Sarah’s Weekend List, March 3-5

Disney On Ice: Frozen & Encanto is your colourful, in-town spring break escape! Join Bruno, Mirabel, Anna Elsa and all their other friends in their first on-ice appearances… in Encanto, we meet Mirabel and her family as they work to save their enchanted home. In Frozen, Anna toils to contain her sister Elsa’s powerful winter magic. Faves like Mickey and Minnie will be there, too! Shows in English and French, with various times, at the Bell Centre until Sunday. 

Live that #vanlife at the Montreal RV Show! Explore recreational vehicles, accessories and camping and outdoor gear, and take in a range of discussions and panels on adventuring. Until Sunday at the Palais des congrès. 

Last weekend for mid-winter festival Montréal en lumière continues, with outings in the world of music, gastronomy and outdoor fun! The outdoor site is up and running, with a skating path and Ferris wheel to explore at Quartier des spectacles. Until Sunday. (And it is also the last call for Luminothérapie, the dazzling outdoor art and video installations at the Quartier.) 

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 Saturday. 

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 Jewish holiday of Purim begins Monday, so get your hamantaschen ready with the city’s Wandering Chew collective. Learn to make savoury and sweet versions of the triangular cookies with Kat Romanow and Micah Siva: cacio e pepe inspired by Italian flavours, and a Yemini tribute with pistachio and hawaij. On Zoom on Sunday, 2pm. 

Musical selection on Friday: The Damn Truth rocks out at Corona, 8pm. Alvvays parties at MTelus. The pride of Rouyn-Noranda, rapper Zach Zoya performs with Treh Lamonte, Le Studio TD, 8pm.

JP Cooper at Le Studio TD, 8pm. Brooklyn indie singer Vérité with Ari Hicks at Bar le Ritz PDB, 8pm. Mysterious house-techno artists Kasablanca performs at Newspeak, 10pm. 

On Sunday: Punk rockers Bayside perform with I Am The Avalanche and Koyo at Corona, 7:30pm. Australian instrumentalist Donny Benét brings his funky sound to Le Studio TD, 8pm. 

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. At Centaur Theatre until March 12. 

Also at Centaur: local writer Alice Abracen’s What Rough Beast 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 defbate the merits of open dialogue against the backdrop of creeping radicalization and polarization. Part of Centaur’s Brave New Looks series, until March 11. Saturday’s matinée is pay what you can. 

The city’s premier international puppet party Festival de Casteliers is welcoming puppeteers from all over Quebec, and France, Belgium, Taiwan and Czech Republic. There are shows for kids, and adults, alike. For the kiddoes: Czech show TchouTchou!Wouf!Wouf!, about a dog who sets off an train to find the pooch of his dreams, at Maison internationale des arts de la marionnette.  Older audiences will love the political farce in The King Stinks, at the Rialto… A tip: some shows are already sold out, but you might be able to snag extra tickets if you pass by the venue box office 10 minutes before showtime. And if you don’t get to a live show, check out screenings of short films on puppetry, and spot the puppets in Outremont and Mile End storefronts! Until Sunday. 

René Richard Cyr has adapted, translated and directed a glam rock-punk musical classic for French audiences: Hedwig: Pouce en Furie, created by John Cameron Mitchell and Steven Trask, follows an East German genderqueer rock star who is on a vengeful tour. The show launched in Montreal last month, and is playing across Quebec… it comes to star Benoît McGinnis’ hometown, Laval, at Salle André-Mathieu Friday. 7:30pm.  

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. 

Greg Stone (The Late Late Show with James Corden and America’s Got Talent) headlines at the Comedy Nest with support from Hadi Kubba, Paul Baluyot and Mariam Khan. Friday and Saturday, 8:30 and 10pm. 

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.

Tease: A Night of Sultry Burlesque at The Wiggle Room will welcome Joy Rider, Jolie Lolita, Petro and Isa Strawberry. Friday and Saturday, 9pm.

Or you can strip and sing at Bareoke, at Café Cleopatra, Saturday at 9pm. 

The Segal Centre’s regular karaoke evening, Broadway Café, returns with the Legends Edition. Channel your inner Broadway legend (think Liza Minelli or Judy Garland…) and sign up to sing here. Hosted by Marc Ducusin and Jeanne Motulsky, Saturday, 8pm. 

St-Jean-Berchmans Church hosts their flea market, with a wide selection of new and used items. At 5945 Cartier in Rosemont, Saturday and Sunday, from 9am to 5pm (Sunday 4pm). 

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. 
• Visit the historic Chateau Ramezay in Old Montreal... or The Ecomuseum in Ste Anne’s to meet critters like wolves, lynx and arctic foxes! 

ONGOING EVENTS

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 Old Port Skating Rink has full weekend entertainment, including Fabulous Fridays, live music on Saturdays and games and games for Family Sundays. Admission for one day is $8.25, $5.65 for kids 6 to 12, and free for under 6. 

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,