Here are my choice Montreal arts and culture highlights for October 2019:
MUSIC
Many top touring acts headline various Montreal concert venues this month.
At the Bell Centre, acts include The Chainsmokers (October 9) and the hugely popular Australian Pink Floyd Show (October 11).
Other entertainers headlining in Montreal include Australian singer-songwriter Dean Lewis (October 4), Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth (October 10 and 11), American electronic music duo Thievery Corporation (October 17), Irish singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy (October 18), American indie folk band The Head and The Heart (October 19) and Swedish power metal band Sabaton (October 30), all at MTELUS, the busiest concert venue in the country.
Over at the Corona Theatre, don’t miss English punk and folk singer-songwriter Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls (October 8), acclaimed tribute band Rumours of Fleetwood Mac (October 10), Canadian indie pop stars Tegan and Sara (October 23), and American singer-songwriter Julia Michaels (October 31) whose songs have been recorded Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber and Gwen Stefani.
If you’re looking for a good rocking time with plenty of hooks, don’t miss Aussie party rockers The Lazys at L’Escogriffe (October 15).
Peter Hook & The Light will perform New Order’s Technique and Republic Live, plus an opening set of Joy Division material, at the Fairmount Theatre on October 29.
Montréal is a great jazz city: legendary American jazz pianist Chick Corea headlines La maison symphonique (October 16), and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band returns to Théâtre Maisonneuve (October 28).
Blues fans will enjoy the Pride of Beale Street direct from Memphis, Ghost Town Blues Band, who headline Petit Campus (October 23).
The Montreal Ska Festival presents RuDY MiLLS, the Rub a Dub Rebels, The Cardboard Crowns and The Ska-mones (Kman & the 45’s’ tribute to The Ramones) at Petit Campus on October 19 at 8 pm.
Local shows of note:
Fronted by Montreal native Marc Martel – who recorded the Freddie Mercury vocal frames in the Bohemian Rhapsody biopic – The Ultimate Queen Celebration headlines the Olympia Theatre (October 1 to 5), while Montréal-based Jake Clemons – saxman for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – headlines a “hometown” show at L’Astral (October 2).
Montreal indie rock band Half Moon Run (October 31) headlines MTELUS – I’ve seen Half Moon Run headline MTELUS before, and they put on a terrific live show – while internationally-hailed Queen of the Blues Dawn Tyler Watson headlines the Maison Culturelle Et Communautaire De Montreal-Nord (October 11), as well as Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill (named one of the best jazz clubs in the world by Downbeat magazine) with her jazz duo (October 2).
CLASSICAL MUSIC
At Bourgie Concert Hall, famed Québec contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux headlines two concerts (October 1 and 3), while the London Haydn Quartet (October 23) is one of the world’s leading period instrument string quartets.
Also at Bourgie Hall, two rising stars of the French scene, soprano Marie-Laure Garnier and pianist Célia Oneto Bensaid, present a poetry-filled concert for their first Montreal appearance (October 16).
The Orchestre classique de Montréal launches its 80th anniversary season with an Art of the Organ Sunday matinee concert at the Maison symphonique de Montréal (October 6 at 3 pm), showcasing the hall’s spectacular Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique with acclaimed organists Jean-Willy Kunz and Alcee Chriss performing iconic works by Handel and Poulenc with Maestro Boris Brott and the OCM.
The Opéra de Montréal and the Orchestre Métropolitain celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth by presenting their very first co-production: an All-Star concert version of the opera Fidelio. Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin (pictured above) will conduct the composer’s sole opera for the first time, with several great classical singers on the Maison symphonique stage, including Michael Schade, Luca Pisaroni and Lise Davidsen, for two performances on October 25 and 27.
DANCE
BJM – Les Ballets Jazz De Montréal will light up the stage with their much-anticipated Casualties of Memory / O Balcão de Amore / Soul triple bill at Théatre Maisonneuve (October 2 to 5), part of the city’s hugely popular Danse Danse series. The Soul performance is inspired by the song Ball and Chain, made famous by Janis Joplin and covered here by Quebec’s Angel Forrest.
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal launch their 2019-2020 season with nine performances of Carmina Burana (October 3 to 19), featuring 40 dancers, 70 musicians of Les Grands Ballets Orchestra and 40 singers – including acclaimed soprano Aline Kutan – at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
ART AND MUSEUMS
The British Museum exhibition Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives makes its North American premiere at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Combining art and cutting-edge technology with more than 200 items from the British Museum’s renowned Egyptian collection, this exhibition reconstructs the lives of six Egyptians who lived along the Nile from about 900 BC to AD 180. The exhibition runs to February 2.
