Sarah’s Weekend List, March 10-12

Want to get invested in an Oscar race but don’t have time to watch all 10 Best Picture nominees? How about a visit to Cinéma du parc, which is screening roundups of the nominated short films: animated, live action and documentary - through the weekend. Sit down, watch cool shorts for 90 minutes - and pick your winner! They are also showing nominees like The Banshees of Inisherin, Tar, The Whale and Women Talking, so make it a double bill! 

Montreal’s premier parody pair Bowser & Blue perform the show they were meant to do in March 2020! Hurley’s on Crescent, Friday at 7:30pm. 

LA singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams, brings the Good Riddance Tour, with Tiny Habits, to MTelus Friday, 8pm.

Masked EDM DJ duo ATLiens (from Atlanta!) bring the Space Cathedral Tour to Club Soda, Friday, 10pm. 

Saturday: Polish prog-rockers Riverside, at Corona, 8pm. Puerto Rican singer-rapper Lunay, MTelus, 8pm. British DJ Mat Zo reigns at Newspeak, 10pm. 

Lebanese pop singer Nancy Ajram at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Sunday 9pm. Rappers JID & Smino bring the Luv Is 4Ever tour to MTelus, 8pm Sunday. 

Take in brunch or dinner in a heated, geodesic dome - with a great view - on the rooftop Hotel William Gray in Old Montreal. Their “Winter Terrasse” is segueing into sugar shack season, with apple and Sortilège whisky cheesecake on the menu! Reserve your dome in advance - minimum of four guests, to a maximum of eight. Also in Old Montreal: dinner and brunch deals at Happening Gourmand! 

Looking to renovate, upgrade your patio or buy a tiny home? Get ready to take notes and photos at the Montreal National Home Show, with exhibitors from the worlds of home design, maintenance and architecture. Until Sunday at Palais des congrès. 

Australian choreographer Stephanie Lake brings her touring show, Colossus, for a localized stop in Montreal. The production adapts itself to each of its locations, adopting local dancers into the 60-person cast. Colossus references chain reactions and groupings. Presented at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Friday and Saturday at 8pm. 

Final weekend to catch two shows by Montrealers at Centaur Theatre: Steve Gallucio (Mambo Italiano) has written a new play, At the Beginning of Time, about three, middle-aged friends who reminisce about the old days in a hospital room in Montreal. It is a tale about love, ageing and memory; Gallucio was inspired by his own brushes with ill health, and the death of his husband, Yves, during the pandemic. It is also a poignant snapshot of gay life, through an Italian lens, in 1970s Montreal. 

And there is What Rough Beast, an Alice Abracen play that touches on free speech and debate on campus. Abracen, who grew up in NDG and studied at Harvard, schedules a controversial professor to speak at a progressive college… leaving students to passionately debate the merits of open dialogue against the backdrop of creeping radicalization and polarization. Part of Centaur’s Brave New Looks series, until Saturday.

Fantasy writer Ray Bradbury’s carnivalesque novel-turned-play Something Wicked this Way Comes is getting a staging by Home Theatre Productions. Two best buds, Jim and William, learn to harness their fear when a ghoulish travelling carnival rolls into their Illinois town. Is the troupe’s leader Mr Dark there to grant your deepest desires - or feed off your fears? At MainLine Theatre until Sunday. 

Lakeshore Light Opera returns to the stage with Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers. The cast - 30 volunteers strong, with an orchestra of 18 professional musicians - bring to life a Venetian swapped-at-birth tale. Marco and Giuseppe are best pals, learning to be gondoliers, until they discover that a distant king is dead - and one of them is his heir. But which one? The Gondoliers opens Friday at the Vanier College Auditorium, running until March 18. All proceeds go to the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation. 

Andy Haynes (Conan, Late Night, Roast Battle) headlines at the Comedy Nest with support from David Pryde, Carly Baker and Walter Lyng. Friday and Saturday, 8:30 and 10pm. 

True storytelling series Confabulation presents Accomplices, an evening of tales about “best friends, co-conspirators, and partners in crime.” At Centaur, Saturday, 8pm. 

