Monday, Dec. 15
Fresh from headlining concerts in Russia to promote his latest album Akeda, reggae-rapper, rocker and beatboxer Matisyahu (a.k.a. Matthew Paul Miller) launches his eighth annual Festival of Light tour celebrating Hannukah, at the Corona Theatre (2490 Notre-Dame St. W.) tonight. Showtime: 8 p.m. Admission: $37. Tickets via evenko.
The McGill Chamber Orchestra will perform Handel’s Messiah at Christ Church Cathedral (635 Ste-Catherine St. W.) with the Cathedral Singers, soprano Aline Kutan, Mireille Lebel, tenor Michael Colvin and baritone Peter McGillivray. Showtime: 7:30 p.m. Admission: $23 to $45 plus taxes. Tickets via Place des Arts box office.
Tuesday, Dec. 16
The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal presents Christmas with Kent Nagano tonight at the Maison symphonique de Montréal, with guest mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and tenor Michael Fabiano. They will perform selections from Massenet, Puccini, Handel, Tchaikovsky and, of course, Schubert’s classic Ave Maria. Showtime: 8 p.m. Admission: $42 to $108. Show repeats on Dec 18 at 8 pm. Tickets via OSM box office.
Wednesday, Dec. 17
Montreal playwright Steve Galluccio has translated his smash hit The St. Leonard Chronicles into the much-anticipated Les chroniques de Saint-Léonard which runs at Théâtre Jean-Duceppe from Dec. 17 to Feb. 7. Tonight’s preview is at 7:30 p.m. The play will also tour 24 cities across Quebec in 2015. “I’m also really thrilled that we are going to stage it at the Leonardo da Vinci Centre in St-Léonard!” Galluccio told me last week. Admission: $38.99 to $50.73 plus taxes. Showtimes and tickets via Place des Arts box office.
Thursday, Dec. 18
One of the last vestiges of Montreal’s Sin City era is this city’s historic 400-seat Cinema L’Amour (4015 St-Laurent Blvd.), which opened on Oct. 15, 1914, as a combination theatre hall and movie house called The Globe. It became “The Pussycat” porn theatre in 1969, then Cinema L’Amour in 1981. Tonight POP Montreal throws its Urock L’Amour party to honour Cinema L’Amour’s centennial with live karaoke band uRockaoke. The theatre itself is totally worth checking out at least once. If you go, make sure to visit the VIP sections and the basement toilets. Showtime: 10:30 p.m. Admission: $10 advance and $12 at the door. Tickets via POP Montreal.
Vertiges at the Biodôme.
Friday, Dec. 19
The Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium next door to the Biodôme has been packing them in since it opened in April 2013 and has just unveiled two new shows: the 20-minute Vertiges – which explores the philosophical, scientific and artistic aspects of time in a visually-stunning show in their hemispheric dome Chaos Theatre; followed by the 40-minute Tempo multimedia show with live commentary in their Milky Way Theatre. Tempo explores how humans view the heavens and our position in the universe. The technology is pretty mind-blowing and both theatres are very comfortable. I’m also happy to report the planetarium remains a great place to bring a first date. Or the kids. Check schedule for English shows. Admission: $7.50 (children age 5 to 12) to $18.75 (adults). Tickets at the door or via Planetarium box office.
Saturday, Dec. 20
The free Fire on Ice fireworks show in the Old Port begins at 8 p.m. but what better way to watch the show than on a pair of skates at the Old Port skating rink in the Bonsecours Basin? The musical theme of this year’s fireworks (also being held on Dec. 27 and Jan. 3) is video games. Meanwhile, the Old Port skating rink is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily until Jan. 5, and until 2 a.m. on Dec. 31. You can also rent skates on-site and a locker to store your personal items. Admission: $4.25 to $6.50. More info via oldportofmontreal.com.
Sunday, Dec. 21
Rufus and Martha Wainwright’s Noel Nights concert on Sunday evening continues the family tradition of intimate holiday-season shows hosted by Montreal’s McGarrigle sisters, who made audiences feels like they were guests in their own living room. This year Rufus and Martha host the family concert at the Maison symphonique de Montréal, with such special guests as Ariane Moffatt, and with all proceeds benefitting the Kate McGarrigle Fund, which supports cancer care and research at the McGill University Cancer Centre and the McGill University Health Centre Foundation. Showtime: 7 p.m. The regular $75 tickets are sold out but VIP tickets are available at a cost of $500 each and include a front-of-the-house ticket, a meet-and-greet with the artists after the show and a charitable tax receipt for $425. VIP tickets via Geneviève Zevort at the MUHC Foundation by email at genevieve.zevort@muhc.mcgill.ca or call 514-934-1934, ext. 71244.
Richard Burnett writes the POP TART blog at http://montrealgazette.com/tag/pop-tart. Send your event press releases to burnett@videotron.ca.