Montréal designer Jean-Claude Poitras – who left his mark on prêt-à-porter over the course of a prolific career that began in 1972 – gets the career retrospective treatment in the Jean-Claude Poitras: Fashion and Inspiration exhibition at the McCord Museum. The exhibition opens on October 24 and runs to April 26.
THEATRE
Montréal playwright Vittorio Rossi’s acclaimed 1988 play The Chain – which chronicles the working class lives of a first-generation Italian immigrant family in Montreal – is being remounted at McGill’s Moyse Hall Theatre. Gorgeous set, high production values, terrific ensemble cast and a timely reminder that director-playwright Rossi is a master of crackling dialogue. Glad to report The Chain has been extended to October 12. Don’t miss it.
Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Alice and the World We Live In is an allegory about love in a topsy-turvy world. Written by Alexandria Haber, directed by Eda Holmes and co-starring Daniel Brochu and national treasure Jane Wheeler, this world premiere at the Centaur Theatre runs from October 15 to November 3.
A hit in London’s Off-West End, the musical Mythic makes its North American Premiere at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts. In the Ancient Greek world of Olympian gods, teenage Persephone struggles between her mother Demeter’s expectations and a desire to find her own path, drawn to Hell with Greece’s perennial bad boy, Hades. Mythic runs at the Segal from October 27 to November 17.
The Hudson Village Theatre’s summer stock season winds down with their production of the classic Billy Bishop Goes To War by John Gray and Eric Peterson. Directed by Dean Patrick Fleming and co-starring Bruce Dinsmore and Nick Carpenter, this two-man musical play dramatizes the life of Canadian World War I fighter pilot Billy Bishop through song and story. Billy Bishop Goes To War runs from October 23 to November 3.
Each year MainLine Theatre remounts Richard O’Brien’s iconic The Rocky Horror Show with a live band and ensemble cast headed by Stephanie McKenna as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. This run sells out each year, so get your tickets in advance. Rocky Horror runs from October 17 to November 2.
On the French side, theatre highlights include Héritage, the terrific French-language adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun which runs at Théatre Jean-Duceppe until October 5, while over at the Théatre du Nouveau Monde, the one-woman-show La Détresse et l’Enchantement, starring Marie-Thérèse Fortin, tells the life story of Gabrielle Roy, author of The Tin Flute and widely considered one of the most important francophone writers in Canadian history (October 22 to November 2).
FILM
Reputed for discovering new talent, the Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal (October 9 to 20) will screen a number of anticipated first films that stood out on the international festival circuit this past year. This year’s 48th edition will also screen important new films by well-known directors, such as Douleur et gloire (Pain and Glory) by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar and starring Antonio Banderas.
Filmmakers in attendance this year include guest of honour Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg and Costa Gavras.
The Festival du Film Brésilien de Montréal returns to Cinéma du Parc for their 13th edition, screening 14 films over seven days (October 25 to 31). Among those films is Bacurau, winner of the Jury Prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
LITERATURE
Renowned Montreal writers H. Nigel Thomas, Horace Goddard and Maguy Métellus co-host the monthly Lectures Logos Readings. This month the guest readers are Mike Di Sclafani, Morris Bailey, Su Sokol and Janet Singleton, followed by an open mic, at the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A. Hall at 2741 Notre Dame St. W.) in Little Burgundy, October 7 from 7 to 9 pm. Suggested donation: $5.
Montrealer Antoni Porowski shot to international fame as the food and wine expert in the hugely successful Netflix reboot of Queer Eye. The NYC-based TV personality, chef and model is now a cookbook author and returns to Montreal to launch his book Antoni in the Kitchen at the Rialto Theatre, presented by Librairie Drawn & Quarterly on October 3.
I recently asked Porowski on what side on the great Montreal bagel debate he falls: does he prefer Fairmount Bagel or St-Viateur Bagel?
Porowski replied, “St-Viateur because it’s simply the best, zero discussion. A warm sesame with whipped Liberté cream cheese or smoked salmon spread is all I need in life. Alongside a coffee from Olimpico, of course.”
Meanwhile, the Godfather of Gay Lit, international best-selling author Felice Picano, returns to Montreal for two much-anticipated literary events.