At Montreal Improv in St Henri, put on your best tuxedo for Spy Today, Die Tomorrow: An Improvised Spy Flick, Friday, 10pm. Followed by an improvised play inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Saturday, 7pm. A performance by the St-Henri Jazz Society goes Sunday, 5pm.

Lily Monroe presents The Golden Age of Burlesque at The Wiggle Room. On the bill: Minx Arcana, Sugar Vixen, Madrose and Lily Monroe. Hosted by owner, Frenchy Jones. Friday and Saturday, 9pm.

Miss Meow brings back the popular Madonna Burlesque… with Elle Diabloe hosts, with Célesta O'lee, Kinky Karma, Black Mamba, Roxy Torpedo and DeeDee Flambee on the bill. (And stage kittens Milky Buns and Serenity Sizzle.) Saturday, 9pm at Café Cleopatra.

CHECK OUT A MUSEUM FOR SPRING BREAK

• The Espace pour la vie umbrella is open, including the Botanical Gardens, Biosphère, Planetarium and recently-renovated Insectarium. 
• At the McCord Stewart Museum, there are three photography exhibits ongoing: Alex Henderson’s outdoor images, a 50th anniversary revisiting of the Quebec Disraeli project and Michel Huneault’s portrayal of the pandemic. 
• Pointe-à-calliere Museum has a new show about headdresses both ordinary and ceremonial from around the world, as well as a display of 400 ‘coup-de-coeur’ items for its 30th anniversary (and the city’s 380th) in 2022. 
• Exporail, the Canadian train museum in St Constant, is open. 
• The historic Chateau Ramezay is in open in Old Montreal. 
• The Ecomuseum in Ste Anne’s is open through the holidays, with special programming for kids and families.

ONGOING EVENTS

Plateau art gallery Projet Casa hosts Toward Freedom, a show curated by Mojeanne Behzadi that draws inspiration from the ongoing women-led protests in Iran as well as other protest movements. The exhibit is not long, but it packs a punch with its visual and audiovisual displays. Until March 19. 

Illumi – Dazzling World of Lights in Laval relaunches tonight, just in time for spring break! Walk or drive through 19 universes along a 3-kilometre walk, and be dazzled by 25 million LED lights!  If you have been to past Illumis, this one will have new tableaux to check out - like the dinosaurs! Until April 9. 

The 15th edition of Happening Gourmand has just kicked off, with 11 restaurants in Old Montreal offering table d’hôte menus for brunch and dinner. Sup at restos like Kyo Bar Japonais, Maggie Oakes, Méchant Boeuf and Jacopo. Brunches are on offer weekends, starting at $22. For dinner, choose a three-course menu at the following price points: $32, $42 or $52. Until April 2. 

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has just launched Parall(elles), a look at the influence of female designers from the mid-19th century to today. 

Lasting Impressions wraps you up in various iconic scenes painted by the artists both in and adjacent to the Impressionist movement. Get cozy with Renoir’s luncheon guests and idle with Georges Seurat’s park-goers, while enveloped in a French soundtrack ranging from Debussy to Piaf to Aznavour. The first half is a primer to the artists, highlighting lesser-known women artists. After an entracte, you don yellow 3D glasses for the full immersive effect. Seating is arranged like a bistro, complete with a simple menu and wine list. At Espace St-Denis, now until April 24!

The Van Gogh - Distorsion immersive walk-through show returns from its COP15-Christmas break as of Monday. Experience 225 of the iconic artist’s works in this three-gallery show, set up in the OASIS immersion space at Palais des congrès. 

Get moving and go for a walk, skate, toboggan or cross-country ski… check out which parks have recently maintained hills, trails and skating rinks at the City of Montreal’s portal.

Two places to lace up your skates (whether you rent or bring your own): The skating rink at Esplanade Tranquille is in its second season! This is on Ste Catherine, near Place des Arts.

The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains displays over 350 artifacts from the band’s days touring and recording… from audio equipment to cover art to set pieces. The show made a splash at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2017, and has been touring the world - now it’s your turn to discover the story behind the music! Opens Friday at Arsenal Contemporary Art Gallery in Griffintown, until April 2. (Hear Andrew’s chat with album cover designer and exhibit founder Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell here.)