer, accompanied by the Hadron ensemble. There will also be an introduction and brief reading by Giller Prize winning author Sean Michaels.
MONTREAL PRIDE
Fierté Montréal Pride climaxes with its the ever-popular LGBTQ2 Parade on August 18 beginning at 1 pm. The 2.7-kilometre route runs east along René-Lévesque Blvd., from Metcalfe to Alexandre-DeSève Sts. Do not forget to observe the moment of silence at 2:30 p.m. to honour LGBTQ pioneers and those lost to violence and AIDS.
This year’s grand marshals are groundbreaking LGBTQ activist Anan Bouapha from Laos, award-winning Ojibwa-Cree author Ma-Nee Chacaby, Transgender Pride Flag creator Monica Helms, American TV star Wilson Cruz and Montreal LGBTQ activists Val Desjardins and Danny Godbout.
There is a full slate of free outdoor shows on the TD Stage at Parc des Faubourgs (de Lorimier Ave. and Ontario St.), the festival’s home base.
Highlights include comedy legend and queer icon Margaret Cho (pictured above and at top) headlines the Excellence concert on August 16.
I recently asked Cho why she resists the label bisexual and prefers to identify as queer.
“I think the term “bisexual” contributes to misinformation that there are only two genders, and that is false,” she told me. “I think gender and gender expression is limitless. It is as infinite as we are. People like to know where you stand in your queerness, so that puts me in the outsider category.”
I like being an outsider, I told Cho, to which she replied, “So do I. It is where the community started and I like it out there.”
Also headlining at Montréal Pride is international pop star Ciara, at the star-studded Jet Set concert on August 17.
Drag superstar Sasha Velour, winner of the ninth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, hosts the biggest-ever edition of Montréal Pride’s Drag Superstars concert on August 15. The three-hour show will feature a dozen performers: A’keria Chanel Davenport, Detox, Willam, Trinity the Tuck, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Latrice Royale, Manila Luzon, Naomi Smalls, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Yvie Oddly and Canada’s very own Brooke Lynn Hytes.
Happy Pride!
ART AND MUSEUMS
The 69 POSITIONS exhibition critically examines queer life as Canadians commemorate the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalization of gay sex in Canada. The traveling exhibition runs at the MAI gallery until August 24.
Turns out Canadian comic and actor Jim Carrey is also a cartoonist, and an exhibition of his work, This Light Never Goes Out: Political Cartoons by Jim Carrey, runs at the Phi Centre (407 Saint-Pierre Street) in Old Montreal until September 8.
At the Never Apart Centre in Mile Ex, do not miss two must-see summertime exhibitions, the travelling Queer as German Folk exhibition presented by the Goethe-Institut Montreal, and the After Hours Chez Madame Arthur exhibition.
Queer as German Folk is a joint project of the Goethe-Institut, Schwules Museum Berlin, and the Federal Agency for Civic Education, taking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots as an opportunity to revisit the history of queer movements in the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and reunited Germany since the 1960s.
Curated by Julianne Pidduck, the After Hours Chez Madame Arthur exhibition “conjures the poetry, the seduction, the politics, and the fierceness of Montreal lesbian bars of the 1970s and 1980s.” The exhibition presents an installation evoking the legendary bar Chez Madame Arthur (1971-1975) alongside never-before-seen photographs by one of my mentors, Divers/Cité co-founder and Montreal photographer Suzanne Girard.
Both exhibitions run at Never Apart until September 28.
Over at the Ecomusee du Fier Monde, do not miss Zïlon et le Montréal Underground, a terrific career retrospective of Montreal artist and icon Zïlon, curated by France Cantin. The exhibition runs until September 1.
Over at the McCord Museum, the internationally-acclaimed touring exhibition The Polaroid Project: At the Intersection of Art and Technology – featuring the original works of some 100 of the most celebrated international artists of the 20th century, along with the Polaroid cameras they used – runs to September 15.
Meanwhile, the Fondation Phi pour l’art contemporain (formerly called the DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art) located in Old Montréal presents the popular Yoko Ono solo exhibition LIBERTÉ CONQUÉRANTE/GROWING FREEDOM, which runs to September 15. Free admission.
The Montréal Museum of Fine Arts blockbuster Thierry Mugler: Couturissime exhibition showcases Mugler’s work as a visionary couturier, director, photographer and perfumer. The gorgeous exhibition features more than 150 ensembles, most of them on display for the first time, created between 1973 and 2001, as well as many never-before seen accessories and stage costumes, clips and videos, archival documents and sketches.
Couturissime runs to September 8.
Often dubbed the Oscars of photojournalism, the travelling 2019 World Press Photo exhibition pitstops at the Marché Bonsecours in Old Montreal from August 28 to September 28. In 2019, the prizewinning images are divided into eight categories: Spot News, General News, Contemporary Issues, People, Environment, Nature, Sports and Long-Term Projects.
THEATRE
The Hudson Village Theatre’s summer stock season continues with the acclaimed Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor, and directed by Dean Patrick Fleming. Nominated for the Governor General’s award, Marion Bridge premiered at Mulgrave Road Theatre in 1999 and tells the story of three sisters who reunite at their childhood home in Cape Breton to care for their dying mother. This production runs until August 25.
Closer to town, the Côte Saint-Luc Dramatic Society remounts their META-Award-winning version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, for six performances (August 21 to 25) on the main stage of The Segal Centre for Performing Arts.
FILM
Director Jennie Livingston’s landmark 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning chronicles the ball culture of New York City in the mid-to-late 1980s, at the end of the Golden Age of Harlem drag balls.
This restored version screens at Cinéma Moderne (5150 Saint-Laurent Blvd) on August 18.
The Cinema du Parc summertime midnight-movie series winds down with screenings of the classic horror film Aliens on August 30-31, and September 1.
The Cinema du Parc is also screening producer Cameron Crowe’s acclaimed 2019 documentary film David Crosby: Remember My Name which reflects on Crosby’s life of music stardom.
LITERATURE
Renowned Montreal writers H. Nigel Thomas, Horace Goddard and Maguy Métellus co-host Lectures Logos Readings which presents an evening of tributes to the late Toni Morrison. There will be readings of her works, as well as singing and dancing, at the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A. Hall at 2741 Notre Dame St. W.) in Little Burgundy, August 16 from 7 to 9 pm.
VARIOUS
The 2019 edition of NDG Arts Week includes art & music activities for young children in Parc Giourard (a.k.a. Parc Notre-Dame-de-Grâce) and the St-Raymond’s community centre (August 22); the Eccentric Cypher, a street dance battle competition produced in collaboration with local artist Agent Lynx (August 20); and Montreal’s original, autobiographical storytelling showcase, Confabulation (August 23).
In addition to the aforementioned Opéra dans le Parc in Parc Girouard (August 21), do not miss NDG Off the Wall, a free outdoor film and video screening – also in Parc Girouard – celebrating local NDG film talent (August 23).
Last but not least, Les Jardins Gamelin continues at Place Émilie-Gamelin at the western end of the Village, just outside the Berri-UQAM metro station, until September 29. The site features bar services at its snack bar, which opens weekdays from 11 am to 11 pm and from 9 am to 11 pm on weekends. The onsite Maison Jaune offers creative workshops and activities for children in a shaded area. Click here to check out the daily cultural programming, including renowned DJs and live performances on its outdoor stage. Free admission.