Picano will headline the popular Violet Hour series on October 23, an evening of short readings and performances by LGBTQ writers, also featuring Trebor Healey, Johanne Pelletier, Su J Sokol and David Tacium, and hosted by author Christopher DiRaddo. It all goes down at gay strip joint Stock Bar (1171 St Catherine St E.) in the Village from 7 to 8:30 pm. Admission: $5 PWYC.
The next evening, on October 24, Picano will headline a book signing event alongside writers Trebor Healey, Nicola Sibthorpe and Madelaine Caritas Longman, at Argo Bookshop, the oldest English-language independent bookstore in Montreal, located in the Shaughnessy Village since 1966. The readings begin at 7 pm. Free admission.
Picano’s new bestseller is Justify My Sins: A Hollywood Novel in Three Acts whose lead character Victor Regina is closely modelled on Picano himself. There is plenty of dish in the novel, including a story about Warren Beatty that really happened to Felice.
Montrealers worship their hockey gods, and fans of the Montreal Canadiens will not want to miss the Evening of Champions presented by Paragraphe Bookstore and Penguin Random House, featuring Hockey Hall-of-Famers Scotty Bowman and Ken Dryden.
Legendary Habs coach Scotty Bowman will be in conversation live with goaltending great Ken Dryden as they discuss SCOTTY: A HOCKEY LIFE LIKE NO OTHER, followed by an autograph session. It all gets underway at Loyola High School’s Eric MacLean SJ Centre for the Performing Arts (2477 West Broadway Street) in NDG, October 29 at 7 pm.
Do note that Mr. Bowman and Mr. Dryden will only be signing copies of the book SCOTTY: A HOCKEY LIFE LIKE NO OTHER. No Exceptions. Admission is $40 plus taxes (Ticket admits 2 and includes 1 copy of the book SCOTTY: A HOCKEY LIFE LIKE NO OTHER, in English or French). Tickets are available at Paragraphe Bookstore (2220 McGill College Avenue) or by calling (514) 845-5811.
VARIOUS
Following the Emmy-winning 11th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the WERQ THE WORLD TOUR – the largest drag show in the world – returns to Montreal, this time at Théâtre Maisonneuve (October 20). Hosted by Drag Race judge Michelle Visage and season 10 queen Asia O’Hara, the show features Chicago natives Kim Chi and Naomi Smalls, as well as Aquaria, Detox, Kameron Michaels, Monét X Change, Violet Chachki, season 11 stars Plastique Tiara, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo and current reigning queen Yvie Oddly. There are two shows, at 4 and 9 pm.
Disney On Ice presents Dream Big, an action-packed expedition across raging seas and trek through snow-covered mountains, featuring some of Disney’s most daring dreamers, in this ice skating spectacular. Alongside Moana and demi-god Maui are nine tales of courage and heart, including Frozen, Coco, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Tangled. Disney On Ice presents Dream Big for 10 performances at Place Bell, October 9 to October 14. There are three English shows: (October 10 @ 7pm / October 13 @ 3pm / October 14 @ 11am).
Cirque Éloize’s newest creation is called Serge Fiori, Seul Ensemble (pictured at top) and is based on the music of Serge Fiori, frontman of iconic Quebec band Harmonium. This critically-hailed show features 20 acrobats and dancers, and runs at Théâtre St-Denis until October 20.
The world’s finest burlesque artists will take most of it off in dazzling, over-the-top routines at the annual Montreal Burlesque Festival (October 17 to 19) with international guests and festival founder, Montreal burlesque legend Scarlett James. The festivities include an official meet-and-greet dinner at Parisian brasserie Le Pois Penché, as well as performances and the Lili St Cyr Award for best act at Club Soda.
If you’re looking for a few laughs, check out the weekly Wheel Club Open Mic comedy and music Thursdays at the legendary Wheel Club in NDG. The tiny club is a Montreal icon, and the stand-up comics booked here are some of the funniest in the city.
The Wheel Club also welcomes Montreal musical-comedy icons Bowser and Blue on October 4.
Lastly, do not miss stand-up comic Thomas Leblanc who is breaking boundaries with his bilingual comedy show Bonjour! Hi! at La Vitrola on The Main. A co-host of the popular CBC podcast Chosen Family, Leblanc will welcome three anglophone and three francophone stand-up comedians when he hosts Bonjour! Hi! on October 24, beginning at 9 pm.
Serge Fiori, Seul Ensemble photo by Laurence Labat, courtesy Cirque Éloize
